Youth America Grand Prix Celebrates Ballet's Future With a Star-Studded Gala at Lincoln Center

Tomorrow night, ballet's brightest stars and rising talents will converge at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall for the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) "Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow" Gala. The annual celebration, renowned for blending world-class performances with a deep commitment to nurturing young dancers, will be emceed by Andy Cohen and Mick Jagger’s fiancée Melanie Hamrick, and honor philanthropist Sarah Hoover for her lifelong devotion to ballet.

"We have a really exciting gala on Tuesday night featuring some amazing dancers from all over the world," said Marcella Guarino Hymowitz, who is co-chairing the event alongside Maria Cristina Anzola. Hymowitz, a former dancer herself, is passionate about YAGP’s mission to broaden access to the elite ballet world. "It’s going to be a really fun, young-feeling, young-in-spirit gala."

This year’s program features an extraordinary roster of performers: Lucia Lacarra and Matthew Golding will present a U.S. premiere choreographed by Golding, while Paris Opera Ballet’s Germain Louvet and Hannah O’Neill will perform "Le Parc" by Angelin Preljocaj. Louvet will also showcase a rare variation from Rudolf Nureyev's "Swan Lake," and Stuttgart Ballet’s Friedemann Vogel will dance with Yana Peneva, making her New York debut. The evening includes a world premiere from Isaiah Day of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, paired with a live performance by Emmy-nominated pianist Matthew Whitaker.

For Hymowitz, YAGP is more than a gala; it's a transformative force in ballet. "Youth America Grand Prix is a scholarship-based organization that goes to 26 different countries worldwide every year," she explained. The mission is simple but powerful: identify gifted young dancers, offer them life-changing scholarships, and diversify the ballet world's future. "These companies have talent from all over the world, and now we are giving all these children access into these companies," she said. “Each year, YAGP alumni are eligible to submit a piece of work or an idea they have. We then select a few to move on to the next stage where they get $10,000 to produce a longer version of their piece. Then we select one or two winners who win funds to produce a full-length piece. We really created this scholarship to help to jumpstart fresh new work.”

Access is critical in a field as demanding and expensive as ballet. "To do summer programs and intensives, you have to be constantly training year-round or you will fall behind," Hymowitz noted. "And a lot of these companies want to start training dancers as young as they can so they’re trained to the style of the company."

Hymowitz’s personal journey in ballet began – and ended – early. After an injury derailed her path at 15, she transitioned to commercial dance, later performing professionally and even touring internationally. Her connection to ballet, however, remained. "It’s always been at the heart of it all for me," she said.

Her deeper involvement with YAGP started in 2008 after watching her friend's sister, Skylar Brandt, who is now a principal ballerina with ABT, compete. "She had then gotten into the ABT school from that competition. I loved seeing her perform. I loved what the Youth America Grand Prix was," Hymowitz recalled. Eventually, she joined the organization's board, finding a meaningful way to support young dancers and keep her ballerina spirit alive.

Honoree Sarah Hoover holds a special place in this year's celebration. "Her extracurricular, her hobbies, everything is ballet," Hymowitz said. "She understands the ballerina. She speaks ballet more than the ballerinas even. I’m such a fan of hers."

Beyond the evening's performances and tributes, the gala also continues a charming tradition: a silent auction featuring designer-decorated pointe shoes. "We have amazing designers that have contributed gorgeous, gorgeous pointe shoes," Hymowitz shared. "We are going to auction those off for the gala again."

For Hymowitz, ballet remains more than an art form; it's a way of being. "When you train as a ballerina, you're taught to really carry yourself really tall and lightly," she said. "It teaches you to just treat your body really well and to carry yourself with grace."

And in a fast-moving world, she believes ballet offers a valuable lesson. "With ballet, it’s almost like everything slows down, and you appreciate those small moments. In just a turn of a head or a motion with your wrist, all of those small motions become so much more grand when you slow down."

The YAGP Gala promises to celebrate not just ballet's highest achievements but its future — one built on talent, opportunity, and the lifelong passion of those who believe in its magic. https://yagp.org/.