The Orlando Ballet School (OBS) recently received numerous awards at the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) finals. Ten OBS students competed and many received honors of the highest caliber for their performances at the world’s largest student ballet scholarship competition held in New York City.
Central Florida’s leading ballet school acquired awards in various categories, including 3rd place in the Ensemble division for Orlando Ballet Artistic Director Robert Hill’s piece Allegretto. The students were invited to perform Allegretto at the YAGP gala. The performance was praised in a New York Times review. The only other large ensemble invited to perform, out of the 93 ensemble pieces presented in the competition, was the renowned Beijing Ballet Academy. Student Nayara Lopes received the prestigious Mary Day Artistry Award, named after the founder of the Washington Ballet, and given to students demonstrating the best artistry.
“We are highly honored by the reception and praise that Allegretto garnered at the Youth America Grand Prix awards this year,” said Hill. “The sheer amount of awards and recognition received by Orlando Ballet School truly demonstrates the superior quality of training our students receive under the direction of our school director.”
“Our students have worked extremely hard for such an outstanding outcome. We are extremely grateful for these honors and proud of students’ accomplishments,” added School Director Dierdre Miles Burger.
The competition’s results for OBS are below:
* Nayara Lopes received the Mary Day Artistry Award
* Blake Kessler placed 2nd in the Men’s Junior age division (ages 12-14)
* Austen Acevedo placed 3rd in the Men’s Pre-Competitive age division (ages 9-11)
* Nayara Lopes and Claudilan dos Santos placed 3rd in the Pas De Deux division
* Orlando Ballet School placed 3rd in the Ensemble division for Robert Hill’s piece Allegretto
* Allegretto invited to performed in the YAGP Gala: Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow
The entire school will be performing in Stars of Tomorrow on Friday, May 6 at 8pm at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre. Tickets are just $10 and can be purchased by calling 407.426.1739. Robert Hill’s award-winning piece Allegretto will be featured, as well as the premiere of his new piece Maestoso.
For more information on the Orlando Ballet School, please visit www.orlandoballet.org. For more information on the Youth America Grand Prix, please visit http://www.yagp.org/.
