Amy Astley was the honorary chairman and Marcella Guarino Hymowitz as chairman of last Thursday night’s Youth America Grand Prix’s “Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow‘ Gala” at Lincoln Center. Samantha Boardman-Rosen, Colby Mugrabi, Candice Jordan Miller, Ashley Olsen, Mary Kate Olsen, Lesley Thompson Vecsler all served as co-chairs.
CBS’s Keltie Knight welcomed guests to the performance from the stage of the David H. Koch Theater where young dancers, age 9 to 19, who participated in YAGP’s international ballet auditions (stars of tomorrow) danced alongside today’s greatest artists (stars of today) including Svetlana Lunkina and Evan McKie (National Ballet of Canada), Tamara Rojo and Cesar Corrales (English National Ballet), Skylar Brandt and Gabe Stone Shayer (American Ballet Theatre), and Tiler Peck and Zachary Catazaro (New York City Ballet).
Dinner and dancing followed on the promenade with guests including Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky, Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn, Karen and Richard LeFrak, Nicky Hilton Rothschild, Fernando Garcia, Tony and October Gonzalez, Donny Deutsch, Cece Cord, Julio Bocca, Irene Shen, Bruce Marks, Deeda Blair, Olivier Sarkozy, Marcelo Gomes, Margot London, Harrison LeFrak, Paloma Herrera, Judith M. Hoffman, Maria-Cristina Anzola and John Heimann, Tico Mugrabi, Rachel Feinstein, Linda K. Morse (YAGP chairman) and gala vice chairs Christina Lyon, B Michael, Suzanne Dance, and Dr. Shirley Madhère-Weil.
Youth America Grand Prix is the world’s largest global dance network of dance, connecting classically-trained students, teachers, schools, companies, alumni, sponsors, dancers and choreographers with audiences who share a distinct passion for dance. YAGP annually awards more than $500,000 in scholarships from the leading dance schools worldwide. Since its founding in 1999, over 80,000 young dancers ages 9 to 19 of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds have participated in YAGP’s international workshops, audition classes, and dance awareness events. Gifted dancers have earned over $3 million in scholarships to the leading dance schools. More than 350 YAGP alumni currently dance with 80 companies around the world including American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Mariinsky Ballet and many others. For more information, visit www.yagp.org
