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Rye Ballet Dancer Places Second At Youth America Grand Prix

GREENWICH, Conn. – Ten dedicated and determined dancers from Greenwich Ballet Academy defied a deluge of snow from Feb. 6 to 8 to compete in the Youth American Grand Prix 2015 Competition in Boston.

Elisabeth Beyer from Rye, N.Y., placed second in the Classical Dance Category of the Junior Division and in the Top 12 in the Contemporary Category of the Junior Division.

Elisabeth Beyer from Rye, N.Y., placed second in the Classical Dance Category of the Junior Division and in the Top 12 in the Contemporary Category of the Junior Division.

Photo Credit: Contributed
Elisabeth Beyer is a student at the Greenwich Ballet Academy.

Elisabeth Beyer is a student at the Greenwich Ballet Academy.

Photo Credit: Contributed

For GBA student Elisabeth Beyer from Rye, N.Y., it meant placing second in the Classical Dance Category of the Junior Division (12-14 year olds). Beyer also placed in the Top 12 in the Contemporary Category of the Junior Division.

Beyer also competed in a Paris YAGP semi-final competition in November, where she placed second in the Classical Category of the Junior Division, and which has qualified her for the world YAGP finals to be held in New York City in April.

For seven of the 10 students participants from GBA, Boston was their first time competing in the YAGP. All participants were outstanding in their performances during the semifinals.

Phoebe Anderson and Emma Kelly both placed in the Top 24 in the Senior Classical division out of 80 dancers; and Nio Hirano placed in the top 24 in the Junior Classical division out of 95 dancers.

In addition, Laura Baruch, Allison Chen, Rebekah Lindsey, Allison Sobieri, and Jada Yang all represented the Greenwich Ballet Academy brilliantly during the competition.

“We are extremely proud of all of our dancers who made the journey this year to compete,” said Marisol Rivera Thurman, president and chairman of the Board for Greenwich Ballet Academy. 

The competition took place at a Boston hotel, and the GBA families drove straight into the winter storms to make it to the competition.

“The dancers who compete train for six days a week on a regular class schedule, and then work privately and go above and beyond to develop their individual variations,” said Greenwich Ballet Academy’s Artistic Director Yuri Vodolaga. “It takes incredible dedication, hard work and determination. We are so proud of the way the dancers represent themselves and the Academy.”

The Youth America Grand Prix is the largest student ballet scholarship competition that awards over $250,000 annually to leading dance schools worldwide.  

Greenwich Ballet Academy, which is based in Port Chester, N.Y., is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) institution that nurtures dancers, ages 4- 21, toward careers in classical ballet and contemporary dance with a unique emphasis on the Russian Vaganova method of instruction. For more information, visit the GBA website at www.greenwichballetacademy.org.

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