Andy Cohen and Melanie Hamrick Host YAGP Gala

On April 29, 2025, the Youth America Grand Prix Gala—Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow—took center stage at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, marking the world’s largest ballet scholarship competition.

Hosted by Andy Cohen and Melanie Hamrick, with honoree Sarah Hoover and gala chairs Marcella Guarino Hymowitz and Maria Cristina Anzola, the evening drew a star-studded crowd including Amy Astley, Candace Bushnell, Chelsea Clinton, Zac Posen, Rebecca Hessel Cohen, Lucas Jagger, Colby Mugrabi, and Michelle Ochs.

Guests were treated to breathtaking performances by the Paris Opera Ballet, The Stuttgart Ballet, Ballet Dortmund, the ABT Studio Company, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, and more.

“Hello New York City! Hello ballet fans! I was called the Barysnikov of Bravo tonight, I'm going to keep that! I'm changing my Instagram bio immediately”, said Television personality and producer Andy Cohen as he welcomed the Alice Tully Hall Lincoln Center audience to the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow Gala. “How appropriate we are here on International Dance Day!” His co-host for the evening, former American Ballet Theatre dancer and YAGP alumna Melanie Hamrick, replied “What better way to celebrate than with the amazing dancers you'll see here tonight, and by supporting the world’s largest ballet scholarship foundation! This is a full circle moment for me. As a young student, I was in the first YAGP Gala 26 years ago, and now, here I am on stage again.”

Andy shared “YAGP is a remarkable organization, and it's in its 26th year, led by their amazing founders Larissa and Gennadi Saveliev. This season, YAGP saw 15,000 young dancers from over 80 countries audition, with 2,000 of them competing at the YAGP's Finals in Tampa last week. These are truly the stars of tomorrow, living their dream. Tonight you'll see some of those young dancers, as well as current ballet stars, from the best companies in the world, who excelled and got their start with YAGP.”

A Gala dinner followed the performance, sponsored by Oscar de la Renta and Bucherer Fine Jewellery, chaired by Marcella Guarino Hymowitz and Maria Cristina Anzola (with her granddaughter, both in marabou feather boas), with a committee that included Julia Arnhold, Paul Arnhold and Wes Gordon, Janna Bullock, Chelsea Clinton (who came with her two children), Rebecca Hessel Cohen, Courtney Davis, Aly Gradone, Melanie Hamrick, Lilli Hymowitz, Lindsay Kraus, Kamie Lightburn, Colby Mugrabi, Grace Pomeranc, Lilah Ramzi, Emily Reifel, Priya Shukla, Daniela W. Tisch, Barbara Tober, Virginia Tomenson, Lesley Thompson Vecsler, and Lina Wallach.

“Larissa Saveliev, you are a force in the ballet world,” said Marcella. “You bring together all this ballet talent for such a special evening, but beyond that, you give dancers a platform and you create opportunities!” She continued, “Maria Cristina Anzola and I want to take a moment to thank our honoree of this evening, Sarah Hoover. Sarah is devoted to ballet and the arts. She co-founded ABT’s Accelerator Committee and fundraises for multiple dance organizations including Twyla Tharp's Diamond Jubilee tour, and is a patron of New York City Ballet. Sarah is also an author; her debut memoir, The Motherload, was published by Simon and Schuster this past January, and was an immediate bestseller. She is currently in the middle of her international book tour but took time away to be here tonight to celebrate many of her dancer friends and organizations she holds dear to her. Sarah, I am proud to call you a friend.”

“This is an incredible honor by such a meaningful organization to the world of dance”, said Sarah. “I want to explain how deep my love of dance is. As a young girl growing up in Indiana, I did not have a ton of access to culture. But I did have incredible dance training and I went to summer programs at ABT and elsewhere. I remember the impact of watching Glass Pieces, a Jerome Robbins ballet with music by Philip Glass. It was totally different than anything I'd ever seen. It changed the trajectory of my life; where I would live and what I would be dedicated to doing. I see dancers and ballet as showing us a more empathetic and expansive way forward in the world, and for that they are my idols forever.”

Avalon Ashley Bellos, Jonn Nubian [BFA Photos]

Decorating the room were custom ballet slippers as part of YAGP’s Pointe Project, designed by Carolina Herrera, Michael Kors, A-Morir Studio, Attersee, Theory, DELPHINE, Fer Da Silva, Hill House Home, LoveShack Fancy!, Alexandre Birman, Alice and Olivia, Galvan London, Helmut Lang, Herve Leger, Libby Klein, Silvia Tcherassi, and TWP Clothing. Many of the designers were in attendance. The pointe shoes are up for auction until May 1st at 12pm, with 100% of proceeds supporting YAGP’s ongoing scholarship efforts. To bid, visit www.GiveButter.com/YAGP2025

YAGP Founder and Artistic Director, Larissa Saveliev, created a program that featured a U.S. Premiere from Lucia Lacarra and Matthew Golding (YAGP alumnus), choreographed by Edwaard Liaang and Golding; Paris Opera Ballet’s Germain Louvet and Hannah O’Neill (YAGP alumna) performed Le Parc by Angelin Prejlocaj; O’Neill and Friedemann Vogel (The Stuttgart Ballet) danced a pas de deux from Act III of Onegin by John Cranko. Louvet also presented a variation from Rudolf Nureyev’s Swan Lake. The Stuttgart Ballet’s newest soloist, Yana Peneva (YAGP alumna), made her NY debut performing the pas de deux from Act II of Le Corsaire with Daniil Simkin. ABT Studio Company’s Kayla Mak and Max Barker (both YAGP alumni) danced George Balanchine’s Tarantella. Ballet Dortmund’s Artistic Director, Xin Peng Wang (in his final season), presented a World Premiere pièce d’occasion, performed by dancers Samuel Bassler and Daria Suzi, making their New York debuts.

The evening also featured a World Premiere choreographed and performed by Isaiah Day (Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater), with an original composition and live musical performance by Emmy-nominated pianist and composer, Matthew Whitaker. Day was recognized as one of two YAGP 2025 Emerging Choreographers, along with Chicago-based Hanna Brictson, whose piece Q had its World Premiere at the YAGP 2025 Gala.

The YAGP International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), featuring 25 young dancers selected from global YAGP auditions, presented the U.S. Premiere of an excerpt from PUPO by acclaimed Italian choreographer Sofia Nappi.

A highlight of the program included the winners of the YAGP 2025 international ballet competition, sharing the stage with their ballet idols in a grand performance to bring the season to a close.
Guests – including YAGP Board Members Chair Richard Osterweil, Carrie Kaufman, Josephine Lee, Kamie Lightburn, Lina Wallach, Yael Weiss, as well as Amy Astley, Harrison Ball and Zac Posen, Ashley Bouder, Candace Bushnell, Lucas Jagger, Andrew Martin-Webber, Judith Pisar, Leah Pisar, Jenni Pulos – posed with a giant ballet pointe shoe, decorated with disco balls of all sizes and spring flowers, and danced the night away.

About Youth America Grand Prix

Youth America Grand Prix is the largest global network of dance. YAGP fulfills its mission of dance education through scholarship auditions, master classes, alumni services, performances, and education. Over the past 26 years, $5 million has been awarded in scholarships to the world’s leading dance schools, with up to $500,000 now awarded annually. Since YAGP’s founding in 1999, over 300,000 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. This season, 15,000 talented young dancers from 86 countries on 5 continents auditioned all over the world for a spot in the YAGP Finals. Many of those winners have the one-in-a-lifetime chance to share a stage with their idols, today’s biggest ballet stars, on stage at Lincoln Center. 500 YAGP alumni are now dancing with 100 professional companies around the world, including American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, The Royal Ballet, Mariinsky Ballet and many others. Over 100 of these alumni are soloists and Principal Dancers.

In 2019 during the COVID-19 pandemic, YAGP was the first dance organization to present entirely virtual programming, offering masterclasses and workshops as well as virtual auditions to complete the YAGP season.

In 2022, when the war in Ukraine began, YAGP worked quickly to relocate dance students from Ukraine and place them in YAGP partner schools in Europe and the United States to safely continue their dance training. To date, YAGP’s Ukraine Relief campaign has placed over 200 dancers in safety and on a path to a professional career in dance.

In 2023, YAGP reinstated its Job Fair, now held bi-annually in Europe at The Stuttgart Ballet’s John Cranko School in Germany and in America at Nashville Ballet.

In 2024, YAGP celebrated its 25th Anniversary with a spectacular festival of dance at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center. As part of the anniversary celebrations, 353 young dancers gathered at New York City’s iconic Plaza Hotel to set a Guinness World Record for “Most Dancers En Pointe,” and the United States Senate officially recognized Youth America Grand Prix as America’s National Youth Dance Competition.