Backstage at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater on April 17, young dancers hung out casually, snacking, laughing, and taking selfies like normal kids. But then they’d hop up and practice immaculate fouettés, or toss each other high in the air. The dancers—nearly 210 student performers between ages 9 and 19, from 10 major academies—had gathered to rehearse for the following day’s Youth America Grand Prix 2026 International Dance School Festival in New York City.
Some, like those from Princess Grace Academy in Monaco and Beijing Dance Academy, had arrived only days before from long overnight flights. For many, the event marked their first time in New York City and even the U.S. Other students represented American academies, including American Ballet Theatre’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, The Rock School for Dance Education, Houston Ballet II, and San Francisco Ballet School. The young dancers buzzed with excitement, chattering in numerous languages. When someone sneezed, a “Salud!” came from across the room, followed by, “Merci beaucoup!”
The festival was first organized in 2019 to celebrate the YAGP’s 25th anniversary and, until this year, hadn’t been held since. YAGP founder and artistic director Larissa Saviliev told Pointe that she was thrilled to bring it back. “It’s an experience that is both educational and deeply inspiring for these talented dancers,” she said. “More than anything, this performance reflects the power of community—bringing together young artists from across the globe as part of one YAGP family, connected through their shared passion for dance.”
The program featured 16 works—some involving students from various academies—that drew on ballet’s varied artistic traditions and styles. The choreographers ranged from pioneers such as Marius Petipa, Vasily Vainonen, and Sir Frederick Ashton to contemporary artists like Marco Goecke and Sharon Eyal.
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Julian Mirkia in Anton Dolin’s Variations for Four. Photo by Luke Kwo/LK Studio, courtesy YAGP. -
William Gyves in Anton Dolin’s Variations for Four. Photo by Luke Kwo/LK Studio, courtesy YAGP. -
Dancers from the John Cranko School in Anton Dolin’s Variations for Four. Photo by Luke Kwo/LK Studio, courtesy YAGP.
For Julian Mirkia, 19, this festival marked a meaningful reunion. A former semi-finalist at YAGP 2022, the Las Vegas native is now about to graduate from the John Cranko School in Germany. He was thrilled to see many of his YAGP friends again before he joins Stuttgart Ballet next season. “We’ve grown up together,” he said with a bright smile. He would be performing a contemporary group workby Goecke with his school, along with Anton Dolin’s virtuosic all-male Variations for Four with dancers from other academies. Mirkia knew one of them, 18-year-old William Gyves, from their overlapping time at the San Francisco Ballet School.
Gyves, a North Carolina native and winner of the 2026 Prix de Lausanne, said the festival was both a reunion and a homecoming. Now a student at Zurich Dance Academy, he recalled his first YAGP finals in New York City at age 10. “It was such an eye-opening experience, seeing all these dancers from around the world who treated ballet like their profession,” he said. “It was my turning point, when I decided this is what I want to do.”
Of the Variations for Four cast, Gyves knew all but one dancer. “It’s a super-small world, especially for boys in ballet,” he explained. “To see how they perform, to be with them on this huge stage—it’s definitely more fun than rehearsing [the ballet] by myself in a studio.”
Performing at Lincoln Center was a major highlight for Royal Ballet School student Samantha Striplin. The 17-year-old Californian also loved the morning classes arranged for the dancers at ABT’s JKO School and School of American Ballet. But most of all, she enjoyed reconnecting with old friends from her YAGP years and making new ones. “I’m returning here more grown-up and less shy. I feel like I’m now a person with a voice, not just a baby not knowing where she’s going.”
La Scala Ballet Academy students Maria Vittoria Bandini and Michele Forghier, on the other hand, have never competed at YAGP. They were excited to meet fellow Italian Ivan Malaguti, who trains at The Royal Ballet School, and chat in their native language. Bandini, 18, and Forghier, 19, were especially looking forward to dancing for the American public, who Forghier guessed would be more vocal than their “really chill” Italian audiences. The pair were preparing Mario Pistoni’s La Strada pas de deux, and, for Bandini, a solo from Mauro Bigonzetti’s Rossini Cards. “It’s an incredible opportunity,” she said.
For many of the dancers occupying the liminal space between student and professional, the festival also offered a major moment for exposure. When asked what he was most looking forward to, Gyves stated simply, “To show the work. This is what we’ve been training for.”
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