Team from Not Your Ordinary Dancers Performs at Lincoln Center in Youth America Grand Prix Finals

The Ballet Classique Dance Company from Not Your Ordinary Dancers (NYOD) competed last month at the prestigious Youth America Grand Prix Finals in New York City. The competition culminated in a Gala performance at a sold-out Lincoln Center, where the students performed with students and professionals representing 28 countries from 5 continents.

 Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) is the world’s largest student ballet scholarship competition, awarding over $250,000 annually in scholarships to leading dance schools worldwide. The competition is held annually around the world and in New York City, and is open to dance students of all nationalities 9-19 years old. Most recently YAGP was featured in the movie First Position.

 The Company from NYOD qualified for the NYC finals earlier this year at a regional competition in Philadelphia. The dance, “Puppet Theatre,” was choreographed by their teacher Ms. Katya Strelnikova. Ms. Katya graduated from the acclaimed Perm Choreographic Academy in Russia and attained soloist level with the Moscow City Ballet. She is the Artistic Director of the Ballet Classique program and teaches ballet and pointe at NYOD.

 “The girls trained very hard for this competition. I am very proud of them! They deserve this experience and the recognition they have achieved,” Ms. Katya said at the NYC Finals last month.

 Company members who performed in the finals included Rebecca Lucas, Carissa Moore, Ashley Blalock, Emily Rathburn, Devon McCluskey, Rachel Blalock, Gabriela Compagni, Elizabeth Powers, Zoe Rose, Julianne Miranda, and Angelina Oteri.  The dancers are from Atlantic Highlands, Highlands, Rumson, Hazlet, Middletown,Tinton Falls and Red Bank.  

 Five of the girls took their participation to the next level offered by the YAGP. They travelled to NYC for 7 straight days and took technique classes offered by Master teachers from around the world at famous studios across NYC, including the Alvin Ailey Studios, the Manhattan Movement & Arts Center, LaGuardia High School and the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts.

 The five (Compagni, Oteri, Rathburn, Rose and Powers) also participated in a week’s worth of rehearsals led by world-renowned dancers, teachers and choreographers Mikhail Tchoupakov and Carlos dos Santos Jr. These rehearsals culminated in a sold-out performance at Lincoln Center at the YAGP “Stars of Today Meet Stars of Tomorrow” Gala on Thursday, April 18th.

 The first act of the Gala showcased the competition winners and ends with the Grand deFile, a dance with over 200 dancers from all around the world. The second act featured professional dancers from around the world, including Marcelo Gomes (American Ballet Theatre), Chase Finlay (New York City Ballet), Svetlana Lukina (The Bolshoi Ballet), Lil Buck and many more.

 Jessica O’Donnell, owner of NYOD, said, “The experience the girls had was amazing. They learned from some of the world’s greatest dancers and teachers. They will never forget this week!”

 The girls spoke as one when they said, “Thank you so much to Ms. Katya for training us so well and for preparing us for this competition and experience. We have had a truly amazing experience and will work harder next year in hopes of returning to the Finals!”