Whitefish Bay resident and Milwaukee Ballet School & Academy student, Jennifer Hackbarth, was awarded the Youth Grand Prix Award for her outstanding performance at the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) Semi-Finals in Indianapolis last weekend. This event is the world’s largest student ballet scholarship competition with over 6,500 dancers from 24 different countries competing for a chance to make it to the YAGP finals in New York.
Jennifer received an award that is occasionally given out. The YAGP jury panel only gives this honor to a solo dancer who has exceeded all competition in their division in both Classical Ballet and Contemporary Dance categories.
“We could not be more proud of Jennifer,” said Mireille Favarel, Jennifer’s coach and Milwaukee Ballet School & Academy faculty member. “The Youth Grand Prix Award is the greatest possible achievement in a YAGP semi-final, and some semi-finals don’t name a Grand Prix winner. We are just overjoyed that Jennifer’s hard work and dedication have enabled her to compete at such a world-class level.”
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Jennifer’s performances at the Indianapolis Semi-Final consisted of the Sugar Plum variation from The Nutcracker, the Lilac Fairy variation from The Sleeping Beauty and her contemporary solo Emergence, which is choreographed by Timothy O'Donnell, Artist and Choreographer in Residence for Milwaukee Ballet. Jennifer was also able to qualify for the YAGP World Finals, which will be held in New York April 12-17. Only one in six semi-finalists qualify for the Finals.
Learn more about the the Youth America Grand Prix at http://www.yagp.org/