Throughout the next few weeks, ABA will attend three different competitions, including the Washington D.C. Grand Prix (DCGP), Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) Finals, and National Ballet Competition. The Washington D.C. Grand Prix will be held in the Jim Rouse Theater, right here in Columbia, Maryland. This year will be our first year attending this competition, and our studio will bring 16 competitors. The pieces we bring will include classical and contemporary solos, a duet, two trios, and two large ensembles, one contemporary and one character. A little different from the past competitions we’ve been to, this competition will have the dancers compete school by school. A week after the DCGP, we will participate in YAGP finals. Instead of happening in New York this year, this competition will be located in Tampa, Florida. We will bring 14 students to this competition, the majority of us competing in the ensemble category and also a soloist. The final competition we will go to is National Ballet Competition in Wilmington, Delaware, and this will be ABA’s third year! The stage we will be performing on is in the Grand Opera House. Like it says on the NBC website, this competition will also group the competitors by their school, instead of their age, but the awards will still be categorized by age. This time, we will have 13 students compete. Most of us have variations to perform, as well as two group dances and a trio. All three competitions will have masterclasses to go along with the competition. YAGP has some masterclasses for the dancers to warm up, while others are for scholarships. NBC is similar since it also includes scholarships after the teachers watch the students, but in this competition, it is required. For award ceremonies, DCGP will be in person and the other two competitions will be virtual. Overall, I am very excited to compete in all three of these competitions with my friends on actual stages, especially since the pandemic made that exceptionally hard for us.


Publish Date: 04/23/2021