After going to three different competitions in the span of two weeks, I think I can say for all of us that we had a lot of fun and made many memories. In the past few weeks, we competed in the Washington DC Grand Prix (DCGP), Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) finals, and National Ballet Competition (NBC). The first of these competitions was the DCGP in Washington DC. This competition was very much like a performance for us since it was school by school. Though it was kind of chaotic and a little challenging for the quick changes, it was overall very successful for us. I am also glad that we finished all the pieces in one day instead of having them spread out on two different days. Personally, I was very nervous at first, but then I got more and more excited as we started to perform. A few days later, we traveled all the way to Florida for an exciting week. YAGP finals was such an amazing experience and I am so grateful that I got to compete on stage with my ABA family. In Tampa, we were able to have rehearsals in the studios of Broadway Arts & Dance Academy, as well as one at the Patel Conservatory right next to our performance venue, the Straz Center for the Performing Arts. On Tuesday, May 11, I performed my Medora variation and my contemporary solo “Sand Spirit” by Ashely Canterna-Hardy at finals. The next day, we competed our three ensembles, “On The Volga,” “That’s Amore,” and “Code Name Resilience.” They were definitely some of our best performances this year! I had such an amazing time performing them, and the experience altogether was unforgettable. The final competition of the season was National Ballet Competition, located in Wilmington, Delaware. This was another competition that felt very much like our ABA performances, which was very special. Being the last competition of the school year, I was definitely more confident about my solos and more excited to compete. I believe that we finished this competition season very strong, along with great results.

DCGP:
• Junior Division Honored Teacher Award- Mme. Akhmedova
• 3rd in Pre-Competitive Division- Alina Tsung
• 1st in Junior Classical and Contemporary Division- Lucy Qian
• 2nd in Junior Contemporary Division- Jennifer Ku
• 1st in Teen Classical and Contemporary Division- Maggie Cusick
• 1st in Senior Classical and Contemporary Division- Isabelle Wu
• 3rd in Senior Contemporary Division- Alexandra Gutman
• 1st in Duet/Trio/Quartet Division- That’s Amore
• 1st in Large Ensemble- Code Name Resilience
• 1st in Character/Folk Division- On The Volga
• Top 12 Senior/Teen/Junior Classical & Contemporary Division- Jojo Levin, Tess Moayedi, Abigail Riley, Ariel Barnett

YAGP Finals:
• Top 12 in Small Ensembles Category- That’s Amore

NBC:
• Outstanding School Award- Akhmedova Ballet Academy
• Gold in Junior Category- Lucy Qian
• Bronze in Senior Category- Maggie Cusick
• Gold in Pre-Pro Category- Alexandra Gutman
• Bronze in Pre-Pro Category- Isabelle Wu
• Top 5 in Pre-Pro Category- Josephine Levin
• Bronze in Ensembles Category- On The Volga


Publish Date: 05/27/2021