BALLET HELP DESK

Competition Reviews

Competitions Reviewed: 13
Total Reviews: 83

Youth America Grand Prix

Houston, TX

General

Reviewer

1
1

Competition experience

1
1

Event Details

Round

Regional

Season

2

Location

Houston, TX

Master Classes

Master Class Types

2
2

Master class teachers

  • "Cant remember offhand but we do keep a combined list of all teachers from 2 yrs of UBC and YAGP and UBC finals. What I can say is - we have been impressed with the instructors at both. (This particular review is for yagp only)."

Distance from venue

1
1

How corrections were given

  • "Group and individual, with emphasis on individuals"
  • "Group and individual"

What corrections were about

  • "Purely professional corrections regarding technique, placement, etc. intended to improve her skills"
  • "Zero coded. Highly professional"

Teacher engagement

  • "Engaged and caring, walking around room - nothing phoned in - not going through the motions. Complaint re houston master classes has to do with location in hotel adjacent to venue (U of H) - in a ballroom with Marley thrown down - not ideal. Other option would have been to move master classes to a location 10+ miles away - so I think they chose locational convenience for families. But master classes suffered a bit due to this. Unsure if mirrors were in the space - I believe no."
  • "Very. Walked around looking at all students"

Master Class Feedback

Additional master class comments

  • "No favoritism. Good corrections and engaged instructors. The issue was with the floor and that it was in a hotel ballroom. That is why we gave 4 not 5. I will say at regionals there was NOBODY observing master classes - not any of my dancer’s anyway. No numbers were worn. No video was being taken of which we were aware. So master classes were simply master classes - not an opportunity to be seen. I will say there were two other yagps that weekend - San Francisco and i forget the other city but one with more appeal than Houston lol. So maybe “scouts” went to those locations instead. I dont believe a single scholarship was awarded at that regional. I could be wrong - if any were given it was few and far between. My basis for comparison is UBC regionals and finals where scouts are present at master classes and where my daughter was awarded a full time yr round scholarship to Rock School arising from UBC master classes, not her variations. But we also view master classes as a way to grow - not every master class needs to be an opportunity to be seen. But we have noticed a marked difference between UBC and YAGP master classes."
  • "Held at houston ballet"

Performance Details

Venue name

Repeated Responses:
  • "University of Houston" (2 responses)

Venue description

  • "Seating in theater is great. The lobby is small and offers two benches for seating. The restrooms were restricted to one, with one toilet. Dancers often used the one restroom as a changing room. U of H is not in the best part of town. Lots of construction. The parking is far (ish) and expensive ($20 each in and out). They do not allow drop off near the entrance - making this an extremely difficult venue for grandparents or anyone with a disability. I am 55, have lupus and arthritis, and I struggle at this venue. Also, it is held in spring which is a very hot time of year, so the distance you have to walk makes it difficult. There is a college hotel run by Hilton next to the theater. This is nice because it has a restaurant. Pricey but nice to rest between events and to avoid the in/out charges of the parking situation. I feel strongly that U of H is not a user friendly venue for master classes and for families and extremely hard for anyone with any sort of disability."
  • "Terrible. Small lobby, one bathroom with one toilet. Parking is very far. Almost inaccessible for elderly or disabled. Cant even drop off elderly in front of venue. Looooong hot walk. No disabled parking near venue."

Stage description

  • "This was a HUGE issue. Marley was bad. Slippery. But more so - they set the stage so small! Many of our older dancers whose choreography included 6 jumps on the diagonal had to modify routines to 3-4 jumps. This was fixable by moving the wings. Our school pointed this out to yagp day 1. They did not adjust. Also, our school offered on day 1 to bring “good” marley and free crew to lay it out - they did not take advantage of that. Also the marley did not extend forward far enough - so dancers could hit wood. My daughter, age 13, with a “simple” classical variation, even had to adjust her turns as she ran out of room - so had to step backwards on the fly to perform jer routine. Yagp’s stage layouy and marley were definitely an issue for our dancers accustomed to training on a full stage. We were disappointed no corrections were made after deficiencies were pointed out and solutions offered. The dancers on day 1 paid the price for this as they figured it out while on stage. Dancers who came day 2-3 were watned and able to change choreography in advance."
  • "Stage was extremely tight. Choreography had to be changed on the fly by dancers esp day 1. Senior dancers who danced days later had to remove jumps bc not enough room. Also quite slippery. Highly recommend yagp changes venues"

Off-stage warm-up space

Repeated Responses:
  • "Fine" (2 responses)

Dressing rooms

  • "Will complete this portion with my dancer"
  • "Fine"

Onstage warm-up

  • "Fine. Normal. Realized during open stage floor was slippery and wings were waaay too tight and marley didnt extend forward enough"
  • "Fine"

Other schedule comments

  • "Great. On time, sometimes a bit ahead. Well communicated."

Staff communication

Repeated Responses:
  • "Fine" (2 responses)

Judging

Judging rubric clarity

1
1

Type of Feedback

2
2

Main takeaway

  • "Zero coded language. Very encouraging. Several similar notes between judges which confirmed what areas she needs to work on. I do wish there was more feedback - one gave much more extensive notes than the rest. With two yagps under our belt at age 13 and 12, scores were generally fairly aligned - with the exception of once where one judge scored her remarkably lower (5-6 points) than the others. We wrote that off to personal taste. I do think a microphone system rather than a typing system would be beneficial so judges can keep their heads up more. I would like more comments and more specific tips - but overall happy with the comments."
  • "Generally similar themes in feedback (areas in which to improve). Overall encouraging. One was lengthy. Others were brief. But scoring seemed fair."

Awards & Scholarships

Awards ceremony

  • "Having been to four UBCs (2 regionals and 2 finals) the difference is night and day compared to yagp. At UBC there is a level of professionalism and production value that is impressive. It feels like they are putting $ back into the overall experience. YAGP regional awards felt bare bones. I can’t speak to what finals awards feels like. The announcing was awful, they accidentally stated one of our school’s dancers (pas) got first, when in fact they got third, so that was a difficult moment - but human error happens. And the first place pas winners were also from our school - and the same male danced with both - so an understandable mixup- but tough for the girl who thought she’d won first for a moment. In short, and not bc of that mixup, I loathe yagp regionals awards. It feels slapped together, unprofessional, no media - unlike UBC with a video compilation of the week’s event and professional announcing. I LIKE yagp. But i feel they skimp on regional awards, venues, production quality, and awards. My dancer finished top 12 I think - everyone got a certificate except her. They emailed us a pdf after and we printed it at home but I share this only as an example of a lack of attention to detail. They seem understaffed."
  • "Lackluster. Unprofessional - meaning no production value."

Award or Training Offer Description

  • "Top 12 or 24 - can’t remember but think top 12. Invitation to Ravenna (italy) - not paid Summer invite to next gen with small scholarship maybe 20% Invitation to another school’s summer program on coast of spain - not paid I will say one thing i do not like abt our former school is they handled registrations - so all yagp communications coming from yagp (scores, scholarships, etc) were routed via our school - and we have reason to believe maybe not all opportunities reached us. But that is a school issue, not a yagp issue: there was some gatekeeping going on possibly. My recommendation would be for parents to register their own children even if that isnt the school’s protocol."
  • "15-25% summer scholarships, invitations to a cpl festivals"

Festival offer details

  • "Ravenna in italy - dont remember cost - didnt consider it or look into details as cost and scheduling didnt work for our family"
  • "Ravenna and some others - but at full cost"

Final Comments

Best aspect

  • "It is so very humbling yet inspiring seeing the talent! My dancer always made connections with new friends. I feel it was fair, diversity of dancers, and my only measuring stick is did she improve through the 1:1 coaching at end vs beginning."
  • "Seeing the amt of students dedicated to the art. Seeing our dancer’s growth at competition vs at beginning of learning variation"

Worst aspect

  • "Venue, flooring, master classes in hotel, lack of staffing, lack of professionalism in terms of production value esp at awards"
  • "Awards ceremony - they dial it in. Doesnt feel special. Poor venue. They seem to reward acrobatics and cirque du soleil type performances. Extreme poses all over their social media. Contortionists seem highly featured - seems to be getting away from classical ballet. One dancer at our school didnt place at our regionals so attended another regional far away. In a town where their sibling dances professionally. Despite not finishing top 24 or scoring well at second regional was invited to finals. That felt odd but perhaps we don’t understand the mechanics behind it. Another dancer at our school junior year outperformed everyone. Instead they gave grand prix to a graduating senior. Yagp staff talked to our junior and told dancer “next yr will be your yr - this ur it is the other dancer’s since they are graduating and you have more time” this was per the mom and kid. Also, this junior who was skipped over ended up with a pro contract junior yr - and is the sibling of the dancer who fot an invite to finals from the second regional where they didnt score well. So either that family or their school or sibling’s pro company has pull with yagp. Also, a french ballet invited older sibling for summer and the younger less talented one got to go along as well as if a package deal. They seem to be able to pull strings others cant."

Competition culture

  • "I didnt get the sense of any culture - just sat in audience. It feels colder than UBC. Cant say exactly why. Ubc has more of a supportive warmth abt it."
  • "It’s a bit antiseptic. I mean it’s totally fine but i wouldn’t describe it as warm. There is amazing talent present."

Attendee culture

  • "Fine. Normal."
  • "Fine"

Suggested changes

  • "Better venue Better flooring Full stage so choreography doesn't need to be changed Better/ easier access for elderly Observed master classes at regionals More scholarships at regionals DO NOT SCHEDULE MULTIPLE YAGPS SAME WEEKEND - this diluted our experience The Houston yagp has many many many Asian ensemble entries under contemporary. These are 100% cultural dances. They are GORGEOUS. But absolutely 100% need their own category. I feel it’s extremely unfair to true contemporary ensembles."
  • "Better venue in houston. Sharing the rubric well BEFORE competition with participants. Never saw it until received our scores. Invest more in production values of regional awards ceremonies. Do not allow same participants to enroll in multiple regionals - everyone gets one shot. Explain how a dancer who did not do well at two regionals got invited to finals. Also i think enrollment shoukd be handled by parents not schools on the whole. Our school sent out everyone’s scores to all families and i think those should be private. Maybe allow schools to handle enrollment and music submission but require parent email for purposes of sending scores and scholarships and invitations out. Schools are NOT incentivized to have their dancers receive acceptances and scholarships and I have a fear some schools hold onto those for fear of losing students. I would very much like to see yagp move to headphones that take notes bc the judges’ heads are down half the time writing. They definitely are as attentive as possible - but there is room for improvement in this area I feel. Ensure venues are friendly and accessible for grandparents/elderly/disabled. Ensure they are in a safe part of town. I would like there not to be multiple regionals being held across US on same weekend. I wish master classes at regionals were actually observed. Ours were not. I wish scores were announced almost immediately after like UBC does. Maybe not the score itself but the range (eg platinum, high gold, gold, etc) and there MUST be a separate category at regionals for all the cultural ensembles. Also many of the ensembles throw in younger dancers to offset the average age - i think all members of ensemble should be within same age category (junior, senior, etc) - or find another system for determining avg age. Also, it appeared some dancers in certain ensembles were well above competition age so I’m unsure how yagp can check for that… unsure if we want to get into checking birth certificates in dance but some dancers absolutely raised a few eyebrows. I don’t blame yagp for this. Despite all these comments, i think overall they do a good job and we will continue to compete with them. Zero pressure re weight or any other coded language from anyone at yagp and scoring for our dancer was fair in our estimation. Our dancer fyi usually makes top 12 or 24. Never 1, 2, 3. I have heard people complain yagp is a money grab. I feel like it is the schools that are incentivized to make money by yagp. Our school used to invite only top 5-6 dancers to compete. Now they bring 20+. One dancer who performed 2 classical, 1 contemporary and 1 pas spent $40k on yagp 1:1 training/costume rentals from school. So the registration fees I feel are fine. It’s what *some* schools are charging for training. Schools are incentivized to profit off competitions, esp when their enrollments start lagging at studio. I do love that yagp has no barriers to entry- a great equalizer. However I do wonder if maybe there shouldnt be some sort of screening. I think the competitions have grown too large. Which is why i also think participants should be limited to one regional event."

Cost vs. expectation

Significantly More
1
1
Significantly Less

Time worth it

Not Worth It
1
1
Worth Every Minute

Anything else?

  • "Go into it with the only measuring stick being did my dancer improve from the 1:1 coaching from beginning of training vs yagp performance Register your dancer yourself even if dancing with a school (as opposed to an independent) so that all feedback/comms from yagp and scholarships reach you directly. Dont take it too seriously. Have fun! Do NOT pressure your child. Make sure your dancer is still taking classes, performing productions in a company, and getting a well rounded dance education - do not be a family that trains ONLY for yagp the same variation over and over. That is chasing trophies and misses the point entirely of becoming a professional ballerina who needs the skills of picking up new choreography quickly and blending into a corps."
  • "Have fun. Soak it in. Look at scoring rubric at beginning of season if possible. Focus should be on progress your dancer made in preparing for yagp. It’s a tough competition. I wish we’d waited until our dancer was 13-14 before competing."

Youth America Grand Prix

Houston, TX

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