BALLET HELP DESK

Competition Reviews

Competitions Reviewed: 13
Total Reviews: 83

Youth America Grand Prix

Philadelphia, PA

General

Dancer Age

1
1

Competition experience

1
1

Event Details

Round

Regional

Season

2

Location

Philadelphia, PA

Traveled to compete

1
1

Why this location

  • "It was chosen by the director of the studio where my child dances"

Did Dancer Miss School?

1
1

Attended master classes

1
1

Master Classes

Why no master class

  • "The weather was bad and not located near the performance venue."

Master Class Types

1
1

Master class teachers

  • "Judges"

Teacher engagement

  • "The Masterclasses at this competition and other YAGP seem like an afterthought… tight spaces/ crowded, minimal attention given to most dancers; no numbers worn which makes it hard to believe that classes are used to give scholarships; we notice that some dancers competed but did not attend the classes (they were at another YAGP event in Europe)"

Master Class Feedback

Additional master class comments

  • "Obvious favoritism"

Performance Details

Venue name

  • "Washington Township High School"
  • "Local high school in Sewell, NJ"

Venue description

  • "School setting, large auditorium, lobby area was what you’d expect at a high school, limited seating and space in lobby"
  • "Nice venue with a lot of seating"

Stage description

  • "Not raked, Marley was fine, size was fine"
  • "Marley on stage- practice was shortened due to threat of winter storm."

Off-stage warm-up space

  • "Hallways on very hard floor, no actual dance spaces"
  • "Plenty of room in stage and back stage."

Dressing rooms

  • "N/A"
  • "No complaints. Adequate"

Male dressing room

1
1

Parents backstage

1
1

Onstage warm-up

  • "Not all teachers follow the rules and they are not re- directed by staff… Some teachers are sharp and highly critical of their dancers, some using clickers to train their dancers, it’s very intense, staff is very friendly to dancers who are well known to YAGP"
  • "Not sure as we went there in person due to weather."

Schedule adherence

1
1

Other schedule comments

  • "No"
  • "Some dancers cancelled due to weather."

Staff communication

  • "Posted on IG"
  • "Yes"

Judging

Judging rubric clarity

1
1

Judges' attentiveness

1
1

Feedback turnaround

1
1

Type of Feedback

1
1
1

Feedback helpfulness

Not Helpful At All
1
1
Extremely Helpful

Main takeaway

  • "None provided"
  • "Dancer only participated in the large group classical ballet performance."

Scoring felt fair

1
1

Why Scoring Unfair?

  • "I watched the judges and they did not look up while my daughter danced… they were not looking at any screens that had her on it… they watched her walk out and then looked down and did not watch her actually dance. They talked to each other at times. While in pre- comp, my daughter placed in top 3 or top 12 each year she competed. Her body changed the same year she was a junior for the first time. She did not place in the top 24 for any of the years she competed as a junior despite competing against the same kids as we often went to the same regionals year after year. She competed at other ballet comps (ADC- IBC, UBC, NBC) and while in pre- comp , she placed about the same across comps. Once she became a junior (also the year she developed breasts and became more muscular), she continued to be in top 12 or higher at the other comps but not at YAGP. I know that the pre- comp category is much smaller than junior category and the competition gets harder as they get older but it was very suspicious."

Awards & Scholarships

Awards ceremony

  • "We were not able to watch awards in person as we were told that the venue was not big enough."
  • "Not sure as it was all very rushed due to weather. Some of it was streamed on You Tube."

Won an award or training offer

1
1

Invited to finals

1
1

Award or Training Offer Description

  • "25 % scholarships to several summer Intensives"

Final Comments

Best aspect

  • "None… we would not participate if dancer wasn’t in ensembles that were going"
  • "The rehearsal and ability to learn rep with her peers. Received corrections and got to know her school directors."

Worst aspect

  • "The judges not even pretending to care unless they knew your name or you were a specific size."
  • "Not sure"

Competition culture

  • "Intense but not encouraging. Also, we saw a larger number of dancers who were not competitive at all. It was strange. There were 14 year olds not en pointe with very little ballet experience. It felt like a money grab from YAGP. It was a HUGE competition, so many entries. It seemed like there should be a qualifying process."
  • "Great, everyone was warm and inclusive."

Attendee culture

  • "Fine"
  • "Nothing unusual….nice students"

Suggested changes

  • "Make masterclasses more valued"
  • "Extend the age and keep it instead of switching the age eligibility."

Time worth it

Not Worth It
1
1
Worth Every Minute

Overall rating

1
1

Anything else?

  • "Competition prep may be more valuable than the actual competition, esp for YAGP."
  • "I think it’s invaluable to donut once as a solo, Pas, and or group dance."

Youth America Grand Prix

Philadelphia, PA

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