Columbus Youth Ballet
Columbus Youth Ballet student Courtney Muscroft, 14, of Worthington, took home top honors at the Youth America Grand Prix regional ballet competition in Chicago on Feb. 2nd. CYB's troupe of 14 dancers also earned the program the prize for Outstanding Ballet School.
The Youth America Grand Prix is an international ballet competition created in 1999 by former Bolshoi Ballet dancers Gennadi and Larissa Saveliev. An international panel of judges participated in the Chicago event, which is the first of seven regional competitions from which dancers ages 8-l9, will qualify for the Grand Prix finals in New York City on May 3-6.
Muscroft, who has studied with CYB since the age of 6, received several perfect scores, said CYB artistic director Shir Lee Wu. Muscroft's cumulative score from both the classical and contemporary portions of the junior competition (ages 12-14) gave her first place overall in that grouping. More than 100 dancers from throughout the U.S. and abroad competed in the Chicago event.
"Courtney only watched the competition the first year and then competed last year," Wu said. Muscroft went on to finish in the top 12 of the junior division at last year's Grand Prix finals.
"With her improvement this year, the judges were so excited," Wu said. "They recommended sending her on to the Paris Opera Ballet School next because she is such a truly classical ballet dancer. This year, she has received full summer school scholarships to School of American Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet.
Also winning individual honors and qualifying for the New York finals were Alexis Britford, 15, of Columbus, who took first place in the senior (ages 15-19) contemporary competition and Tyler Savoie, 14, of Richwood in Union County, who took second place in the junior classical event.
In the ensemble competition, CYB earned first place overall with the five classical and contemporary pieces they presented. Four of the pieces qualified for the Grand Prix final.
Wu is enthusiastic about the young troupe's experience in Chicago.
"We prepared in a very short period of time after our "Nutcracker" performances, and I think the hard work is paying off," Wu said. "The most valuable thing about a competition like this is the feedback we get from judges of this caliber. You just can't get that kind of expertise anywhere else."
For more information about the Youth America Grand Prix competition, visit their Web site at www.yagp.org. •