For the past week, young ballet performers have been giving it their all. The world’s largest network of dancers, the Youth America Grand Prix, had gathered the most promising names in ballet from around the world to work with masters to perfect their craft. The result? A two-hour opus unfolding on the David H. Koch Theater stage, complete with pliés, pirouettes, and pas de deux. The select group of dancers came from all over, performing alongside established dancers from the American Ballet Theatre, Bolshoi Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, and Mariinsky Ballet, just to name a few.

Some dancers were just 5 years old. “I am in awe of this organization,” the evening’s host, Hoda Kotb, told the sold-out theater. “Sometimes all you need is one person who thinks you can do it, or one person who brings you out of the shadows and pushes you right out here on center stage. Well, that is exactly what this organization does. I’ve been watching the incredible dancers backstage, and they have just moved me to my core.”
 
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