YAGP BOARD OF DIRECTORS  
         
  Richard Osterweil   Chair  
         
  Barbara Brandt    Chair Emeritus  
  Linda K. Morse    Chair Emeritus  
         
  Larissa Saveliev   Artistic Director, Founder  
         
  José Manuel Carreño      
  Joanna Fisher      
  Sergey Gordeev      
  Gabriel Hoffmann      
  Marcella Guarino Hymowitz      
  Susan Jaffe      
  Carrie Kaufman      
  Jonathan Kaufman      
  Josephine Lee      
  Kamie Lightburn      
  B Michael      
  Hee Seo      
  Lesley Thompson Vecsler      
  Nan Willison      
         
  TRUSTEES EMERITI  
         
  Linda Fell      
  Brian Heidtke      
  Judith M. Hoffman      
  Eric Jorgensen      
         
  INTERNATIONAL BOARD OF ADVISORS  
         
  Ana Aragonés      
         
  HONORARY BOARD  
         
  Nigel Lythgoe      
  Natalia Makarova      
  Twyla Tharp      
  Jorge Viladoms      
         
 

 
 

Gennadi Saveliev

Larissa Saveliev

Artistic Director and Co-Founder

Larissa Saveliev is the Founder and Artistic Director of Youth America Grand Prix. Born in Moscow, she trained at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy and danced with the Stanislavsky Ballet and the Bolshoi Ballet, before emigrating to the United States in 1994. She went on to perform with the Los Angeles Classical Ballet, New Jersey Ballet and Tulsa Ballet, and began an active teaching career. In 1999, together with Gennadi Saveliev, Larissa founded Youth America Grand Prix, in order to fill the void in connecting students and teachers with school and company directors, and to provide continuing educational and professional opportunities to dancers worldwide. Larissa Saveliev is the 2014 recipient of the Dance Magazine Award, recipient of the 2014 “Educator of the Year” award from the Russian-American Foundation. In 2015 she was recognized by the Society of Foreign Consuls in New York for her Outstanding Achievement and Contribution to Community Improvement. In 2017 Larissa Saveliev was named one of the top 25 most influential people in dance by Dance Magazine, and is a part of the Dance Magazine Advisory Board.

 

Gennadi Saveliev

Gennadi Saveliev

Artistic Director and Co-Founder

Gennadi Saveliev trained with the great master teacher, Pyotr Pestov at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, and with Stanley Williams at the School of American Ballet. Mr. Saveliev was a member of Bolshoi Ballet before he joined American Ballet Theatre in 1996, upon winning a Silver Medal at the New York International Ballet Competition. In his 16-year tenure as a soloist with American Ballet Theatre, Mr. Saveliev has toured extensively and appeared as a Guest Artist in galas around the world. In 1999, together with Larissa Saveliev, he co-founded Youth America Grand Prix. He has taught at The Royal Ballet School, San Francisco Ballet School, Zurich Dance Academy and other prominent dance institutions around the world. He currently serves as a Company Teacher for the American Ballet Theatre, and appears as a Guest Master Teacher in the United States and internationally.