Utah Ballet Students Compete at the Youth America Grand Prix

Last week, UofU student Danielle Lee Dreis competed in the Youth America Grand Prix held at the Marriott Center for Dance. She writes about her experience below:

Youth America Grand Prix is the world’s largest ballet competition providing scholarships, training, and experience to dancers from all over the world. It was wonderful to participate for my last year as a senior in the 15-19-year-old age category of this competition. It was even more of an honor to represent the University of Utah and receive endless support from fellow students and faculty. What a privilege it was to dance at our very own Marriott Center for Dance and take master classes from truly incredible, well renowned teachers.

This opportunity allowed me to push myself daily in classes and work extra hard during additional rehearsal hours. I was able to experience improvement and experiment with personal artistic choices in each of my solo variations. I performed a contemporary solo titled “Clockwork” choreographed by myself, a variation from Pharaoh's Daughter, and Gamzatti from La Bayadere. The University of Utah staff was amazing in all aspects of assisting me in the success of this competition and I cannot thank them enough. The music quality, costumes provided, and feedback from instructors were all valuable in preparation for YAGP.

It means a lot to me personally to have received a ranking of Top 12 classical senior division in Salt Lake City, Utah this YAGP 2018 regional semi-finals. This recognition was confirmation to me that personal motivation and support can feed success. After dedicating many hours to practicing and applying myself, it is confirmed that hard work will never betray you.