Press releases

MINSK, 17 April (BelTA) - Eight-year-old Belarusian Vera Shpakovskaya placed fifth at Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) in the age group 9-12 years, BelTA learned from honored artist of Belarus Marina Vezhnovets, the head of the ballet school where Vera has been studying ballet since the age of three.

Vera has become the youngest participant of YAGP in this age category. Organizers of the prestigious contest allowed the girl to participate in view of her exceptionally high level of skill.

According to Marina Vezhnovets, during the semifinal in France Vera Shpakovskaya and nine-year-old Anastasia Yarmosh, another student of Marina Vezhnovets Ballet School, were selected to perform in the final in New York. The final took place from 7 to 14 April. The most distinguished panelists, who represent some of the leading dance institutions in the world, evaluated the young dancers during the master classes, performances of classical and modern dance.

Marina Vezhnovets said she did not expect such a good result. Most of the participants were around 11 years old. However, the level of skill of the young Belarusians was extremely high. Vera Shpakovskaya scored 95 points and Anastasia Yarmosh 92. The teacher said she was very pleased with the result. To get the score above 90 points is very difficult. All in all, the competition featured 112 young dancers.

Vera Shpakovskaya will attend training courses in Portugal this summer. The ballet school of Portugal was recognized the best at Youth America Grand Prix this year. “We took part in the contest for the first time. I would like the Belarusian ballet school to win the title of the world’s best ballet school one day. For this we need to field dancers in all the nominations and get the highest points,” Marina Vezhnovets said.

The dancers of the first Belarusian children’s ballet school are getting ready to present their production Sleeping Beauty in Vilnius and two more plays in Minsk. After the summer camp, young Belarusian dancers will take part in a competition in Seoul.

Youth America Grand Prix is the world’s largest global network of dance.