[ellianasdeadpointeshoes]

hiii! one of my fav variations so far is an esmaralda (specifically the one victoria did last year, but danced by seniors, obvs), love the upbeat energy of they one. would you please recommend any others with the same rapid energy? doesn't matter the age group, love to discover others to watch.

So any of the la esmerelda variations.

Theres the popular gala (act 3 ) variation that you've seen crystal huang, sav j, and various other perform

The entrance variation. This is one has also been performed by crystal, sadie daniels and anne takahashi.

Flames of paris ( now dont leave yet) flames of paris is supposed to be fast. Eveeyone does it so slow.

Canary fairy ( underrated almost never done)

Harlequinade- this one cna be a bit droning on the more demure dancer but I promise you will know when its on the right one

3rd and 2nd odalisque again not as fast but are supposed to be lively

Hebe goddess of youth from awakening of flora.

Cupid. Both versions

[oblongmollykong]

Can I add some??

Laurencia!

Kitri act 1 is famous for being fast, but kitri entrance and second bridesmaid don q are maybe more the vibe of that Esmeralda.

Lise La fille mal gardee act 2

1 and 2 Paquita pas de trois variations and the one vikoria papakalodouka did (don’t know what number)

Gamzatti

Marco Spada

Sylvia

tchaikovsky pas de deux variation

Etudes

Tarantella

1st shade from la bayadere. It’s very fast and upbeat but can’t exactly call it lively as the character is supposedly dead. Watch sae maeda do it.

[ellianasdeadpointeshoes]

hi! genuine question, i thought YAGP didnt like for pre comp dancers to be on pointe. Sadie Daniels performed her variation on pointe and i just thought that was frowned upon at YAGP. she is obviously so so deserving of her award but just curious bc I thought YAGP didn’t award pre comp on pointe. do you know if its just discouraged but still awarded or is it case by case basis?

She had 2 variations....

Edit: I didnt mean for this to come off as rude. But yeah she had 2 variations, so if 1 shouldn't count that would mean the other did no??? Its supposed to be frowned upon but clearly its not. They say pre comp is not supposed to compete en pointe before 12. But sadie is 11 and will be en pointe next season so maybe they let it slide.

[oblongmollykong]

The rules say pointe is banned for 10 and under so she is fine to do a variation en pointe at 11 according to the rules (technically the rules say it’s discouraged, but judging wise it’s fine). Idk why they don’t just change the rules to say no pointe in pre comp, but those are the rules as of right now.

[sentintheclowns]

Why is Sadie Daniels allowed to compete en pointe at YAGP if she’s only 11?

you are technically allowed to compete en pointe at any age i think, but i’m pretty sure they won’t count your pointe performance towards awards if you do it in pre competitive (trying to discourage pointe too young). so sadie must’ve placed with the variation she did in flats.

[oblongmollykong]

Pointe is only banned for age 10 and under

[grandmarch]

how is mali's surname pronounced? This queen needs to be properly remembered

Pretty sure it's pronounced right here. There's a video of her saying it, but I don't have it rn

[oblongmollykong]

Nope that’s not it, but here it is: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cvhb6FAJ9aN/?igsh=eWdjZWZzZW84Znhu

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A post shared by New York City Dance Alliance (@nycda)

Learn the queens name

[outstandingdancers]

NYCDA NYC National Outstanding Dancers 2025

Mini:

6th Runner-Up: Lyla Lou Longo (Dance Institute)

5th Runner-Up: Sheridan Kempton (Westchester Dance Academy)

4th Runner-Up: Adalee Grove (The Collective PHX)

3rd Runner-Up: John Berger (Westside Dance Academy) and Adaline Campagnuolo-Butler (Dance Universe)

2nd Runner-Up: Lincoln Rice (West Florida Dance Center) and Sophie Simmons (The Dallas Conservatory)

1st Runner-Up: Grayson Miller (Savage Dance Company) and Sadie Daniels (Elite Classical Coaching)

Winners: Nolayn Williams (X-Quisite House Of Dance) and Mila Simunic (Legacy Dance)

Junior:

6th Runner-Up: Cecilia Figueroa (Prestige Academy Of Dance)

5th Runner-Up: Ariana Nicozisis (Dance Exposure 2)

4th Runner-Up: Vivienne Greco (The Dallas Conservatory)

3rd Runner-Up: Va'khyra Newborne (Jean Leigh Academy of Dance)

2nd Runner-Up: Anthony Strazza (New York Performing Arts Center) and Aubry Mason (Mid-Atlantic Center For The Performing Arts)

1st Runner-Up: Alec Tini (Flash Pointe Dance) and Izzy Pascuale (Performance Edge 2)

Winners: Landon Carlberg (Artistic Fusion) and Alexis Austin (Brava Dance Center)

[outstandingdancers]

NYCDA NYC Nationals - Junior Spirit Award

I need you all to watch this because I was actually crying:

Joe Lanteri awards the Junior Spirit Award to Warner Williams of Namari Dance Center during the Junior Gala at the NYCDA NYC Nationals in 2025.

[artisticlegshake]

JUNIOR FEMALE BEST DANCE TOP 3:

Lucia Piedrahita - CLUB DANCE

Malia Scott - LARKIN

Mali Photnetrakhom - CLUB DANCE

[guyfierip21]

the absolute DIVA energy

[sentintheclowns]

YAGP FINALS 2025 PROGRAM DETAILS

since yagp never posted the program publicly, here are some notable dancers and their numbers! (i don't think i have the FINAL schedule, because there were a couple more competitors that i saw on the yagp instagram stories/posts!)

Pre-Competitive Group 1 (Classical & Contemporary Mon)

#9 Matinly Conrad - Ave Maria (Contemporary Only)

#15 Mina Terry - Three Odalisque Le Corsaire - Race Against Time

#17 Sylvie Win Szyndlar - Graduation Ball - Solitude

#36 Evie McCune-Barrett - Nocture Rouge (Contemporary Only)

#44 Calla Massey - Kitri Act III Don Quixote - Sanctuary

#50 Emilia Padesky - I've Waited (Contemporary Only)

#58 Gigi Shea - Deepest Regard (Contemporary Only)

#59 Mila Simunic - Gravity (Contemporary Only)

Pre-Competitive Group 2 (Classical & Contemporary Monday)

#62 Mika Florez - The Rise (Contemporary Only)

#78 Chloe Fan - Graduation Ball - Hyperfocus

#81 Lexie Chanstrom - Rewind (Contemporary Only)

#87 Savannah Jackson - La Esmeralda - Veiled

#88 Sadie Daniels - La Fille Mal Gardee - Solo 7

#91 Stella Brinkerhoff - La Fille Mal Gardee - Dreaming

Pre-Competitive Group 3 (Classical Mon - Contemporary Tues)

#111 Aliya Yen - Before It Ends (Contemporary Only)

#125 Harper Schwalb - Raymonda Act I - In The Light Of The Moon

#127 Scarlett Manzel - A Thousand Steps (Contemporary Only)

#129 Bella Linman - Lilac Fairy Sleeping Beauty - Black Swan

#133 Kaia Erby - Satanella - The Pull

#142 Violet Marti - Raymonda - Interstellar

Pre-Competitive Group 4 (Classical Mon - Contemporary Tues)

#172 Lucia Piedrahita - La Esmeralda - Mad Virtuoso

#201 Lisbon Hendrick - Peasant Pas Giselle - Effervescent

Junior Classical Group 1 (Classical Tues - Contemporary Wed)

#306 Athena Hu - Raymonda - Passing Of Time

#328 Elsa Peng - Harlequinade - Weathered

#335 Ellary Day Szyndlar - Paquita - Chrysalis

#338 Victoria Carrillo - Harlequinade - Kolysanka

Junior Classical Group 2 (Classical Tues - Contemporary Wed)

#368 Katarina Carney - La Esmeralda - Midnight Waltz

Junior Classical Group 3 (Classical Wed - Contemporary Tues)

#402 Madelyn Murphy - Pas D'Esclave - The Final Farewell

#420 Isabella Tjoe - Satanella - Nightfall

#421 Savannah Manzel - La Fille Mal Gardee - Diversion

#422 Fiona Wu - Queen Of The Dryads - The Sting Of Loss

Junior Classical Group 4 (Classical Wed - Contemporary Tues)

#435 Kya Massimino - La Fille Mal Gardee - No Other Path

#465 Anjali Dyen - Harlequinade - Longing

#468 Kiera Sun - Raymonda - Seeing Red

#475 Chloe Helimets - Grand Pas Classique - The Muse

Senior Classical Group 1 (Classical Tues - Contemporary Wed)

#616 Lena Garcia - Le Corsaire - Moment In Memory

Senior Classical Group 2 (Classical Tues - Contemporary Thurs)

#650 Macie Miersch - Kitri Act III - Where Light And Dark Meet

Senior Men Classical Group 1 (Classical Thurs- Contemporary Wed)

#818 Natan Grzybowski - Talisman - Solo #75

Senior Men Classical Group 2 (Classical Thurs- Contemporary Wed)

#847 Max Berg - Basilio Don Quixote - Erupting Light

Contemporary Pas De Deux (Tues)

#903 Sadie & Nicholas - Prelude To A Soul (Elite Classical Coaching)

#910 Savannah & Max - Elegiya (Elite Classical Coaching)

#912 Erik & Laci - To The Moon (Larkin Dance Studio)

Classical Pas De Deux Group 1 (Wed)

#919 Sadie & Nichloas - Coppelia (Elite Classical Coaching)

#932 Kiera & Liam - Grand Pas Classique (Dmitri Kulev)

Classical Pas De Deux Group 2 (Fri)

#938 Savannah & Max - La Esmeralda (Elite Classical Coaching)

Ensemble Group 1 (Thurs)

#963 Ellary Day & Sylvie Win - Mercy On Me (Master Ballet)

#977 Fiona Wu & Raina Wu - Breaking In The Dark (Yoko's)

Ensemble Group 9 (Sun)

#1174 Kya & Lena - Lost Voices (Hollywood Ballet Academy)

[oblongmollykong]

I think the winners of both NYCDA and TDA are equally talented dancers. You have to be great to win at either one. They are just usually a different type of dancer. Similarly, I think the quality of dancer to win something like radix and Velocity are similar as well. They take the “top” dancer that checks all their boxes. This might make it just as hard. If you ask someone like Emily Polis, she might say that TDA is harder given then fact that she won Radix and didn’t make top 20 at TDA. And then there are others that made top 10 TDA but didn’t crack the top 15 at Radix. So it’s super subjective and I wouldn’t say any are harder than the others because it’s different for all dancers and it’s just based off of what that competition is looking for. I hope that makes sense.

I think this is basically what I said lol

[oblongmollykong]

Is TDA or nycda harder to win or are they really different?

They are really different and both as competitive imo. Few dancers are versatile enough to always do equally well at both (nationals ODs getting TDA top 20, tda winners not making dance offs at nycda nationals etc) as each weights specific aspects differently. When you get to that level of competition its all so close. I bet if TDA used NYCDA’s process, we would have different winners and vice versa.

[lovelettertop21]

[carmodance]

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A post shared by PRESS PLAY (@pressplay)

Excited to be a part of this. Dance IS BACK

[ellianasdeadpointeshoes]

You’d think she’d place higher than that considering she moved to full time ballet training

Well in Italy she placed 12 classical and 2nd in contemporary. That was 3 months after moving to ecc. Now, here we are 3 months (almost) after that, and she's placed higher. I think you people need help. You people are unhappy and jealous, and it makes me sick.

And once again top 3 in both categories is amazing btw. Like not everyone places in both.

[oblongmollykong]

Dallas is one of the toughest comps in all of yagp. Doing that as your only US regional is brave. A lot of the dancers we know travel to the small less competitive cities to chase the hope awards/ygps. Placing top 3 at yagp Dallas at all is an incredible achievement

[birdgowrl]

so happy that she’s okay! this is so scary :( wishing her a speedy recovery 🤍

[p21jazzqueens]

how on earth do you get that pronunciation from that spelling????

it’s irish!

[oblongmollykong]

Nope, Scottish. Irish spelling would be ceili

[p21jazzqueens]

With all this chatter about Ceilidh (so happy to hear she will be okay❤️ and cannot imagine how scary that was), I just found out her name is pronounced kaylee. Is Ceilidh how you spell it in a different language? Or is it Irish? Because I know they have some wild pronunciations for names spelling differently. I’ve just never heard it spelled that way and I can imagine any time someone is reading off her name anywhere the pronunciation is always being botched

it’s irish! and yeah it’d probably a struggle for dance announcers

[oblongmollykong]

It’s Scottish Gaelic. Which is similar to Irish. But ceilidh in Irish is called ceili. It’s a kind of communal folk dancing event. It happens at new year’s, weddings, and instead of school dances, and at special events. It rhymes with the Scottish girl’s name Eilidh