PHOTOS: Inside YAGP’s Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow Gala

Todd Cohen and Rebecca Hessel Cohen. Madison McGaw/BFA.com

Year after year, the Youth America Grand Prix gala fills the David H. Koch Theater with the kind of cross-sector guest list that only ballet can conjure. This year’s Stars of Today Meet the Stars of Tomorrow Gala drew more than 300 guests to the grand Promenade for a an evening of dinner and dancing overseen by creative chair Marcella Guarino Hymowitz (wife of billionaire Gregg S. Hymowitz) and co-chaired by entrepreneur Jordana Blitz, fitness influencer Isaac Boots, Natasha Caronna, Colleen Crivello, Courtney Davis, Dotty Giordano, Aly Gradone, author Sarah Hoover, Lindsay Kraus, Jennifer Lipschultz, Josephine Lee, Kamie Lightburn, Jeffrey O'Brecht, Samantha Pariente, Amanda Perrin, Grace Brea Pomeranc, Emily Reifel, Priya Shukla, Eliza Stein, Daniela W. Tisch, Barbara Tober, Virginia W. Tomenson, Lesley Thompson Vecsler, Rachel Wexler and board chair Lina Wallach.

Hosting the evening was Misty Copeland, the trailblazing former American Ballet Theatre principal who remains one of the most recognizable names in dance, with Tamar Greene, Broadway’s longest-running George Washington in Hamilton. Before the night was out, Greene would bring down the room singing a tiny excerpt from the show—”Remember from here on in, history has its eyes on you”—a line that landed with particular weight in a room full of young dancers who hope to someday follow in their idols’ footsteps.

Misty Copeland and Tamar Greene. Photo: Luke Kwo of LK STUDIO

The evening honored two women whose connections to ballet run deep. LoveShackFancy founder and creative director Rebecca Hessel Cohen received recognition for her work at the intersection of fashion and dance culture, while former ABT dancer Melanie Hamrick—who also contributed an original choreography to the evening’s program, Rainbow, set to a special arrangement of The Rolling Stones’ “Like a Rainbow” by her partner Mick Jagger—was feted for her own contributions to the art form.

For the third consecutive year, guests had the opportunity to bid on absolutely stunning custom-designed pointe shoes as part of the Pointe Project, with all proceeds supporting young dancers pursuing professional careers. This year’s contributing designers included A-Morir, Alice + Olivia, All III, Ally Boggard and Mara Hoffman, Amir Taghi, Carolina Herrera, Hervé Léger by Michelle Ochs, Hope Gangloff, JK5, Lapointe, Libby Klein Art, LoveShackFancy, Michael Kors, Monse and Renna Jewels.

The guest list was a testament to YAGP’s influence. The dance world showed up in force: former ABT principals Stella Abrera, Maxim Beloserkovsky and Irina Dvorovenko mingled with ballet stars Ashley Bouder, Nieve Corrigan, Harrison Ball, Skylar Brandt (who attended with her fiancé Vladimir Rumyantsev), Katya Tolstova and Christian Zimmerman. Chelsea Clinton—a reliable presence at some of New York’s most consequential cultural gatherings—was also there, joined by a contingent that spanned Hollywood, fashion and philanthropy, including Oscar winner F. Murray Abraham, actors Brooke Adams, Tony Shalhoub, Chris Noth, Holt McCallany and rising star Demi Singleton, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills fixture Sutton Stracke, fashion designer Mara Hoffman, businesswoman Dylan Lauren, philanthropist Maria Cristina Anzola, Million Dollar Listing’s Luiza and Steve Gold, philanthropists Barbara and Gary Brandt, influencer Shannon Zhao and entrepreneur Brynn Putnam.

Polina Semionova performing a pas de deux from Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon with partner Martin ten Kortenaar. Photo: Luke Kwo of LK STUDIO

The main event, of course, was the performance, presented by YAGP Founder and Artistic Director Larissa Saveliev to a packed house. Guests cheered as ballerinas appeared on the balconies surrounding the Promenade before the program began in earnest. Nicoletta Manni and Timofej Adrijashenko of La Scala Ballet made their New York debuts in a pas de deux from Mauro Bigonzetti’s Caravaggio (a New York premiere) and in the classical showstopper Grand Pas Classique. Polina Semionova of Berlin State Ballet made a much-anticipated return to the YAGP stage, performing a pas de deux from Sir Kenneth Macmillan’s Manon with partner Martin ten Kortenaar, also of the Berlin State Ballet, as well as a work set to The Dying Swan alongside Braylon Browner of So You Think You Can Dance. Christine Shevchenko and Calvin Royal III of ABT, Reece Clarke of the Royal Ballet and Roman Mejia of New York City Ballet shared the stage for Le Corsaire, and Shevchenko and Royal closed with Hamrick’s Rainbow. As is tradition, 120 YAGP finalists from this year’s international competition took the stage for a Pièce d’Occasion to cap off the evening—a beautiful reminder of exactly what the organization exists to do.