BBT Dancer Aurora Chinchilla Places First For Senior Classical at YAGP Tampa!

Boca Ballet Theatre is thrilled to share that longtime student Aurora Chinchilla was awarded first place in the Classical Dance category at Youth America Grand Prix in Tampa, Florida! YAGP is a prestigious international student ballet competition and scholarship program that hosts regional auditions around the world. In early January, Aurora traveled to Tampa, where she competed amongst the most talented dancers in the state. Aurora’s performances included Diana’s variation from Diana and Acteon and the Sugar Plum Fairy pas de deux and variation from The Nutcracker.

Aurora began her dance training at BBT when she was 3 years old, taking classes with Ms. Ines as a pink-level student. After years of incredible dedication and hard work, she has been invited to participate in the 2022 YAGP Nervi International Dance Festival in Genoa, Italy. She will also attend American Ballet Theatre’s summer intensive program. It is Aurora’s dream to one day join American Ballet Theatre or The Royal Ballet.

Aurora Chinchilla with coach Daniela Nascimento

Aurora thanks BBT’s directors Jane Tyree and Dan Guin for instilling her love for ballet, offering amazing performance opportunities, and helping her learn what it means to be a part of a ballet company. She also wishes to extend a heartfelt thank you to Ms. Daniela Nascimento, who has been her coach for YAGP. The experience of performing at these competitions has allowed Aurora to push herself to her fullest potential and has opened the door to the many exciting opportunities available to her as a dancer in the future!

We hope you’ll join us in congratulating Aurora on this stellar achievement!