YOUTH AMERICA GRAND PRIX HOLDS FINALS IN NEW YORK.

Founded by former Bolshoi Ballet dancers Larissa Saveliev and Gennadi Saveliev (now with ABT), the Prix is open to students from ages 8 to 19 who compete either in the "classical ballet" or "contemporary dance" categories (the latter includes "contemporary ballet" as well as "modern" and "jazz" dance). In addition to performing, this year's participants attended a Scholarship Audition class and an all-day workshop at the ABT studios.

The Grand Prix, awarded this year to Leyla Fayyaz, a student of Olivier Pardina of Harid Conservatory in Florida, is either a contract to the ABT Studio Company (which she was offered) or $2,000 and a Gold Medal. Other performance awards, underwritten by Grishko, Collage Jewelry and Pointe, offered small cash awards and medals or gift certificates. Fourteen students, including three from the Odessa Ballet School, received scholarships to the ABT Summer Intensive, Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, Boston Ballet Center for Dance Education, Briansky Saratoga Ballet Center, Harid Conservatory, Joffrey Ballet School and Kirov Academy.

Other awards honored teaching excellence. The Outstanding Teacher Award, sponsored by Dance Magazine, was given to Sherry Moray of the Academy of Dance Arts, Downers Grove, Illinois, whose student Heather Chin won a silver medal in the junior division (ages 12-14). The Outstanding School Award was given to the Harid Conservatory, where both Fayyaz and Bo Busby, winner of the Best Male Dancer Award, received their training.

Next year the Youth America Grand Prix will add two locations to its list of regional competitions--Denver, Colorado, and Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

--Lynn Garafola

Chicago--Eddy Ocampo is the new school director for the Giordano Dance Center in Evanston, Illinois. Ocampo, for five years a dancer with the international touring company Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, has been a faculty member of the full-service school since his retirement from dancing in 1999. He is also founder and artistic director of the American Jazz Dance Festival--New Generation in Ekaterinburg, Russia. To contact the Center, call 847/866-9442 or email [e-mail]

Albany, California--"A Developmental Approach to Teaching Dance to Children" is this summer's teacher education workshop by Luna Kids Dance (LKD). Saturday and Sunday, July 15-16, LKD will provide materials for teachers and dancers who wish to learn more about child development principles as they relate to creativity and dance. Class size is limited. Call 510/530-4113 for a brochure and prices.

Durham, North Carolina--Mary Anthony, Jane Dudley, Sophie Maslow and Walter Nicks are honored as the annual Distinguished Teaching Chairs at American Dance Festival 2000. Established in 1991, the awards recognize the dual role of teachers in passing on dance history and tradition and in guaranteeing future creativity in the art form. They commemorate Balasaraswati, one of India's legendary dancers and teachers, and Joy Ann Dewey Beinecke, a dancer and faculty member at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts.

New York--City Center again offers its hands-on teaching course for dancers and actors, "Performing Artists Teaching in K-12 Schools--Part I." The next ten-day intensive course runs from July 24 to 28 and July 31 to August 4; it equips dancers making the transition from performing to teaching with the tools and skills to teach in New York City elementary or secondary public schools. Part II (September to December of 2000) places the artists in a one-on-one mentoring situation with in-service educators to practice and refine their newly acquired skills. Priority registration is given to New York City-based artists. For information or applications, call 212/247-0430, extension 224. Tuition assistance may be available through Career Transition for Dancers; the number is 212/581-7043.

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma--Oklahoma City University believes in the Chinese tradition of honoring artists while they are still living, hence the establishment of its Living Treasure Awards, first presented in 1989. This year's Living Treasure in American Dance Award was presented to 92-year-old tap dancer Leonard Reed, inventor of the Shim Sham Shimmy, now a standard step for all tappers. Jacqui Malone and Robert Reed received the Preservation of Our Heritage-American Dance Awards; Malone is a dance historian and expert on vernacular dance, now associate professor at Queens College. She is a former Guggenheim Fellow and recipient of grants and research awards from the Ford Foundation, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, City University of New York and Queens College and a special citation from the de la Torre Bueno Prize Committee for Steppin' on the Blues. Robert Reed, a protege of Maceo Anderson of the Fabulous Four Step Brothers and an internationally known performer, is also founder and producer of the St. Louis Tap Festival,

St. Louis Hoofer's Club, Robert L. Reed Tap Heritage Institute, a panelist for the Missouri Arts Council and official tap master for the Columbia University Missouri Folk Arts Program. The awards were founded and presented by Dance Department Chair Jo Rowan and Dean of the School of American Dance and Arts Management John Bedford.