Idaho Falls dancers prepare for International competition

Dancers with the Idaho Ballet Theatre in Idaho Falls are preparing for the Youth America Grand Prix competition later this month in New York City.

Think of the competition as the “Olympics of Classical Ballet”, 8 dancers will be taking off in a few weeks for the big event.

“Three years ago they had the opportunity to go….but the next day my daughter had surgery and so we decided not to go” “ever since then, I’ve regretted it,” said Brandy Jensen, Artistic Director of the Idaho Ballet Theatre.

Call it a Cinderella story for these dancers, but for the first time ever they’re all getting the chance to perform in front of ballet companies, schools, and numerous dancers from around the world. Some of them may even get offers to study with schools in the summer or even dance with companies.

Last year Jensen attended the event and was excited Idaho was noted for bringing talent to the competition.

“There are all these dancers from all these obscure countries and then he said such as Idaho and I was like Idaho? That’s me! We are Idaho!,”said Jensen.

The dancers range in age from 14-17, for many of them this will be their first trip to Youth America Grand Prix.