15-Year-Old Centralia Dancer Competes in New York

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After taking first place in the Senior Age Division Classical Category at the Seattle regional competition, Giovanny Garibay was the first student from Ballet Northwest to qualify for the Youth America Grand Prix Finals in New York City, held from April 12-19. The 15-year-old sophomore lives in Centralia and balances a busy lifestyle between attending school at Pope John Paul II, playing baritone saxophone in jazz band and dancing for Ballet Northwest in Olympia. Garibay has only been dancing for three years, but he is already excelling in the dance world with his natural talent.

“(The competition) was a lot less stressful than I thought it was going to be,” Garibay said. “Everyone was really nice and supportive… We were all just making jokes backstage and basically comforting each other in a way, making sure that we weren’t stressing out too much about what we were about to do. It was a lot of fun.”

The Youth America Grand Prix is the premiere ballet competition in the country, holding regional competitions all over the world, said Ken Johnson, an artistic director for Ballet Northwest. For the prestigious event, the judges are from the top ballet companies and schools in the world and the competition includes dancers from places including South America, Asia, Australia, Europe and the Middle East. Garibay performed a solo in classical and contemporary, with solo acts being the most competitive, Johnson said. Even at the competition, Garibay was finding ways to improve his performance.

“He has so much natural talent, just the fact that he’s only been dancing for a little over three years is amazing,” Johnson said. “The other aspect is his work ethic, which is so important because there are lots of talented dancers out there but you have to have the work ethic, too. It’s so cool to see the progress he’s made just in the last year and being able to make it to that level of the finals in New York.”

Along with the competition, Garibay also took master classes from top teachers from all over the world and rehearsed with some of the other dancers. There was also a gala held at Lincoln Center of Performing Arts, where the New York City Ballet performs. Garibay performed a solo on stage at the Lincoln Center, which was his favorite part of attending the competition.

“It was amazing because he handled himself so calmly and confidently,” Johnson said. “I was nervous because it’s such a huge stage, such a big, prestigious thing, so it’s really great that he was able to go onto that level of a platform and comfortably and confidently excel.”



Garibay plans on going to college and pursuing dance as a career, with his goal of joining either the Royal Ballet in London or American Ballet Theatre in New York. Johnson appreciates Garibay’s commitment and contagious enthusiasm when it comes to dance.

“We really enjoy working with him and it’s always a pleasure having a student who has so much drive and dedication on top of being naturally talented,” Johnson said. “As a teacher, it’s a great pleasure for all of us.”

Next up for Garibay is performing as the male lead in Ballet Northwest’s “Don Quixote” at the Washington Center. He will also be attending the San Francisco Ballet School this summer, which is one of the top summer programs in the country, Johnson said. Garibay plans to continue making connections with other schools and teachers as he pursues his dream.

“I just really like the way dance makes me feel,” Garibay said. “There’s a sort of freedom that it gives me and I just get really happy when I dance. I know the highlight of my day is always coming to the studio and taking class or rehearsing.”