2 Japanese ballet dancers place 1st in youth competition

Two female Japanese ballet dancers placed first in their age groups at a major international youth competition in the United States, the organizer said Sunday.Natsuki Sugimoto, 12, from the central Japan city of Yokkaichi, won the junior age division for girls aged 12 to 14 at the Youth America Grand Prix.In the "pre-competition" age division for girls between 9 and 11, Hana Terada, 11, from Kawasaki, near Tokyo, ranked first in the classical dance category at the event known as the world's largest student ballet scholarship competition.For the pre-competitive age division, a distinction is…READ FULL ARTICLE