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PHOTOS: 353 ballerinas dance on tiptoes in one place to break world record

Students from the Youth America Grand Prix break the Guinness World Record for Most Ballerinas En Pointe Simultaneously at The Plaza Hotel on April 17, 2024 in New York City.
Students from the Youth America Grand Prix break the Guinness World Record for Most Ballerinas En Pointe Simultaneously at The Plaza Hotel on April 17, 2024 in New York City.
John Nacion/Getty Images

NEW YORK (AP) — Hundreds of young dancers in white tutus and tightly coiffed hair gathered in New York's Plaza Hotel on Wednesday to break the world record for dancing on pointe in one place.

The spectacle was organized by Youth America Grand Prix, a ballet scholarship program that is celebrating its 25th anniversary with three nights of performances at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.


Students from the Youth America Grand Prix gather to break the Guinness World Record for Most Ballerinas En Pointe Simultaneously at The Plaza Hotel on April 17, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by John Nacion/Getty Images)Students from the Youth America Grand Prix gather to break the Guinness World Record for Most Ballerinas En Pointe Simultaneously at The Plaza Hotel on April 17, 2024 in New York City.John Nacion/Getty Images

The dancers included students aged 9 to 19 who are competing for scholarships as well as professional dancers who are alums of the program.

Tchaikovsky music played as the ballerinas stood on tiptoes and switched their weight rapidly from one foot to the other — a step called bourrée — for a full minute.

A Guinness World Record representative presents Sergey Gordeev and the Youth America Grand Prix with the Guinness World Record for Most Ballerinas En Pointe Simultaneously at The Plaza Hotel on April 17, 2024 in New York City.A Guinness World Record representative presents Sergey Gordeev and the Youth America Grand Prix with the Guinness World Record for Most Ballerinas En Pointe Simultaneously at The Plaza Hotel on April 17, 2024 in New York City.John Nacion/Getty Images

Tina Shi, an adjudicator for Guinness World Records, announced the results: "353, that is a new Guinness world record! Congratulations!"

The New York-based Youth America Grand Prix has operated the world's largest student ballet scholarship competition since 1999.

The previous record for ballerinas on pointe en masse was 306.