The
School of American Ballet (SAB) is one of the most
famous classical ballet schools in
the world and is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a leading
international ballet company based at the Lincoln
Center for the Performing Arts
in New York City. The school trains pupils
from the age of 6 years, with professional vocational ballet
training for students aged 11-18 years. Graduates of the school
achieve employment with leading ballet companies worldwide, most
notably in the United States with New York City Ballet,
American Ballet Theatre,
Boston Ballet, and
San Francisco Ballet. The school was
founded by the renowned Russian born
choreographer George Balanchine, and the philanthropist
Lincoln Kirstein. Their intention
was to establish a major classical ballet company in America, which
would lead to the formation of today's New York City Ballet. The
school was formed to train and feed dancers into the company. It
opened at 637 Madison Avenue with 32 pupils on January 2,
1934.
Program
Students are chosen through audition. Children's division auditions
for the 2007-08 school year included six-year-olds for the first
time; previously, the youngest students were required to turn eight
in the year they began their studies. Children in the younger
divisions are able to perform in various ballets with the company
including George Balanchine's famous
The Nutcracker,
A Midsummer Night's Dream,
Peter Martins's
Swan Lake, and
The Sleeping Beauty. The
most advanced students perform in a workshop at the end of each
year where the heads of many prestigious ballet companies choose
several of them to join their companies, including
New York City Ballet.
The school also hosts a summer program, where it selects about 200
dance students from across the country to train for 5 weeks. This
summer program is one of the most selective ballet summer programs
in the country. During the summer program, students are divided
into six girls' classes and two boys' classes. Girl classes are as
follows: first division through fifth; B1; B2; C1; C2, and D. Boys
classes: boys one through four (boys stay in the same level for two
years before moving to the next); intermediate men; advanced men;
second advanced men. A small group of students from the summer
program may be invited to enroll in SAB's winter term.
Faculty
The current faculty of School of American Ballet includes, among
others,
Peter Martins,
Kay Mazzo,
Peter Frame,
Katrina Killian,
Darci Kistler,
Olga
Kostritzky,
Andrei
Kramarevsky,
Sean Lavery,
Susan Pilarre,
Lisa de Ribere,
Suki
Schorer,
Jock Soto,
Jonathan Stafford,
Sheryl Ware, and
Garielle Whittle. Former faculty include
Richard Rapp,
Athena Keen and
Elizabeth Walker.
Alumni
According to SAB, alumni of the School of American Ballet make up
over 90% of New York City Ballet. Some alumni include
Maria Tallchief,
Tanaquil LeClerq,
Jacques d'Amboise,
Allegra Kent,
Arthur Mitchell,
Patricia McBride,
Edward Villella,
Suzanne Farrell,
Kay
Mazzo,
Helgi Tomasson,
Fernando Bujones,
Gelsey Kirkland,
Heather Watts,
Merrill Ashley,
Jock
Soto,
Peter Boal,
Victoria Rowell,
Kyra Nichols,
Darci
Kistler,
Patrick Bissell,
Damian Woetzel,
Ethan Stiefel,
Wendy
Whelan, and
Paloma Herrera as
well as celebrities
Sean Young,
Ashlee Simpson,
Macaulay Culkin,
Lawrence Leritz,
Vanessa Carlton,
Megan Mullally,
Sarah Jessica Parker, and
Madeleine Martin.
Miscellaneous
An annual "Winter Ball" is held every year in order to raise school
funds. Students show up at the end of the event.
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