School of American Ballet

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 students from the age of 6, with professional vocational ballet training for students aged 11-18. 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 Russo-Georgian-born [[choreography|choreographer]] [[George Balanchine]], and the philanthropist [[Lincoln Kirstein]] in 1934. Among the teachers there were many Russian emigres who fled the Revolution: [[Pierre Vladimiroff]], [[Felia Doubrovska]], [[Anatole Oboukhoff]], [[Ludmilla Schollar]], [[Antonina Toumkovskaya]] etc. 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 students on January 2, 1934. In 2009, the School was awarded the [[National Medal of Arts]] by President [[Barack Obama]]. ==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 (ballet)|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 (dancer)|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 (dancer)|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]], [[Alan_Bergman_(dancer)|Alan Bergman]] and [[Paloma Herrera]] as well as celebrities [[Sean Young]], [[Ashlee Simpson]], [[Macaulay Culkin]], [[Lawrence Leritz]], [[Vanessa Carlton]], [[Megan Mullally]], [[Sarah Jessica Parker]], [[Alex Westerman]] and [[Madeleine Martin]]. ==== 2006 ==== {{col-begin}} {{col-2}} * [[Kathryn Morgan]] * [[Tabitha Rinko-Gay]] {{col-2}} * [[Anthony Huxley]] * [[David Prottas]] {{col-end}} ==== 2010 ==== {{col-begin}} {{col-2}} * [[Jillian Harvey]] * [[Elizabeth Wallace (dancer)|Elizabeth Wallace]] {{col-2}} * [[Spartak Hoxha]] * [[Alexander Peters (dancer)|Alexander Peters]] {{col-end}} == Reviews == {{col-begin}} {{col-2}} * [http://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/21/movies/dance-review-a-classroom-display-no-a-game-of-mirrors.html NY Times], ''[[Scènes de ballet (Wheeldon)|Scènes de ballet]]'', [[Anna Kisselgoff]], May 21^{st, 1999 * [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/30/arts/dance/30ball.html NY Times], ''[[Scènes de ballet (Wheeldon)|Scènes de ballet]]'', [[Jennifer Dunning]], May 30th, 2006 * [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/07/arts/dance/07work.html NY Times], ''[[Scènes de ballet (Wheeldon)|Scènes de ballet]]'', [[John Rockwell]], June 7th, 2006 {{col-2}} *[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/04/arts/dance/04scho.html NY Times], [[Alastair Macaulay]], June 4th, 2008 *[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/12/arts/dance/12next.html NY Times], ''[[Circus Polka]]'' and ''[[Fanfare (ballet)|Fanfare]]'', [[Alastair Macaulay]], June 12th, 2008 * [http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/11/arts/dance/11workshop.html NY Times], ''[[Scènes de ballet (Wheeldon)|Scènes de ballet]]'', [[Roslyn Sulcas]], June 10th, 2010 {{col-end}} ==Articles== {{col-begin}} {{col-2}} *[http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70E1FF8395D167A93C2A8178DD85F408385F9 Sunday NY Times, June 10, 1934] {{col-2}} *[http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00D17FE3958177A93C3A8178DD85F408385F9 NY Times, June 11, 1934] {{col-end}} ==Articles== * [http://news.yahoo.com/photos/ss/events/lf/050907balletaudition/im:/070508/ids_photos_ts/r3587302711.jpg;_ylt=AksX2CnZLW5dBry4vam2aVl.KcMA Photo slide show of children's division auditions for 2007-08 school year] ===Obituaries=== *[http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70614FF3F5D0C728EDDA00894D9484D81 NY Times, Felia Doubrovska by [[Jack Anderson (dance critic)|Jack Anderson]], September 21, 1981] ==External links== ** [http://www.sab.org/schooloverview.htm School Overview from the website] {{Ballet}} {{coord missing|New York City}}}