I’m traveling so I’ll make a better post soon, but I didn’t want to miss the date. 2024 marks the 90th anniversary of the founding of the School of American Ballet (SAB), the foundation of classical ballet in the United States with George Balanchine at the helm.

In 1934 the world was still recovering from the Great Depression, and the Art of dance was seen as something that women of good reputations would not embrace. The choreographer joined forces with Lincoln Kirstein and Edward Warburg to create a ballet company, which would eventually become the New York City Ballet, but as Balanchine warned: “First, a school”. And from there came some of the most significant names in American dance.

Molds of Imperial Russia

Using his personal experience, Balanchine, who learned everything he knew at the Imperial Ballet School, knew that to have a company and a style it was the first plié that would achieve his goal. After all, the biggest stars of Russian ballet – and this is still the case today – start at the same school.

Based at the newly created Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the school trains students from the age of six through to professional training. In general, graduates go straight to the corps de ballet at the New York City Ballet or American Ballet Theatre, but also at all other major American companies.

Among the original teaching team, unsurprisingly, were many émigrés fleeing the Russian Revolution, including Balanchine’s ex-wife, the great Alexandra Danilova. The school opened in January 1934, with 32 students. The group’s first performance was in June. In other words, in just six months, it already showed the fruits of focused and dedicated work.

The choosing process

To enter the school, students go through the audition process at different levels, including children, which are now from two to six years old. Most of the students debut on stage in December, in the annual production of The Nutcracker, which includes a large cast of children.

It was Danilova who, from 1965 onwards, managed to hold a workshop with the most advanced students this tradition remained, and from then on, several dancers were selected and invited by professional companies.

Famous Alumni

What surprise would there be if among the alumni were more recent dance legends?

Maria Tallchief, Tanaquil LeClercq, John Clifford, Jacques d’Amboise, Arthur Mitchell, Allegra Kent, Edward Villela, Susanne Farrell, Fernando Bujones, Gelsey Kirkland, Ethan Stiefel and Paloma Herrera are some of the most recognized names.

After school, in 1946 Balanchine and Kirstein realized they were ready to have an American company. They founded the Ballet Society, their fourth attempt together. Within 12 years, Balanchine had in his vision the “baby ballerinas”, the young women now aged 15 who could star in his ballets, in this case, The Four Temperaments and the Spellbound Child.

The performances were for a subscribed audience, not with tickets for everyone. The first performance was made on November 20, 1946, on a smaller stage, in this case at the Central High School of Needle Trades, in New York. Within two years, the Ballet Society changed its name to New York City Ballet, which is the city’s resident company.

And Balanchine was right, school came first. Now the rest is history.

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