Annual Alumni Celebration 2026
Every year, on the Friday evening of Workshop Weekend, alumni from across generations gather at the School to toast the accomplishments of our performing students and to reconnect as a community. The evening has become a beloved SAB tradition, and there is room for everyone. We hope that you will join us for this year’s Annual Alumni Celebration and celebrate our two new 2026 Alumni Distinction Award recipients.
We look forward to welcoming you back to SAB on June 5!
This event open to alumni and their guests who are 21 years of age and older.
2026 Event Details
Friday, June 5, 2026
7:00 PM
Liz Armstrong Studio
The School of American Ballet
Tickets start at $50 and are fully tax-deductible.
This year, we’re excited to introduce a newly designed set of ticket options, offering more ways to experience the evening. Guests may choose from our Emerald, Ruby, and Diamond tiers—each providing a distinct level of access and engagement, from event admission to exclusive gifts and a special invitation to the Workshop Dress Rehearsal at 4 PM on Friday, June 5. With limited availability for our Ruby and Diamond packages (50 tickets), we encourage early reservations to take full advantage of these enhanced experiences in support of the Alumni Scholarship Fund.
All proceeds will go towards the Alumni Scholarship Fund, helping the next generation of aspiring dancers. If you can’t attend the cocktail party but want to be a part of this community’s impact, we invite you to make a fully tax-deductible gift to the Alumni Scholarship Fund. Every amount makes a difference, and our students are so grateful for your generosity.
All reception guests must be 21 or older. Note that Workshop Performances tickets are available to purchase now. Here is the link.
Alumni of Distinction Awards
The School of American Ballet proudly celebrates that the accomplishments of its alumni community are extraordinary and worthy of recognition. Therefore, in 2024, SAB established an annual Alumni of Distinction Award.
These annual awards will be a powerful storytelling tool as we aim to not only lift our alumni’s achievements to a larger audience, but also to illuminate the influence and impact that they have on the communities and cultures of their lives. The awards will also give the School the important opportunity to explore openly how a foundation in classical ballet training at SAB contributes to broadly defined success both on stage and off.
We are deeply honored to announce that the 2026 recipients of SAB’s Annual Alumni of Distinction Award will be Nancy Reynolds and Victoria Simon.
Friedman, Simon, Reynolds, and Schorer (Left to Right) in Swan Lake.
Photo by Martha Swope, 1958
Nancy Reynolds has dedicated her life to documenting and safeguarding the works and legacy of George Balanchine, shaping how generations of dancers, scholars, and audiences understand and experience his artistry. After training at SAB and dancing with the New York City Ballet from 1957–61, Ms. Reynolds pursued studies in art history at Columbia University, translating her passion for dance into the worlds of publishing and scholarship. Her editorial and authorial work includes Repertory in Review: Forty Years of the New York City Ballet and No Fixed Points: Dance in the Twentieth Century, co-authored with Malcolm McCormick – a sweeping, essential history of dance in performance.
Since 1994, Ms. Reynolds has served as Director of Research for The George Balanchine Foundation. She directs the Balanchine Video Archives, which records original cast members coaching roles on camera to preserve nuance, intention, and stylistic detail that cannot be captured in notation alone. Her stewardship of archives, catalogues, articles, and editorial projects has advanced the transmission and integrity of Balanchine’s repertoire for future generations of artists and scholars.
Victoria Simon has devoted her life to the preservation and transmission of George Balanchine’s choreography. While she was a student at SAB, she was a Candy Cane in the 1954 premiere of Balanchine’s The Nutcracker — an early connection to the repertory she would later help safeguard worldwide. At 17, she became an apprentice with the New York City Ballet and, just two days after her 18th birthday, was invited to join the company. She was promoted to soloist in 1961 before becoming one of the earliest dancers personally entrusted by Mr. Balanchine to re-stage his ballets.
In 1965, recognizing her musicality and command of the repertory, Mr. Balanchine asked Ms. Simon to stage The Nutcracker in Cologne, Germany — a pivotal moment that launched her international staging career. Today, as Ballet Mistress for The George Balanchine Trust, she has staged more than 25 ballets for over 80 companies across every continent in the world. Her reverence for the choreography and meticulous attention to musical and stylistic detail have made her one of the most respected transmitters of Balanchine’s work, ensuring its vitality and relevance for generations to come.
Update your Contact Info
Did you find us via social media? Do you want to receive regular updates directly from the School? Update your contact information below and let us know what you’ve been up to. We’d love to hear from you and include you in future alumni communications.
View Previous Recipients
2025 Recipient
Debra Austin is a trailblazing icon of American ballet. She began dancing at age 8 and was awarded a scholarship to the School of American Ballet at age 12. When George Balanchine invited her to join the New York City Ballet at age 16 in 1971, she made history as its first Black female dancer. During her time at NYCB, she left her mark on some of American ballet’s most esteemed works, originating roles in both Balanchine and Robbins choreography. In 1980, she joined Zurich Ballet and toured the stages of Europe before making history again in 1982, when she became a Principal dancer with the Pennsylvania Ballet. She was the first Black woman to hold that title in a major American company.
Although she retired from dancing in 1990, Ms. Austin’s dedication to the art of ballet and the generations of artists behind her has remained steadfast. She became a Founding Member of Carolina Ballet in 1997 and has served the organization as a ballet mistress for nearly three decades, sharing her expertise and exuberance with countless dancers. As a founding member of SAB’s Alumni Advisory Committee since 2015, Ms. Austin continues to inspire future ballet dancers in their ambitions for professional dance careers.
We join the ballet community at-large in recognizing the significance of Ms. Austin’s career and her inspiring contributions to American ballet.
2024 Recipients (Inaugural)
Rosalie O’Connor began her training at SAB in 1982, and in 1987, she joined the ranks at American Ballet Theatre, dancing with the Company until she retired in 2002. Upon her retirement, she became an Associate Staff Photographer at ABT and launched Rosalie O’Connor Photography.
Since 1996, Rosalie has developed a prolific body of photographic work, and her services are in high demand. Her images have appeared in Vogue, Vanity Fair, The New York Times, and most dance periodicals. Rosalie’s photographs have been displayed in solo exhibitions at Lincoln Center and at The John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.
For more than twenty years, Rosalie has beautifully captured life at SAB in the studios, on the stage, and in our hallways. And since the inception of our Capstone Program, she has graciously supported our auditioning students by providing them with professional audition photography services.
Hinton Battle (1956-2024) was an actor, a singer, a dancer and a choreographer. He began training at SAB in 1970, but his professional career began at 18 when he made his Broadway debut as the Scarecrow in the original production of The Wiz. As his career progressed, Hinton won three Tony Awards, each for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical.
Hinton’s career was impressive and expansive, and his work appeared on and off-Broadway, in television, film, music and literature. He even returned briefly to ballet after establishing his Broadway career, dancing with Lyric Opera Ballet in Chicago and Dance Theater of Harlem.
The Hinton Battle Dance Academy was in operation in Japan from 2017-2022, and in his memory, all 41 Broadway theaters dimmed their marquee lights on March 12, 2024.
Hinton was a founding member of SAB’s Alumni Advisory Committee on Diversity and Inclusion.