Inside SAB – New York Junior Session 2022

A ballet student’s first summer intensive is an exciting and special experience but it can also be a bit daunting if it’s the first time the student has been away from home. SAB’s New York Junior Session is designed with young dancers in mind who are ready to get a taste of SAB’s training in an intensive style but aren’t quite ready to spend a full five weeks on their own.

Rather, this week-long program is open to dancers ages 10-12 and provides classes and activities during the day, with students lodging with family or friends off-site at night. It’s an ideal introduction to the Balanchine aesthetic and a condensed summer program in New York City where students can train with full-time SAB faculty members, improve their technique, and make friends with fellow dancers their age from all over the country!

This year’s New York Junior Session was just as exciting as ever, with our dancers taking daily ballet classes as well as variations, pilates, conditioning, and character classes. In addition, students were given tours of the Lincoln Center campus and the SAB residence hall. Plus they took part in enriching activities like a nutrition fair, seminars on pointe shoes, partnering, and physical therapy, as well as Q&A sessions with dancers from New York City Ballet. The week culminated in a celebratory goodbye party where students created memory books, snapped photos, and just enjoyed being in the company of their new friends!

Considering the program is only a week, it’s remarkable how much goes into the schedule and just how much the students grow as dancers. They leave SAB with a stronger grasp on the basic principles of the Balanchine technique, as well as an experience that will prepare them for their next steps into a full-scale ballet summer intensive.