Winter Term Auditions for 6-10 Year olds

Auditions will take place at the School of American Ballet’s headquarters at Lincoln Center in Manhattan on the dates listed below. Applicants must sign up for specific time slots starting after 3pm on the audition date that corresponds with their age. Pre-registration is required for these auditions and begins in mid-February.  There is an audition fee for all auditions at SAB’s headquarters.  Please join our mailing list to be notified when audition pre-registration is open. 

Each spring, SAB holds auditions for 6-10 year olds at locations in NYC boroughs/neighborhoods. In 2025, SAB will hold community auditions in Harlem, Queens, Bronx, Brooklyn and the Lower East Side on weekends in April. Detailed date and location information will be posted in early 2025.

VIEW OUR AUDITION FAQ

• Pre-Registration: Pre-registration is required for all auditions taking place at SAB’s Lincoln Center headquarters. Pre-registration is optional but strongly recommended for those who wish to audition at a Community Audition location.
• Audition dress: Children auditioning for girls classes should wear a leotard or swimsuit; children auditioning for boys classes should wear a t-shirt and shorts or tights/leggings. (no long/baggy pants) Children should arrive with audition clothes underneath street clothes as there may be limited access to changing rooms and bathrooms depending upon the audition location.
• Age eligibility: Children must be 6 years old by September 1 to audition and enroll for the Winter Term beginning in September of the same year. Children must be no older than 10 on the day of their audition.
• Audition age groups: Children should audition in the age group/audition that corresponds with their age at the time of the audition. Five year olds, who will be 6 by September 1, 2025, should audition with 6 year olds.
• Audition Fees: Audition fees are non-refundable. No exceptions will be made for children who miss their audition appointments, regardless of the reason, or for children who attend a Community Audition after first registering for a paid audition at SAB.
• Tuition assistance is available.
• Winter Term classes begin in mid-September.
• SAB’s training program for children is intended for students who permanently reside in the New York City area. Students who do not live in the tri-state region within easy commuting distance of SAB should not audition for SAB’s Winter Term. Instead, students aged 10 and up from outside the local area should consider auditioning for our annual summer programs each year in January. SAB’s summer programs are designed to enable non-local students to experience SAB’s training and to be considered for an invitation to train in our Winter Term once they are old enough for our residential program (beginning at age 14 or older). For more information about our New York Junior Session, click here.

The School of American Ballet is widely regarded as the leading ballet school in America and is known for the excellence of its classical training as established by SAB’s co-founder George Balanchine. During the School’s September to June Winter Term, accepted students will have the opportunity to learn the fundamentals of ballet from SAB’s excellent faculty in state-of-the-art studios at Lincoln Center. In the School’s Children’s Division, 6-8 year olds take two 60-minute classes per week, and 9-10 year olds take at least three 90-minute classes per week. Beginning around age 9, students are also eligible to be cast in New York City Ballet productions that feature roles for children—most notably the beloved holiday classic George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker®.