National Audition Tour
SAB's National Audition tour visits about a dozen cities across the U.S. annually to audition students for the Summer Course. Click here to see the tour schedule.Summer Course FAQ
No. All students must be enrolled for the five-week program.
All students must audition for the Summer Course.
All students within the continental USA must audition in person in one of our National Audition Tour cities or at SAB in New York. Click here for more information about Summer Course admission.
Students living outside the continental United States may submit a VHS or DVD between December 1 and March 1 instead of auditioning in person. Click here for more information about auditions for Foreign Students.
Students should not audition more than once per year for the Summer Course. However, students may audition in successive years for the Summer Course whether or not they were accepted previously as long as they still meet the age requirements.
No. There are distinctly separate auditions for Winter Term and Summer Course. A small percentage of Summer Course students are invited to enroll in the School’s Winter Term, or students may audition specifically for Winter Term at SAB in September.
Yes. A $35 application fee is payable in cash, money order or check at the time of audition.
Applicants must show a copy of the birth certificate when registering for the audition. Headshots, dance photos, and resumes are not necessary and will not be accepted. Girls should bring pointe shoes.
I don’t have my birth certificate to show at the audition. Are there other acceptable forms of identification?
Yes. A passport is acceptable. However, a birth certificate or passport are the only proofs of birth that qualify. Applicants will not be permitted to audition without showing one of these two documents.
If I’m one age at the time of the audition and will be a different age during the Summer Course, with which age group should I audition?
Audition with the age group that includes your age at the time of the audition.
No. Students accepted for the Summer Course should advise SAB if they will require housing in the Residence Hall or if they plan to be day students.
For the National Audition Tour, applicants simply arrive at the site on the audition date at least one hour in advance of their audition time. Applicants who wish to audition at SAB in New York must arrange an appointment in advance (sab.org/summercourse/summeradmission/auditionsatsab).
Girls may wear any color leotard; pink tights and pink shoes are preferred; no skirts or warm-ups in the class. Boys may wear any solid-color t-shirt without words or pictures; black tights and black or white shoes are preferred; no warm-ups in the class.
SAB’s auditions are in the form of an abbreviated ballet technique class. Girls and boys audition together. Girls will have pointe work, and boys will have battu and air turns at the end of class.
First and foremost, the School of American Ballet looks at each applicant as an individual. The School is selective in admitting students; and enrollment is by audition only. Applicants must be young enough to derive the maximum benefit from their training, enjoy excellent health and have an anatomical structure suited to the demands of classical dance: a well-proportioned, flexible, coordinated body, legs that easily adopt the turned-out condition, and a high instep. They must also possess musical aptitude and a natural gift for movement. Applicants for the Summer Course must be intermediate or advanced students who, in addition to the above, are at a stage of technical advancement proportionate to their age.
All applicants are notified of the results in writing one week after their audition date. Accepted students are notified within three days.
No. Individual audition performance critiques are not provided.
SAB generally requires that summer students be enrolled for the entire five weeks.
2009 Summer Tuition is $2,455; 2009 Room and Board in SAB’s Residence Hall is $2,650.
Yes.
For the Summer Course, scholarships are awarded on a case-by-case basis.
All girls must be prepared to take pointe classes every day. Girls assigned to Groups 4 to 6 are required to take all of their ballet classes in pointe shoes.
Students in all levels take two dance classes each day. (Ballet Technique, Variations, Pointe, Character or Adagio). Additional courses, such as Pilates Instruction, Weight Training, and Seminars are also provided.
Since 2008, selected advanced students have participated as dancers in the New York Choreographic Institute’s Summer Program, which provides opportunities for emerging choreographers to create works-in-progress. A studio showing of the work is presented to an invited audience at the end of the Summer Course.

