Best Ballet Lessons in New York City (NYC): Ready the Ballet Shoes, Tulle and Tutus

Rather than just continuing to appreciate The Dance Class by Degas, you'd much sooner have the little girl you love in your life in ballet shoes and a Classical Bell Tutu in the place of one of the balleting filles in the painting. Where can you find the best ballet lessons in New York City apart from those taught at the august Julliard, though? Following in no particular order are a couple of the best ballet lessons to be had in New York City ( NYC ), under the direction of some of the most prestigious ballet teachers alive anywhere in the world today.

Best Ballet Lessons in New York City ( NYC ): New York Conservatory of Dance: School of Classical Ballet

Located at 30 East 31st Street, 2nd Fl, New York, NY, New York Conservatory of Dance, School of Classical Ballet, is where your loved one, boy or girl, and even yourself now in later years, can learn the most formal of ballet style, Classical, as expressed through its Russian evolution, particularly the Maryinsky-Preobrajenska method.

For those unaware, Maryinsky is a classical ballet company based at the Maryinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia. The Maryinsky Ballet, or as it's more commonly known internationally, the Kirov Ballet, was originally known as the Imperial Russian Ballet, and is where Prima Ballerina Olga Preobrajenska spent the first portion of her life as a dancer.

Further, Prima Ballerina Olga Preobrajenska is one of the most widely loved ballerinas, not only in her home country of Russia, but throughout the world, as well. Teaching nearly forty years in Paris, she came to be very famous there and was visited very often by dancers the world over wanting to learn ballet under her tutelage.

Classes at New York Conservatory of Dance: School of Classical Ballet are $125 for a 10-class card, which is limited to 5 weeks; and, $15 for a single class, with a basic beginning class on Saturdays at 3:00 p.m. Ready the ballet shoes, tulle and tutus. See end of article for a direct link to the school.

Best Ballet Lessons in New York City ( NYC ): The School of American Ballet at Lincoln Center

Founded by George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein, with Peter Martins as Chairman of Faculty, The School of American Ballet is located in the Samuel B. and David Rose Building at the northwest corner of the Lincoln Center campus (165 W. 65th Street between Amsterdam and Broadway).

Nearly doing a complete about-face from the form of ballet instructed at New York Conservatory School of Dance, students from age six to eighteen learn ballet in its most forward evolution, contemporary classicism. Ready the ballet shoes, tulle and tutus because not everyone is accepted.

Ballet auditions for 6 to 10 year olds are held in early May each year and require a $35 audition fee. Additional community ballet auditions are held in Harlem, Queens, Brooklyn, Chinatown and the Bronx, and do not require an audition fee. No experience is necessary for children, both boys and girls, at these ages.

Ballet auditions for 11 to 18 year olds take place on the Tuesday following Labor Day, also requiring a $35 audition fee. At these ages students auditioning are expected to have previous ballet training.

Ballet auditions for International students should call the Registrar ahead of time to set up an appointment. The School of American Ballet tours the nation every year during January and February, providing opportunities for ballet auditions at over twenty stops. Every October the tour schedule for the upcoming year is made public.

Ballet training is provided during a winter term and a summer course. Tuition for students accepted for enrollment in the winter term can pay either on a monthly basis or basis, payable at the beginning of each month, or on a yearly basis, one half of the total tuition payable at the start of the winter term and the balance paid by December 15th. Rates vary by level of instruction and class, with the exception of the specially funded Boys program for all boys who are enrolled in levels below intermediate men-tuition is free. However, no matter what level of instruction or gender everyone pays an annual registration fee of $75.

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