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The History of Ballet Tech

What began as a professional ballet company grew into a robust, one-of-a-kind school that provides New York City public school children with a world-class and tuition-free dance education.

With a legacy of innovation, inclusion, and artistry, Ballet Tech aims to leave a lasting impact on the next generation of dancers that will inspire them throughout their lives. Scroll down to learn about the rich history of Ballet Tech, from the story of its founding in 1974 through years of transformation as it grew into the school it is today.

A student works at a desk in a classroom, writing with a pencil in his binder, his expression focused in concentration.
Black and white photo of dancer Ha Chi Yu, dancing in a silky white top and ballet shoes. She balances on one leg.

The Founding of The Eliot Feld Ballet

Eliot Feld founds his second professional ballet company, then known as The Eliot Feld Ballet, under the corporate name of Original Ballets Foundation Inc. For 30 years, the company presents semiannual performance seasons in New York and tours extensively across the U.S. and abroad. Over time, the company changes its name several times:

Eliot Feld Ballet: 1974 to Spring 1978

Feld Ballet: Fall 1978 to Summer 1989

Feld Ballets/NY: Spring 1990 to Summer 1996

Ballet Tech (company): Summer 1996 to Spring 2003

A black and white photo of Eliot Feld and his company dancers. They wear t-shirts with block lettering that spell out "The Best Ballet Company in the US."

The first performances by The Eliot Feld Ballet are at the New York Shakespeare Festival’s Newman Theater.

Tzaddik is broadcast by WGBH’s Dance For Camera

Black and white photo of a performance of Eliot Feld's "Tzaddik." Three male dancers perform on stage. One reaches forward in a pique arabesque while the other two crouch behind him, holding their palms in front of their faces.
A black and white close up image of Eliot Feld, with two ballet dancers partnering in the background.

Mr. Feld is awarded the Brandeis University Creative Arts Award

The Eliot Feld Ballet tours Central and South America for nine weeks, sponsored by the State Department and in celebration of the U.S. bicentennial.

A black and white photo of Eliot Feld's Ballet Company posing with President Echeverria and Ambassador Jova at the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City.
A black and white photo of of dancer Birgit Keil. She stands on stage in pointe shoes, with one leg crossed over the other, her hand gracefully posed behind her head as she gazes upward.

Birgit Keil dances in the world premiere of Mr. Feld’s solo piece Impromptu.

Eliot Feld discovers 890 Broadway

In need of a permanent home for his company, Mr. Feld, together with Cora Cahan, finds an ideal space at 890 Broadway in Manhattan. Fifteen-foot ceilings and column-free interiors make the space especially suitable for the performing arts. Ballet Tech rents and renovates the 8th floor, becoming the building’s first artistic tenant.

Eliot Feld discovers 890 Broadway
Two dancers performing Eliot Feld's "Variations on America" partner each other on stage. The woman balances in a seated perch on the mans back. They wear red, white, and blue costumes with stars and stripes, and gesture theatrically towards the audience.

Variations on ‘America’ premieres

Mr. Feld's Variations on ‘America’ - a pas de deux for Mikhail Baryshnikov and Christine Sarry - has its premiere performances. This is the first of four ballets choreographed by Mr. Feld for Mr. Baryshnikov. The others are Tongue And Groove (1995), Mr. XYZ (2003), and Yazoo (2004).

Michael Bennett purchases 890 Broadway

Michael Bennett, the American musical theater director, writer, choreographer, and dancer, buys 890 Broadway. He converts much of the building into rehearsal studios and workspaces for costume makers and designers, and rents the second and third floors to American Ballet Theatre.

The school is founded

After seeing exhuberant school children on the subway, Mr. Feld founds a school. Its goal is to provide all children in New York City’s public schools an introduction to dance and access to a rigorous, pre-professional training program, tuition-free. It is called The New Ballet School until 1996, when its name changes to Ballet Tech. In its first year, 138 students from 8 elementary schools are bused to Ballet Tech’s studios at 890 Broadway for beginner ballet classes. In subsequent years, Ballet Tech adds classes for intermediate and advanced students.

In the years since its founding, nearly 1,000,000 elementary school children in all five boroughs have participated in Ballet Tech’s citywide audition program or in Ballet Tech Across New York. More than 25,000 children have enrolled in classes. In addition to performing with Ballet Tech, alumni have danced with distinguished companies such as A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, Charlotte Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Limón Dance Company, Martha Graham Dance Company, New York City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet and on Broadway. Students rank in the top percentiles on standardized exams and alumni have enrolled at leading colleges and universities including Brandeis, Brown, Cornell, Juilliard, Purchase College, and Skidmore.

The school is founded

Joanne Woodward interviews Eliot Feld for the TV program “Spotlight on Dance.”

A black and white photo of Eliot Feld and Joanne Woodward, sitting next to each other while they watch young students in a ballet class.

WNET’s Dance In America broadcast features several works by the Feld Ballet.

WNET’s Dance In America broadcast features several works by the Feld Ballet.

Papillon premieres

Eliot Feld’s re-interpretation of Papillon debuts at Artpark (in Lewiston NY), with nine students from The New Ballet School featured “as quivering offspring of Gloria Brisbin, a mama butterfly who protects them from the wicked spider.” (One of those baby butterflies, Jilian Cahan Gersten, grew up to be a Ballet Tech Board member!)

The New York Times Review

Papillon premieres

The Festival International de Danse in Paris.

The company made its European debut at the Festival International de Danse in Paris.

The first page of a program for a Feld Ballet performance at the Champs-Elysses Theater written in French, with a sketch of a dancing figure. It includes the names of the dancers and entire production team.
The second page of a program for a Feld Ballet performance at the Champs-Elysses Theater written in French. It includes the pieces "Intermezzo," "Harbinger," "The Gods Amused," "Half Time," and "L'histoire du Soldat."

Ballet Tech purchases The Joyce Theater

What had been the Elgin Theater is purchased by Ballet Tech for $225K. Over the next few years, BT creates a separate non-profit (the Joyce Theater Foundation) and transforms the former movie house into the dance theater for small to medium sized dance companies that it is today.

A man stands at a podium speaking to a crowd of audience members.

The school is designated one of four national projects by the United States Department of Education's Office of the Gifted and Talented.

Cover for the grant proposal for The New Ballet School for the Model Project for the Gifted and Talented, dated September 5, 1979.
A typewritten letter from Daniel Patrick Moynihan to the NY Secretary of Education advocating for grant funds for Eliot Feld's New Ballet School.

“The Submarine Speech.”

Mr. Feld testifies before the House Appropriations Sub-Committee on cuts to the National Endowment for the Arts. His historic remarks have come to be known as “The Submarine Speech.”

A handwritten draft of Eliot Feld's "Submarine Speech" from 1981.
A handwritten draft of Eliot Feld's "Submarine Speech" from 1981.

PBS's“SummerCast/Live”

Students of The New Ballet School are featured in the Channel 13 (PBS) program “SummerCast/Live.”

The Joyce Theater opens

Over time, The Joyce Theater becomes one of the foremost presenters of dance companies, providing performance opportunities to practitioners of many genres and styles and hosting Ballet Tech’s Kids Dance annually. (The Joyce Theater Foundation purchased The Joyce Theater from Ballet Tech in 2015.)

The Joyce Theater opens

NBC’s “Today Show.”

Eliot Feld and The New Ballet School are featured on “American Story” with Bob Dotson, on NBC’s “Today Show.”

10th Anniversary of The Feld Ballet

Moon Skate

Mr. Feld choreographs a solo for Olympic gold medalist ice skater John Curry. Moon Skate premieres at part of the John Curry Skating Company's season at the Metropolitan Opera House

A scan of a program page from the Met Opera 1984 Centennial featuring The John Curry Skating Company. Eliot Feld is listed as one of the choreographers.
A typewritten scan of notes of conversation from Eliot Feld about John Curry and the solo ice ballet "Moon Skate" from 1984.
Photo of *Aurora I* by Susan Cook, 1985.

Feld choreographs the first four of fifteen ballets to the music of Steve Reich

Aurora I — 1985
Aurora II — 1985
Medium: Rare — 1985
The Grand Canon — 1985
Bent Planes — 1986
Echo — 1986
Kore — 1988
Clave — 1991
Ion — 1991
Chi — 1995
Tongue And Groove — 1995
A Stair Dance — 2004
Proverb — 2004
Sir Isaac’s Apples — 2005
Isis In Transit — 2008

Schools and Culture Award

The Schools and Culture Award, co-sponsored by the Alliance for the Arts and the New York City Commission for Cultural Affairs, was given to The New Ballet School.

890 Broadway is saved from commercial development

Ballet Tech Foundation, together with American Ballet Theatre (ABT), and with help from Lawrence A. Wien, purchases 890 Broadway, saving it from commercial development. In addition to Ballet Tech and ABT, 890 Broadway is home to Gibney Dance, which provides affordable rental space to independent choreographers and small dance companies. Broadway, off-Broadway, and national tour companies rent additional studio space when it is available.

The National Museum of Dance in Saratoga Springs (NY) exhibits costumes from Mr. Feld’s Half Time.

Scan of a newspaper clipping with a photo of the costume exhibit for Miss Liberty and Featured Man, two characters from Eliot Feld's "Half Time."
Dancers in red, white, and blue costumes with stars and stripes hold white pom-poms while performing Eliot Feld's "Half Time." Stars are projected onto the scrim behind the dancers.
A dancer wearing a red, white, and blue leotard with stars and a Statue of Liberty crown performs Eliot Feld's "Half Time" on stage. Four dancers stand in a line behind her, holding red, white, and blue pom-poms that cover their faces.

NEA Challenge Grant Ceremony

Mikhail Baryshnikov, Eliot Feld, and Cora Cahan speak at the NEA Challenge Grant Ceremony where ABT and Feld Ballets/NY receive a large grant to secure financial support for the future of 890 Broadway.

A black and white photo of Mikhail Baryshnikov speaking into a microphone.
A black and white photo of Eliot Feld speaking into a microphone.
A black and white photo of Cora Cahan speaking into a microphone.
Scan of a playbill with text and photos of the unveiling of 890 Broadway.

The Unanswered Question

Mr. Feld’s ballet, The Unanswered Question, has its world premiere at the New York City Ballet. The cast includes Damien Woetzel, as well as two Feld Ballet dancers.

The Unanswered Question

Feld Ballets/NY and The New Ballet School are featured in the documentary From Discipline to Magic

Mr. Feld receives the Dance Magazine Award

Excerpt of a typewritten speech by Eliot Feld for the 1990 Dance Magazine Award.

Mr. Feld serves on the Special Honors (Artists’) Advisory Committee for the Kennedy Center Awards.

Eliot Feld shakes hands with Bill Clinton in the White House, with Hillary Clinton and Judith Friedlander in the background.

Mr. Feld receives an Honorary Doctorate degree from The Juilliard School.

Eliot Feld and others pose in graduation robes.
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A man and a woman dancer wrap themselves around each other gracefully, in performance of Eliot Feld's "Endsong."

Mr. Feld’s Endsong premieres without music, due to copyright dispute with the family of composer Richard Strauss.

The New York Times Review
LA Times Review

Eliot Feld choreographs his first student ballet

Mr. Feld choreographs Hello Fancy for his school's students, the first of many ballets choreographed for the students. It is still performed frequently.

A group of young male dancers on stage wear white leotards with black leggings and white ballet shoes. They strike a lunging pose in unison, holding one arm curved in front of them and looking upwards. They are performing Eliot Feld's "Hello Fancy."
Ballet Tech Kids Dance performs at the Joyce Theatre on June 6, 2019. Artistic Director, Eliot Feld Dancers: Students from Ballet Tech and The NYC Public School of Dance Dances: Hello Fancy (1992) Joggers (1997) A Stair Dance (2004) KYDZNY (2014) Credit: Stephanie Berger.

“Come to the Cabaret”

Feld Ballets/NY and The New Ballet School perform in “Come to the Cabaret,” a gala benefit for 890 Broadway, now called the Lawrence A. Wien Center for Dance and Theater, co-chaired by Joel Grey and Liza Minelli and featuring dance and Broadway luminaries such as Betty Buckley, Savion Glover, and Gregory Hines.

Scan of a fundraiser flier that reads "Come to the Cabaret" in bold block lettering. There are cartoonish images of dancers, acrobats, musicians, and painters spread line by line across the page. At the bottom there is a sketch of the front of the building at 890 Broadway.
Program for "Come to the Cabaret" fundraiser performance at The Lawrence A. Wien Center for Dance and Theater.

CBS "Sunday Morning"

CBS "Sunday Morning" runs a feature on The New Ballet School.

Young ballet dancers in a studio stand with their teacher watching a video of a dance performance on a small television screen.

Eliot Feld forms the Kids Dance performing troupe

Mr. Feld choreographs a second ballet for the school, 23 Skidoo, and dubs the school’s performing troupe Kids Dance. Beginning in 1994, Kids Dance performs occasional weekend matinees during the professional company’s New York seasons. Beginning in June 2013, Kids Dance makes annual week-long appearances at the Joyce Theater.

Eliot Feld shows a group of dancers how to bow. The dancers walk in a line holding hands, standing in costume behind him on stage at The Joyce Theater.

Mr. Feld is interviewed by Deborah Jowitt for the 92nd Street Y’s “Breaking Ground” choreographer series

The Harkness Center for Dance Injuries conducts a research study on Feld Ballet dancers.

Gregory Hines and Mikhail Baryshnikov host a Gala in celebration of The New Ballet School with Feld Ballets/NY

The New York City Public School for Dance opens

Ballet Tech begins a unique partnership with the NYC Department of Education and opens the New York City Public School for Dance. By adding academic classrooms to its space at 890 Broadway, Ballet Tech makes it possible for students to pursue both their academic and dance studies under one roof.

A group of students in a classroom work at a large desk, slightly smiling.
A student wearing a striped shirt writes at his desk.
A student works at a desk in a classroom, writing with a pencil in his binder, his expression focused in concentration.
A group of students in a classroom work at their desks, focused on the lesson.
Black and white photo of Eliot Feld's "Paper Tiger." The dancers wear clownish costumes. They hug their legs to their torsos, do handstands, and pick each other up.

The first class of graduates from Ballet Tech

The first graduating class of the Ballet Tech school includes four dancers - Rachel Alvarado, Jason Jordan, Patricia Tuthill, and Margaux Zadikian - who had all danced with the Feld Ballets/NY company while attending school, and who continued to dance with the company after graduation.

The New Ballet School becomes Ballet Tech

The school’s name is changed to Ballet Tech.

The New Ballet School becomes Ballet Tech

Jacob’s Pillow

Feld Ballets/NY and Kids Dance perform at Jacob’s Pillow.

Excerpt of Yo Shakespeare

Jacob’s Pillow
Black and white photo of Jason Jordan and Jassen Virolas partnering each other. Virolas lunges and lifts Jordan on his back. Jordan balances and leans his body sideways, extending his leg to the side, and looking upwards in a graceful pose.

The Last Sonata and Yo Johann

Ballet Tech premieres two Feld ballets commissioned by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts: The Last Sonata and Yo Johann

Washington Post

The organization is renamed Ballet Tech Foundation, Inc.

The organization name changes to Ballet Tech Foundation, Inc., and the school and company come to be known as Ballet Tech. During the first Ballet Tech season at The Joyce, in Spring 1997, all of the dancers in the company had been trained at the school.

The New York Times Feature
The New York Times Review
The organization is renamed Ballet Tech Foundation, Inc.

Ballet Tech forgoes a summer season at The Joyce Theater.

Instead of a season at The Joyce, Mr. Feld choreographs On The Town for the New York Shakespeare Festival at the Delacorte. Six of the dancers (Rachel Alvarado, Nickemil Concepcion, Darren Gibson, Patricia Tuthill, Jassen Virolas, and Margaux Zadikian) in this production were trained at Ballet Tech and danced with the Ballet Tech professional company.

Ballet Tech and ABT convert the 890 Broadway building into a four-unit commercial condominium.

Ballet Tech performs at the River Festival produced by Dancing in the Streets, at the World Financial Center, NYC

Four male dancers perform on an outdoor stage. Three dancers sit and recline atop a cubic platform, and the fourth dancer jumps backwards, while reaching his arms and legs in front of him.
Three male dancers on an outdoor stage dance in multi-patterned costumes. One of the dancers has been thrown in the air and splays his body in an X-shape, while the other two prepare to catch him.

The first of a series of annual "Notcracker" performances

Ballet Tech performs the first of a series of annual "Notcracker" performances at The Joyce Theater, featuring students of the school in a revival of Papillon and other ballets.

The New York Times Review
The first of a series of annual "Notcracker" performances

CBS "Sunday Morning" airs a piece on Ballet Tech and Armand Pretlow

Five-day residency at Saint Joseph Ballet

Ballet Tech has a five-day residency at Saint Joseph Ballet in Santa Ana, CA, where the Saint Joseph students learn The Jig Is Up from company members.

LA Times Review

Kids Dance book by Jim Varriale is published

Dutton Books for Young Readers publishes Jim Varriale's book Kids Dance The Students of Ballet Tech, featuring photos and a narrative on the Ballet Tech school experience from audition through graduation.

Close up of a trophy with an abstract stick figure at the top. The engraved text reads "Arts Orange County/ For Outstanding Achievement in 1999 by a Visiting Artist 1999/ Eliot Feld/ Orange Country Arts Awards."

The Orange County (CA) Arts Award

Mr. Feld is awarded the Orange County (CA) Arts Award - Outstanding Achievement by a Visiting Artist, among other honors awarded to him and the School in the 2000s.

Organon

Mr. Feld’s Organon premieres at the New York City Ballet. An enormous work, it features Damian Woetzel, Maria Kowroski, and Charles Askegard, plus 30 members of the New York City Ballet corps de ballet, and 30 students from the School of American Ballet.

In a dance studio, Damian Woetzel stands behind Eliot Feld, listening as he speaks and gestures with his hand.
Damian Woetzel jumps gracefully on stage in performance of Eliot Feld's "Organon." An ensemble of dancers poses in an acrobatic formation behind him. A musician in silhouette plays a keyboard to the right of the dancers.

Eliot Feld is interviewed for an A&E “Breakfast with the Arts” segment on Ballet Tech

“A Hallelujah in Celebration of Misha”

Ballet Tech’s Spring Gala, “A Hallelujah in Celebration of Misha,” features Mikhail Baryshnikov in the world premiere of Mr. XYZ and celebrates Mr. Baryshnikov in a retrospective of ballets choreographed for him by Eliot Feld. Among many standout performances in the celebration is Variations on ‘America,’ featuring Wu-Kang Chen and Paloma Herrera.

Two images of solo dancers on stage are placed side by side. The larger image has text that reads "A Hallelujah in Celebration of Misha/ Feld Ballet Tech/ 2003 Spring Gala."
A female dancer on stage wears a leotard and pointe shoes. Standing in 5th position, she sways her hips, head, and arms to the side, covering her face.

The Ballet Tech professional company's final season

The Ballet Tech professional ballet company’s last season takes place in the spring of 2003, with premieres of Pianola: Indigo and French Overtures.

Ballet Tech returns to The Joyce stage

After a hiatus of about 18 months, Ballet Tech returns to The Joyce Theater, with the ManDance Project, a pick-up company of dancers. For the initial ManDance season, Mr. Feld choreographs 12 new ballets. There are further ManDance project seasons in Spring 2006, 2008, and 2009.

Ballet Tech returns to The Joyce stage

Sir Isaac's Apples

As part of Juilliard's yearlong celebration of its centennial in 2005–06, it commissioned a new work by Eliot Feld: Sir Isaac's Apples. The 127-minute-long work was choreographed to Steve Reich's "Drumming" and included every student enrolled in the Juilliard Dance Division.

A wide, almost aerial shot of Eliot Feld's "Sir Isaac's Apples" performed on stage. One group of dancers stand in a line along part of the perimeter of the stage. They feed into a group of dancers that one by one roll and slide across the stage in a zig-zagging line.
"Sir Isaac's Apples," a world premiere and centennial commission ramp dance choreographed by Eliot Feld, set to music by Steve Reich's "Drumming," was performed by the Juilliard Dance Ensemble and Percussion Ensemble in The Peter Jay Sharp Theater, September 28 through October 2, 2005.

New York City Ballet dedicates two evenings to Mr. Feld’s work

NYCB produces two performances dedicated to Mr. Feld’s work, featuring the premiere of Etoile Polaire.

Eliot Feld rehearses in a studio with a ballet dancer. She copies the curved, inverted shape he is making with his elbow and wrist.

The Lincoln Bicentennial

In commemoration of the Lincoln Bicentennial, Eliot Feld and Harold Holzer discuss the Feld-choreographed ballet, Lincoln Portrait, at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

In a performance of Eliot Feld's "Lincoln Portrait," a large ensemble of dancers stand on stage, dressed in pedestrian, 1800s America-era clothing.

"Eliot Feld in conversation with Cynthia Gregory" is presented at the Paley Center in New York City by Words on Dance.

Danza Ballet

3 Men on a Horse performs Eliot Feld pieces in Taiwan

3 Men on a Horse performs Eliot Feld pieces in Taiwan, and Ballet Tech and Horse dancers are featured in Lois Greenfield photo exhibit “Dancing on Paper.” Eliot Feld gives a talk “Dancing on the Words.”

A scan of three items: a program cover for "3 Men on a Horse", a dance photo of a man leaping through the air while using a cane, and a ticket stub for the Lois Greenfield photo exhibit "Dancing on Paper."

Kids Dance performs at the 25th Anniversary Gala of The New 42nd Street

Ballet Tech’s Kids Dance performs excerpts of Feld’s A Yankee Doodle at the New Victory Theater, for The New 42nd Street's 25th Anniversary Gala.

Kids Dance performs at the 25th Anniversary Gala of The New 42nd Street

The Paley Center’s “Words on Dance”

Mr. Feld is featured in The Paley Center’s “Words on Dance” celebration of Jerome Robbins and West Side Story.

Three black and white photos from the filming of "West Side Story" with Eliot Feld.
A scan of two items: a photo of Eliot Feld and co posing at The Paley Center for Media, and the program cover for The Paley Center's "Words on Dance" celebration of Jerome Robbins and West Side Story.

COVID-19 impacts in-person classes

The COVID-19 shutdown requires the school to pivot to teaching ballet classes on Zoom. While not ideal, it keeps the students moving. Happily, most students are back in the studios in the fall of 2020.

Ashley Tuttle stands in a dance studio in first position at a portable barre, dancing in front of a screen of students taking class on Zoom.
Headshot of Dionne Figgins, Artistic Director of Ballet Tech, looking straight at the camera intently.
Dionne D. Figgins will join Ballet Tech as artistic director in August.

Dionne Figgins succeeds Eliot Feld as Artistic Director of Ballet Tech

Eliot Feld steps down as Artistic Director of Ballet Tech. Dionne Figgins, who formerly danced with Dance Theatre of Harlem and Complexions Contemporary Ballet and founded Broadway Serves, succeeds him.

Eliot Feld places most of his ballets in the public domain

Eliot Feld and Ballet Tech announce that in order for Mr. Feld’s ballets to be as accessible as possible to the general public, most of the ballets will be placed in the public domain. Ballet Tech retains the ownership of 11 ballets, 71 ballets are moved into the public domain immediately, and the remaining 67 ballets will be in the public domain as of 7/5/2042. Simultaneously, Ballet Tech creates a website dedicated to Mr. Feld’s works, at eliotfeld.ballettech.org.

Reviewing the first Joyce season under Ms. Figgins’ direction, The New York Times writes, “The Kids (in New Hands) Are Still All Right”.

The New York Times Review

The New York Public Library features costume designer Willa Kim

Costumes and sketches for Papillon, Variations on 'America,' and Impromptu are featured in a New York Public Library exhibit on the legacy of costume designer Willa Kim, who designed costumes for more than 50 of Mr. Feld’s ballets.

New York Public Library
Projection Lights & Staging News

The school pilots the Ballet Tech Across New York (BTANY) enrichment program

The Ballet Tech Across New York (BTANY) program is launched, marking an evolution in the Ballet Tech audition process. BTANY offers dance classes to public schools throughout NYC.

The school begins offering free classes to Ballet Tech alumni. Dancers taking part range in age from 11 to 65+.

Archival materials donated to the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center

Ballet Tech, together with Eliot Feld, donates collected archival materials to the NYPL for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, where films, videos, photographs, letters, and other printed matter will be accessible to researchers, artists, and dance-lovers for generations to come.

Homeland premieres at The Joyce

Homeland, conceived by Dionne Figgins, premieres at The Joyce Theater as part of the Kids Dance 30th anniversary season. The six part ballet follows Ballet Tech graduates on a class trip, as they visit the continents of their ancestral origins and gain a new appreciation for their culture and the cultures of their classmates. Each part features a different style and is choreographed by a "native speaker" of that dance genre.

An ensemble of young dancers on stage wear white robes with red ties, inspired by traditional Chinese folkdance attire. They dance in unison waving large fans that billow behind them. The backdrop features a world map with various cultural icons and images.
Ballet Tech Kids Dance Spring concert at the Joyce Theatre on May 30, 2024 performing the World Premiere of “Homeland” conceived by Dionne Figgins, lighting by Aaron Copp and Set Design by Jessica Cancion. “Rain” (1989) performed by Tamisha A. Guy, Choreograpy by Bebe Miller “Apple Pie” (1999) By Eliot Feld Photo credit: Stephanie Berger
Four dancers perform a ballet piece on stage. Two girls stand on pointe, with arms in fourth position, while two boys stand behind them in b plus. The girls wear corset vests with flowing skirts and red waistbands, while the boys wear red tights with gold vests atop white blouses.
Ballet Tech Kids Dance Spring concert at the Joyce Theatre on May 30, 2024 performing the World Premiere of “Homeland” conceived by Dionne Figgins, lighting by Aaron Copp and Set Design by Jessica Cancion. “Rain” (1989) performed by Tamisha A. Guy, Choreograpy by Bebe Miller “Apple Pie” (1999) By Eliot Feld Photo credit: Stephanie Berger
Two young dancers partner in a salsa dance on stage. They hold hands while posing apart, wearing proud expressions. The girl wears a bright yellow dress with colorful accents, and the boy wears a ruffled yellow shirt with black pants.
Ballet Tech students perform a West African piece on stage, standing in various formations. Some dancers wear raffia skirts with colorful patterned fabrics, while others wear orange tunics with gold waistbands.
Ballet Tech Kids Dance Spring concert at the Joyce Theatre on May 30, 2024 performing the World Premiere of “Homeland” conceived by Dionne Figgins, lighting by Aaron Copp and Set Design by Jessica Cancion. “Rain” (1989) performed by Tamisha A. Guy, Choreograpy by Bebe Miller “Apple Pie” (1999) By Eliot Feld Photo credit: Stephanie Berger

Ballet Tech Kids Dance Day

NYC Mayor Eric Adams proclaims May 30th, 2024 “Ballet Tech Kids Dance Day.”