A small year-round training program for serious young dancers ages 11–18. Three levels, twenty-four students per level, taught by Mira Kalfayan and Naia Bertrand. Our graduates have gone on to Juilliard, SUNY Purchase, Boston Conservatory, the Ailey/Fordham BFA, and to apprenticeships with Hubbard Street and Kidd Pivot. Auditions are held twice a year.
The youth program is run on contemporary technique principles, not competition-team aesthetics. Faculty are working artists who teach the same students for years and watch them grow into their bodies carefully. Class size is held at twenty-four. We do not run end-of-year recitals; we run a single late-spring informal showing for families. The program runs September through June.
Levels are organized by age and training year. Movement between levels is decided by faculty, not by parents — Mira and Naia look at each dancer at the end of every term and have a conversation with the family about the next year. Most dancers spend two years per level.
First serious year of contemporary work. Floor warmup, alignment, basic phrase work, an introduction to improvisation. Twenty-four dancers per cohort.
Increased technical demand. Phrase work intensifies. Partnering introduced. Dancers begin attending adult open classes by faculty invitation, and start working on audition material in their second year.
Conservatory-track training. Daily technique. Audition coaching with Mira (a graduate of Hubbard Street's professional program). Dancers attend adult Level III classes. Most students at this level are auditioning for BFA programs.
Auditions are held twice a year — late May for September placement, and late November for January placement. The process is designed to be calm, not punishing. We do not do callbacks. Every dancer who auditions receives written feedback within five business days.
Name, age, training history, parent contact, and a video link if you have one (not required). The form takes ten minutes. You'll receive a confirmation and a sign-in time within two business days.
A single ninety-minute class taught by Mira. Floor warmup, traveling phrase, a short combination, and ten minutes of improvisation. Dancers wear what they would wear to class. Parents wait in the lobby.
Mira and Naia review every dancer afterward and send a placement decision and written feedback within five business days. Decisions specify which level the dancer is offered, with a tuition and scholarship outline.
Forty percent of our youth program is on partial or full scholarship. Awards are need-based, and the application is one page — no parent essay, no family financial disclosure beyond income. We award scholarships to every dancer accepted who needs one. If your dancer is offered a place and the cost is a barrier, fill out the scholarship form and we will figure it out.
Hold your audition slot before May 24. Spots are first-come — fifty dancers per audition session, organized by level and age group. The form takes ten minutes.
Hold a slot — Ask a question