The School of American Ballet: Coming to a TV Near You

December 5, 2014

The School of American Ballet Spring Workshop, one of the dance world’s most famous end-of-year performances, is almost like a rite of passage. Each year, SAB’s most talented and advanced dancers are chosen to perform. Many of them go on to join major ballet companies nationwide—including New York City Ballet.

Addie Tapp, now in Boston Ballet, and Preston Chamblee, now an NYCB apprentice, in George Balanchine’s Serenade at SAB’s 2014 Workshop Performance (Paul Kolnik, courtesy Live From Lincoln Center)

Attending SAB’s workshop is pretty darn cool, too. It’s like witnessing a little slice of history—you’re seeing prima ballerinas in the making, the stars before they become stars. Yet for those who don’t live in NYC, chances to see the workshop performance are pretty rare.

Thankfully, that all changes next Friday, December 12*, when PBS’ “Live From Lincoln Center” presents “Curtain Up: The School of American Ballet Workshop Performances.”

Taped this past spring, the TV special will show the entirety of the most recent SAB Workshop performance, which featured George Balanchine’s Serenade and excerpts from his Coppélia, Swan Lake and Western Symphony. The program will also include rehearsal footage and interviews with dancers. And if this preview is any indication of what the whole 90 minutes will be like…I suggest you set your DVR now:

*Be sure to check your local listings for air dates and times, because not all PBS stations will be showing the special on the 12th. NYC’s PBS station, for instance, won’t air it until that Sunday, and Philadelphia’s station isn’t slated to show it until Thursday, December 18 at 3:30 pm. To find your local schedule, click here.