2026-2027 National Visiting Fellowship for Ballet Teachers (5 Openings)

SAB OVERVIEW

The School of American Ballet (SAB) at Lincoln Center, founded by George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein, is the preeminent ballet school in the country. Our mission is to train professional dancers for careers in classical ballet. We provide the resources for a diverse pool of students to train at the highest level – with 15-25 a year going on to dance for New York City Ballet, our official but independent ballet company, and other major ballet companies worldwide. SAB has a far-reaching impact on the art form and enriches the lives of each student who comes through its doors, over 800 annually, ages 6 to 18. SAB has approximately 90 part- and full-time employees and an operating budget of $17 million.

NATIONAL VISITING FELLOWS PROGRAM

The School of American Ballet (SAB) invites U.S.-based classical ballet instructors with a proven commitment to teaching students from diverse backgrounds to apply for the National Visiting Fellows Program.

Visiting Fellows are invited to attend two all-expenses-paid sessions during SAB’s Winter Term, where they observe a range of SAB classes, meet with faculty to discuss SAB’s curriculum and strategies for progression, teach SAB students and receive faculty feedback, and discuss relevant topics in dance education with administrative staff and faculty. In addition, the home school of each Visiting Fellow receives a monetary award of $5,000 to strengthen existing educational programs or to establish new opportunities for student support.

Applicants will be selected based on various qualifications, including, but not limited to, teaching quality, information about the community served, and the individual’s commitment to serving diverse student populations. The School of American Ballet encourages submissions from diverse applicants. Fellows will be selected and notified by early August 2026.

APPLICATION DEADLINE

Applications must be submitted by June 30, 2026.

DATES OF 2026-2027 FELLOWSHIP

• Fall: October 26-October 31, 2026 (travel to NYC October 25)
• Winter: Virtual class observation to take place February/March 2027
• Spring: April 26-May 1, 2027 (travel to NYC April 25)

PROGRAM STRUCTURE

• Observe a complete range of SAB Winter Term classes.
• Attend curricula and technique demonstrations with students and faculty.
• Meet with SAB faculty members to discuss training methods and other relevant topics.
• Serve as a Teaching Assistant for select Children’s Division classes in partnership with an SAB faculty member.
• Provide Zoom access for SAB faculty to virtually observe a live class at your home studio between fall and spring sessions.
• Teach an Upper Children's or Intermediate Division class utilizing the SAB curriculum and receive feedback from SAB faculty.
• Meet with School Leadership to discuss administrative operations and building an inclusive environment for today’s ballet students.

Requirements

TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR THE FELLOWSHIP, YOU MUST

• Be at least 21 years old and have a minimum of five years of teaching experience in classical ballet.
• Be currently employed by a U.S.-based dance academy or studio. Non-U.S. citizens are welcome to apply, if the affiliated school or studio is in the United States. Artistic directors are welcome to apply.
• Have a demonstrated and documented commitment to serving students from diverse backgrounds in ballet.

Application Requirements

RÉSUMÉ OR CV

Include dance training, professional performing experience (if applicable), and teaching experience

DESCRIPTION OF CURRENT POSITION/TITLE AND ORGANIZATION

The application will ask you to:

• Provide an overview of organization’s training programs and a summary of the student body demographics.
• Include a written description of classes you teach, including class type (ballet, pointe, etc.), class level (beginner, intermediate, etc.), class size, and ages taught.

STATEMENT OF INTENT

In a few sentences, explain your interest in participating in the Fellowship and your commitment to providing dancers from underrepresented backgrounds in ballet with opportunities to develop their potential towards professional careers.

LETTER OF SUPPORT FROM ORGANIZATION

Provide a letter from your organization’s artistic leadership endorsing your application. (Not applicable if the applicant is an Artistic/School Director.)

VIDEO TEACHING SAMPLE

Recorded in-person ballet classes are requested and should highlight applicant's ability to give clear directions and corrections to their students, rather than promote student performance. Video samples are meant to demonstrate how the applicant teaches their students and how they prepare and develop students for the rigors of classical ballet. Applicants will be evaluated on how they teach and communicate information to students.

We request all videos be uploaded to a streaming service such as YouTube or Vimeo prior to submitting the online application. You will be required to provide a link/url to your final video(s) in the application. Links that require the video to be downloaded are not accepted. Additionally, please do not provide links that require an invitation to a specific email address to view (such as in the “private” setting for YouTube uploads).

Note that you do not need to compromise your privacy to submit a video. To keep your videos private on YouTube, choose the “unlisted” setting (instead of the default “public” setting) when you upload your video. An “unlisted” video will not be publicly viewable in your YouTube channel and cannot be found through a YouTube search. Vimeo users can update their privacy settings by selecting “People with the private link” under “Who can watch.” This will hide the video from your Vimeo channel and searches. For an added layer of privacy on Vimeo, you can add a password by selecting “people with the password,” which you must then provide on the application.

For Video Guidelines, click here: https://sab.org/diversity-and-inclusion/national-v...

Benefits

• Two all-expense-paid trips to New York City for the fall and spring sessions.
• $5,000 grant to support existing or new programming for participant’s affiliated school.
• $1,000 weekly stipend for each onsite residency at SAB.
• $250 stipend for virtual class observation and 1:1 with SAB faculty during Winter Term.
• One complimentary ticket to a New York City Ballet performance (provided fellowship visit occurs during NYCB season).