Ballet Tech School

In 1974, Eliot Feld established Ballet Tech as a ballet company to support his choreography. After three years, he shared a subway car with a class of elementary students frolicking. The kids had a light-bulb moment: they and tens of thousands of NYC elementary students were an overwhelming untapped resource. NYC students had the potential for future classical dancing accomplishments but had historically lacked the necessary training. This led to the realization that NYC's public school students were the future of our city and our country. Many Ballet Tech alumni dance with Alvin Ailey's American Ballet Theater, Dance Theater of Harlem, and Martha Graham Dance Company. Students are in the top 10% of standardized test-takers, and alumni end up at universities such as Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Juilliard, and SUNY Purchase. The United States Department of Education, Office of the Gifted and Talented, designated Ballet Tech as one of Four National Projects in 1984. The Alliance for the Arts and the New York City Commission for Cultural Affairs honored Ballet Tech with the Schools and Culture Award in 1986. In October 1992, the Arts and Business Council awarded Ballet Tech for its "unique service" to New York City youth. The Creative Ticket award from the New York State Alliance for Arts Education recognized the program's commitment to schools and excellence in 2002. Ballet companies have looked to Ballet Tik for supportoffsetof when trying to create their own versions of the institution.