Many colleges in the United States offer ballet as a major or minor. However, they are not all created equal. Increasing your chance of getting into a ballet school is important. There are also available scholarships for ballet dancers. Best Classical Ballet College Programs
If you’re looking for a college program that will help you master ballet, the best place to start is with the top colleges for classical ballet. Also find out more about best dance colleges in the world, colleges with dance programs.
Classical ballet is an art form with centuries of history behind it. It’s a traditional form of dance that originated in France and has grown to become one of the most popular forms of dance around the world today. The best colleges for classical ballet offer students an opportunity to learn from some of the most respected teachers and choreographers in the industry. Students can choose from a wide range of courses and programs including classes in technique, theory, anatomy, history and more.
The best colleges for classical ballet often have competitive admissions requirements so it’s important to do your research before applying. Here are a few tips on how to find out which schools might be right for you:
- Find out what level they teach at (beginner through advanced) – Find out where they teach (on campus or online) – Find out what type of program they offer (certificate program vs degree program).
Best Classical Ballet College Programs
Boston Conservatory
Students in the ballet program at Boston Conservatory will train with renowned choreographers and dance companies. The program offers three levels of study, beginning with a focus on the body, movement and the student’s individual style. In the second year students work with more advanced techniques in order to develop their technique, performance skills and artistry. For those who wish to pursue a career as a professional dancer, this program will prepare them for auditions for companies such as American Ballet Theatre or San Francisco Ballet Company.
The Juilliard School
If you’re looking for a small and intimate setting, Juilliard is the school for you. Located in New York City, Juilliard offers both a BFA and MFA in Dance (the latter of which can be completed over two years), as well as a dual degree program with the liberal arts program at Columbia University. The curriculum focuses on classical ballet styles like French and Russian technique, but also includes modern dance forms like Graham technique and Cunningham technique.
University of North Carolina School of the Arts
The University of North Carolina School of the Arts is a state-supported arts school in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It was founded in 1963 and has since produced many famous alumni in theater, music and dance. The campus has scenic views of the surrounding mountains, as well as an on-campus performance space called the Reynolds Industries Theater (RIT).
The RIT is where you’ll find many dance performances during your time at UNCSA—and there’s no shortage of opportunities to attend them! Each year there are six mainstage productions featuring both student works and professional guest artists from around the world. In addition to these mainstage shows are student showcases that showcase various dancers’ talents throughout their four years at UNCSA. If you’re lucky enough to go while they’re still happening, you won’t want to miss out on these fun events either!
Indiana University Jacobs School of Music
Located in Bloomington, Indiana, the IU Jacobs School of Music has one of the best programs in the country. The program is designed to help students develop their own artistic voice while learning classical ballet technique. Students can choose between two tracks: an undergraduate degree or a graduate degree (Master’s). A Bachelor of Fine Arts degree is offered for both tracks at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music—students will have the opportunity to study with some of the world’s leading experts on classical ballet.
Indiana University–Bloomington
Indiana University – Bloomington is a large public institution that offers a BFA in ballet. The college of fine arts offers the undergraduate degree and the school of music offers a BM in ballet. The university has an enrollment of 36,414 students and is highly ranked and respected.
The Pennsylvania State University, University Park
- Location: University Park, Pennsylvania
- Year founded: 1855
- Motto: Virtue, Diligence and Brotherly Love
- Academic offerings: Bachelor’s degree programs in ballet; Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in dance performance and choreography; Master of Fine Arts degree programs for dancers.
Notable alumni include Julie Kent, Anna Kisselgoff, Peter Martins and Cynthia Gregory.
Programs of distinction include the Undergraduate Dance Company (UDC), which is open to all Penn State students who have taken at least one semester-length course in dance or are currently enrolled as full-time students majoring in dance or theater arts. Students may audition for this group throughout the year with no prior experience required—each year the group performs at least two full length ballets and an annual concert series that features shorter works by both current UDC members and guest artists from across the country.
Tuition ranges from $15,040/year to $16,470/year depending on program type (per semester).
George Mason University — College of Visual and Performing Arts
The George Mason University — College of Visual and Performing Arts is a great place to study ballet. The school offers a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance, which includes training in ballet, jazz, modern and hip hop.
The program’s admission requirements include a minimum GPA of 3.2 on a 4-point scale and completion of an audition or portfolio review. The student-faculty ratio is 11:1 with an average class size of 18 students per class. Tuition for out-of-state students is $26,500 per year and for in-state students it’s $22,500 annually (approximately $1300 per credit hour). Graduation rates are approximately 50% within six years after entering the college as full time freshmen; however this figure can be misleading because some students take longer than six years to complete their degree programs due to taking additional classes at night or part time while working full time jobs during the day which affects graduation rates negatively if not accounted for accurately when calculating these numbers among other factors that affect graduation rates like academic aptitude level among other things such as health issues or personal problems with family members etc…
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. Michigan State University is a globally recognized university that educates students to be successful in the world and contributes to the common good.
- Located in East Lansing, Michigan
- Public research university of high academic standing
- Wide range of undergraduate majors as well as Master’s and doctoral programs
University of Utah–Salt Lake City
The Department of Ballet at the University of Utah is one of the oldest ballet programs in the U.S., beginning in 1946 with a small group of students who were taught by Balanchine’s former assistant, Jean Pratt. For its first decade, it was only a class offered to students who had already taken lessons elsewhere; in 1956, however, Jean MacLane joined as director and began offering college-level courses. She remained there until her retirement in 1985, when her successor Dennis Nahat took over running things until 1995. Since then, Cindy Whitehead has served as head coach; she has led many dancers to careers on Broadway and other performance venues around the world—including Melissa Hayden (Miss Saigon) and Matthew Golding (Billy Elliot).
Under Whitehead’s direction as well as that of assistant coaches Ashley Prudhomme and Angela Moore Metzler, students can expect an intensive classical ballet training program that includes everything from pointe technique to partnering skills—and everything else needed for a career in dance!
The Hartt School, University of Hartford
The Hartt School is not a degree-granting institution, but rather a conservatory. It offers one degree: the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ballet Performance. The BFA program at Hartt runs for four years and includes both academic coursework and performance instruction. The school itself is located in Hartford, CT, about an hour outside of New York City by car or train.
Hartt also offers an MFA program in ballet performance that takes five years to complete, but entails significantly more training than its undergraduate counterpart (which has an emphasis on classical ballet). Students who are accepted into this program spend one year taking courses both on campus and abroad before beginning professional training at companies such as American Ballet Theatre and San Francisco Ballet during their second year of study; they then return to their original schools for two more years before graduating with their master’s degrees from Hartt School.
These schools offer excellent ballet instruction.
Boston Conservatory
The Boston Conservatory has a strong dance program, and it’s one of the best schools in the area. The school is located on Huntington Avenue, close to Fenway Park and Boston Common. Their faculty includes many members of the Boston Ballet Company. They offer a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in dance performance with an emphasis in either classical ballet or contemporary jazz/modern dance styles. The conservatory also offers Master of Science degrees in teaching or management for those interested in pursuing professional careers as teachers or administrators at other institutions.
best dance colleges in the world
When looking at some of the world’s premier dancers, from Rudolf Nureyev, to Sylvie Guillem, to the legendary Anna Pavlova, one finds that the rigorous training and professional development afforded by schools dedicated to developing burgeoning dancers served as key stepping stones in their careers.
This fact is no accident: few things can transform novice dancers into disciplined experts like the resources available to students at the following Dance institutions.
In fact, Rudolf Nureyev, Sylvie Guillem, and Anna Pavlova are all alumni of the following institutions on this list.
But what each individual dancer needs to best hone their craft is a unique thing.
As such, dancers must carefully consider the specializations of the dance institutions they seek to study within, the faculty which could become future mentors, the kinds of notable alumni these institutions have produced historically, and the culture of the dance scene within the cities that house these institutions.
The following list breaks down these details and more, highlighting key information dancers might consider when applying to the world’s foremost dance programs.
Some of these institutions are Bachelor’s degree-granting institutions, while others are training schools for future professional dancers.
Although some of these institutions specialize in training younger, pre-college students, a variety of short-term classes, summer programs, and professional development courses for older students tend to be offered by these institutions yearly.
From Moscow to Oklahoma City, this list represents 10 of the best dance schools worldwide.
Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet (St. Petersburg, RU)
Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet
Public domain photo via Wikimedia Commons
The Vaganova Ballet Academy is considered by many to be the source of modern ballet. This 275-year-old school only allows those judged to be the absolute top dancers in their class to graduate, as each successive year of schooling leads to smaller and smaller class sizes.
As such, of the 3,000 children who apply to the school at around the age of 10, only 25 will graduate, around the age of 19. However, classes for international students are held annually for students aged 16-20.
Upon graduation, the Mariinsky Ballet company may offer positions to certain graduating students. Others find their way to companies worldwide, such as the Bolshoi Ballet, The Royal Ballet, and the American Ballet Theatre.
This school boasts an incredibly accomplished base of alumni, including three of the most influential ballet dancers of all time, Rudolf Nureyev, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Anna Pavlova.
Paris Opera Ballet School (Paris, FR)
Located in the Nanterre suburb of Paris, France, this school is a component of the Paris Opera, the oldest national dance company globally.
This 300-year-old institution allows students to immerse themselves in one of the most prestigious dance companies in the world through its proximity to the Paris Opera.
Of all the dancers in the Paris Opera company, around 95% graduated from the Paris Opera Ballet School.
The Paris Opera Ballet School boasts alumni that have transformed the landscape of ballet: from Sylvie Guillem to a rising star in the Paris Opera, Katherine Higgins.
The school currently operates under the directorship of Elisabeth Platel, who won a prestigious Benois de la Danse ballerina award in 1999 and has choreographed for the likes of George Balanchine, John Neumeier, and Rudolf Nureyev.
Royal Ballet School (London, EN)
The Royal Ballet School boasts an incredibly illustrious band of notable alumni: Dame Margot Fonteyn, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, and Kevin O’Hare, the current director of The Royal Ballet, just to name a few.
Located in London, England, this school for 11-19 year old dancers has a tradition of sending its students to some of the most prestigious dance companies across the globe, particularly the Royal Ballet in London and the Birmingham Royal Ballet.
The Royal Ballet School assures its students receive rigorous dance training alongside quality academic preparation, as the school also contains art studios, computer labs, a physiotherapy treatment space, and more.
The Royal Ballet School is the only dance school to have trained 4 of the 13 Prima ballerina assoluta recipients, the highest honor a ballerina can attain: Margot Fonteyn, Eva Evdokimova, Phyllis Spira, and Alessandra Ferri.
Elmhurst Ballet School (Birmingham, EN)
With a close association with the Birmingham Royal Ballet, this school grants its students unique access to the Artistic Director of the Birmingham Royal Ballet, a position which Cuban dancer Carlos Acosta has filled since 2019.
As well, Elmhurst Ballet School students can anticipate having the opportunity to work within the Birmingham Hippodrome, one of the highest quality theaters in the UK.
The school, which trains students aged 11-19, has a state-of-the-art campus with seven dance studios, a 250-seat studio theater, and a theater workshop.
Robert Parker, the former principal dancer for the Birmingham Royal Ballet, serves as the Artistic Director, granting students mentorship from a leading industry professional.
Elmhurst alumni represent a diverse group of dancers, such as Dame Merle Park, Melissa Hamilton, Jacqui Chan, and Paul James Rooney.
The Juilliard School (New York, NY)
Juilliard School
Yair Haklai, Juilliard School-Manhattan-New york, CC BY-SA 3.0
The Dance Division at the Juilliard School offers undergraduate and graduate students the chance to hone their skills in a wide range of dance styles: ballet, hip-hop, tap, contemporary African, various different Ballet techniques, and more.
The program’s director, Alicia Graf Mack, has danced for Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet, Beyoncé, John Legend, Andre 3000, and Alicia Keys.
As such, alumni can be found in every facet of the international dance scene.
From Carla DeSola, a pioneer in Liturgical Dance, to Prima Ballerina at the Batsheva dance company Rina Schenfeld, to Daniel Lewis, a contemporary dancer with a background in Yiddish Theater, Juilliard alumni are everywhere.
Alongside Alicia Graf Mack, many of Juilliard’s dance faculty are practicing industry leaders, such as Val “Ms. Vee” Ho, who has appeared in multiple films and talk shows, Ray Hesselink, a broadway tap dancer, and Deborah Wingert, who has danced for both staged and filmed Shakespeare productions.
Fordham University (New York, NY)
Fordham University
Howchou, Fordham University 01, CC BY-SA 3.0
Located nearby one of the world’s dance epicenters in New York City’s Lincoln Center Area, Fordham University partners with The Ailey School of Dance to give undergraduate students the chance to combine the best of The Ailey School’s tradition of dance prestige with Fordham’s academic excellence through their Ailey/Fordham dance BFA.
Working within the dance school founded by world-famous dancer Alvin Ailey, this degree focuses on granting its students a holistic picture of the world’s dance techniques, with required coursework in diverse dance styles.
Alumni of the Ailey/Fordham school include Danelle Morgan, a Radio City Rockette; Amy McClendon and Jordan McHenry, two Cirque du Soleil dancers; and several Broadway dancers.
While studying under premiere dance faculty such as Dance Theatre of Harlem alum Melanie Person, students also can familiarize themselves with the Alvin Ailey dance troupe, one of the most renowned in the world.
NYU Tisch School of the Arts (New York, NY)
The BFA in Dance at the Tisch School of the Arts not only boasts a comprehensive curriculum that focuses on both the creative and technical aspects of dance, but also allows students to obtain on-the-ground experience in the kinds of professional settings career dancers operate within on a daily basis.
The Tisch School has a unique curriculum that begins with foundational Dance training and builds its way to students joining the Second Avenue Dance Company in their final year.
Along the way, students undergo summer residencies each summer that offer intensive coursework taught by guest dance companies, performers, and practitioners.
Guests at the Tisch summer residency in 2022 will include Sofia Nappi, Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE: A Dance Company, and David Dorfman Dance.
As such, this program offers students the chance to begin to develop the network, experience, and portfolio of a career dancer. It is no wonder, then, that 3 recent alumni of Tisch were included in Dance Magazine’s 25 to watch in 2021.
School of American Ballet (New York, NY)
The School of the American Ballet selects students from the age of 6-18 to attain some of the most prestigious ballet training in the world in association with the New York City Ballet.
Alongside this, 200 students in that age range also have the opportunity to attend summer classes and complete a five-week intensive training.
Under the directorship of Jonathan Stafford, former ballet master for the New York City Ballet, the School of the American Ballet houses notable faculty such as 60-year industry veteran Kay Mazzo and former New York City Ballet soloist and founder of The Swan Dreams Project, an organization that seeks to dispel stereotypes about Black women in ballet, Aesha Ash.
90% of dancers in the New York City Ballet have graduated from the School of the American Ballet, and notable alumni include dancers such as Paloma Herrera, Mary Ellen Moylan, and Debra Austin.
Oklahoma City University Ann Lacey School of Dance and Entertainment (Oklahoma City, OK)
This university is a mecca for those pursuing a career at any level of dance production.
With separate undergraduate and graduate degrees in Dance Performance, Dance Management, American Dance Teaching, and Entertainment Business, this school provides unique opportunities for those who want to contribute to the world of dance.
The Ann Lacy School was founded by Professor Jo Rowan on the notion that American dance art forms such as tap, jazz, and theater dance should be granted respect in the academic space.
It was the first university of its kind to teach these dance forms, and as such, it has long been considered one of the world’s best schools for these modes of American dance.
Jo Rowan, the founder of the program and the American Spirit Dance Company, still teaches at the Ann Lacy School to this day, allowing students to study alongside a pioneer in the field.
The Bolshoi Ballet Academy (Moscow, RU)
Associated with the Bolshoi Ballet, graduates of this program have attained a vast number of People’s Artist of the USSR awards, “prima ballerina assoluta,” and “premier dancer” awards—the highest honors any dancer can attain in Russia. The Bolshoi Ballet Academy trains students aged around 9-19.
Marina Leonova, a People’s Artist of Russia (the highest honor the Russian Federation gives to artists), is the current director of the Bolshoi Ballet Academy.
Recent alumni of the school lead dance troupes throughout the world, such as MacArthur Fellowship recipient Alexei Ratmansky, who also received a Critics’ Circle National Dance Award for his work with the American Ballet Theatre.
The effect the Bolshoi Ballet Academy has on the world of dance and the landscape of international art writ large is so vast that in 2020 the institution was awarded the Japanese Foreign Minister’s Commendation for its role in bettering Russo-Japanese relations.
