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(static sound)
(machine sound)
Peter: Ballet, by it's very nature, is a very competitive art form.
There's a lot of factors that play into a successful dancer's career.
Some of those things are beyond their control.
(eerie sounds) You have to be diligent,
you have to be hungry, you have to be musical,
you have to be committed, you have to work hard,
you have to hopefully not get injured.
Nobody sits still here.
Complacency does not exist at the New York City Ballet.
If it does, it's ...
(hard rock music)
Voiceover: New York City Ballet was cofounded in 1948
by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein,
who envisioned a uniquely American aesthetic.
Sara: The energy that New York City Ballet has is just bursting.
Male Dancer: We dance to the fullest all the time.
We dance quicker than anyone, we jump as big as we can.
Ashley: You're told a lot when you learn things,
"Do it as big as you can and I'll tell you when it's too much."
Peter: It's not Balanchine technique, it's an aesthetic.
It was his taste, it's what he liked in a dancer.
Gretchen: Balanchine found this balance
between feminine and beautiful and sharp and edgy.
Male Dancer: Constantly pushing you to be faster
and be more musical, just like New York, just like the city.
(cars passing)
Gretchen: The ranks in New York City Ballet
are apprentices, then the corps de ballet, soloists, and principal dancers.
(music)
Silas: The New York City Ballet does not hold auditions.
They only take dancers from the School of American Ballet,
so if you don't get chosen as an apprentice
at the conclusion of your time as a student,
there will be no other opportunity for you
to ever enter into this New York City Ballet fold.
Peter: An apprenticeship here is a one shot deal,
because then there's another crop of kids from SAB coming up.
It comes and it goes, that moment.
Olivia: Being an apprentice is stressful,
because it's right before you get your actual contract
with the company, so it's like you're being tested almost every day.
Claire: It's just the first lowest rank, you understudy a lot of things,
you learn a lot of things, you don't dance as much.
Ashley: I think the hardest part about being an apprentice
is trying to fit in and trying to prove that you're worth being here.
When you walk into the studio, you're there to prove something
and you have to always be at your best.
You're there to make a point that you want to be here
and you have to be on top of your game all the time.
Peter: An apprenticeship proves or diproves
whether they're prepared, whether they're ready
emotionally, physically, mentally.
Silas: This is a moment that I've been building towards
since I was nine years old.
Claire: In the past couple years, there have been a few girls
who have not gotten their contracts.
It just shows you that you never know.
Nothing's guaranteed.
Peter: If you have been an apprentice for a year
and you're not getting a contract,
chances are that that was your one chance.
Georgina: From apprenticeship, you get your corps contract.
(rock music)
Craig: Corps de ballet is basically the backdrop of the ballet.
They're like the finishing touches of the ballet.
They are the structure or the base of the company.
Sara: When you're in the corps de ballet, if you're senior corps,
you're on every night, two, three ballets a night.
Voiceover: You go from understudying a lot first to dancing a lot.
Gretchen: The more they push you, that's what we want.
We want to be pushed and we want to see what we're capable of
and we want to get better.
(rock music)
Peter: Nobody jumps from corps de ballet to principal.
Everybody goes through the ranks and some pass
through the soloist rank and some do not.
Craig: I am a soloist dancer, so I dance featured roles,
but there is another level, as principal dancer,
you're always dancing featured roles.
Teresa: Soloist was actually the hardest part
of my whole career, just because you are in the middle.
You're not the hot new thing anymore,
but you're also not a principal.
So it's hard to keep your motivation up.
(music)
Jenifer: Being a principal, it is a different feeling.
You are treated differently.
You are given a greater level of respect in the company
and you also have a little bit more of a say
in your own artistic choices.
There's that trust, when you become a principal dancer.
Teresa: It puts a little fire under your butt, like,
"Oh, I'm a principal now, I've got to be great every time I go out."
(music)
Tiler: Everybody is staring at you 24/7, nitpicking at you.
You have to up the game for everybody.
I feel like if you're at a high standard,
it brings the high standard of the entire performance.
Chase: You just constantly have to keep adapting.
There's no time to get comfortable where you are.
Teresa: Even though I might not be necessarily a better technician
than I was when I was a soloist,
I just have a new confidence and I believe in myself more.
Ashley: I don't want to be somebody who pushes you back
and blows your hair back and you go, "Wow!"
I want you to sit close and go, "Wow."
Megan: I would like to be a principal, definitely.
I watch who Peter watches, I watch who he promotes,
I think I know what he likes, but I wonder
if there is a place for me as a principal dancer.
(music)