About Us

Whatever could compare to the enchantment of the first time a youngster visits the ballet. A dream story only imagined is suddenly brought to life through music, dance, beautiful costumes and light. Ballet for Young Audiences is dedicated precisely to this idea, to introducing the magic of dance to youngsters of all ages. Our repertory offers a wide variety of ballets in the universal combined languages of music, dance and the spoken word.

Ballet for Young Audiences was established in 1985 and is dedicated to reaching youngsters of all ages and backgrounds to stimulate their cultural growth by exposing them to different areas of theater, particularly dance as it transcends all economic and language barriers. Ballet for Young Audiences began as an adjunct company to the Rockefellers Traveling Playhouse. The Nutcracker, BYA's first offering was an enormous success and the following year Cinderella was added. Over the next several years BYA became a separate entity, appearing before more and more audiences until in 1991 it added an association with Theaterworks USA. The company integrates dance, music and the spoken word.
For elementary groups we present story ballets with familiar themes, bold color and dramatic absolutes. Very often we use the descriptive power of the classics and poetry as narration, for example, as in Perrault's "Cinderella", Kipling's "Jungle Book" and "Circus, Circa 1900" a production loosely based on Toby Tyler. "The Little Mermaid" reaches out to an older group, with it's questions of choice, disappointment, and ultimate denouement as written by Hans Christian Anderson. "Romeo and Juliet", "Zorro", "Sleeping Beauty" and "The Nutcracker" appeal to all ages and serve all audiences. All the music is classical and every program is fully narrated to ensure understanding.

Ballet for Young Audiences is a non-profit company which appears regularly on the Schooltime Series at the Tisch Performing Arts Center, Town Hall and the Symphony Space in NYC. They appear frequently at Queens Theater in the Park, Helen Hayes Performing Arts Center, LaGuardia Community College in the NY area. They have appeared at Performing Arts Centers as far west as Texas A&M, throughout North Carolina, Virginia, Connecticut, New Jersey and Massachusetts. They also appear regularly on Channel MNN's Children's Series and recently their production of Nutcracker was highlighted on NYCTV.Their season extends from October through May.