Original subtitles

(CAR HORNS HONKING)

(DRAMATIC CLASSIC MUSIC PLAYING)

Being on stage just came naturally for me.

I love it.

First time I stepped on that stage, I was like, "Oh, my God."

I actually look into the audience a lot.

I feel like I'm giving something to whoever's watching.

DOMINIKA: To perform at the end is the best part,

because you can see what you're striving for.

My favorite thing is when they laugh and cheer you on.

(APPLAUSE)

KAY: They adore being on stage.

It's a big deal.

(APPLAUSE)

BRANDON: Tonight is opening night of The Nutcracker.

-It's probably going to rain. Definitely. -Okay, so not too bad,

people will probably still come

-and not give up their tickets. -BRANDON: Yes.

Everything is either going to be the best or the worst there

because your adrenaline is, um, like, really high,

'cause it's opening night, but you're also kind of scared.

Every time, for me, it always feels like it's the first time he's performing.

It's like I don't know how he does it,

'cause I get butterflies in my stomach,

and I'm literally sitting downstairs watching on a screen.

(JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING)

BRANDON: I'm one of those people who is there very early.

I've been here since 4:00.

And the show starts at 7:00? Seven.

It's my biggest pet peeve when someone arrives

at the dot of where you're supposed to be.

You couldn't have just come ten minutes earlier?

KELLY: Opening night,

what you've been working for.

SOPHIA: We do 25 performances, which is a lot.

Right before I was like,

"What if I don't feel like I've learned everything."

But after the dress rehearsals I feel really ready

Close your eyes, babe. All right sweetie, what do you need?

-KELLY: I love this. -Hi!

MEGAN: And a sponge. And a…

-SUZY: Okay, good. -MEGAN: This is exciting!

I keep using the word "surreal" because it really is kind of a dream,

especially when I see her up there next to the principal dancers.

-It's pretty cool, right? -Mm-hmm.

MEGAN: Tonight I'll be performing the Dew Drop.

Dancing with the kids

is really fun because I remember being a kid myself.

I'm dancing the role of the Sugarplum Fairy tonight.

You dream about this role when you're a little girl.

I did probably every single child part you could do, starting with a mouse.

I remember my first Mother Ginger and I had a crush on him. (LAUGHS)

MARIA: My first solo I'm surrounded by Angels.

it's really nice to look at their innocent

little faces and just kind of get that extra little energy.

MEGAN: It's a full circle moment

for every single person that's in the company.

OLIVIA: Whenever I'm backstage and about to go on,

I'm afraid that like, "Oh, maybe I'll fall on my face or I'll trip."

Just like jittery.

It's all those nerves racked up together.

You can't bottle this, she's just happy… happier than she's ever been.

ANGELICA: (IN SPANISH)

-(CHILDREN CHATTERING) -Hi, guys, how's everybody today?

-CHILDREN: Good. -Are we ready for a great show?

-CHILDREN: Yes! -Whoo!

I am definitely ready for a great show.

After all this lead up, yes, we are finally here.

-No. You're not. -Yeah. You can. Yeah. You can.

DENA: They live here for the run of The Nutcracker,

because it's almost six weeks.

A lot of them have dinner, others do their homework

'cause tomorrow they have school.

People become really close friends.

GIRL 1: It looks exactly like that.

DENA: They create memories here and they never forget them.

Wow! A little angel.

It's a small space, but it's full of joy. (CHUCKLES)

(EXCITED CHATTERING)

What about that?

DENA: The girls put on makeup for the first time in their lives

and do it for an hour long.

You know when you think everything's gonna look great

-and then it's just like… -I know!

SABRINA: People will have to say…

Oh, my gosh, Brandon you're not even spraying it in the back.

That might be a fire hazard

-at this point. -Right?

SUSY:

KELLY: Oh, never, Ms. Suzy.

SOPHIA: Mm-hmm.

SUSY:

KELLY: Okay.

This is how my quick change goes.

So, I walk backstage, and it's in the dark,

I give my sword to someone, I put my head, I run…

-I put my head? -I mean I take the Nutcracker off,

this other guy he lifts me up and the guy has the pants,

he walks to the side…

BRANDON: You lost me when you said, "I take my head off." (LAUGHS)

(KAI SMACKS LIPS, GROWLS)

(IN SPANISH)

Yeah, do that.

Daddy's coming down, I'm gonna switch out

-'cause I'm gonna go see it. I love you. -Okay. Bye.

Boy Polichinelles, keep that diagonal open.

So, lots of energy,

lots of joy, listen to the music,

and now you're not nervous anymore,

because you're ready to go out there and give the audience a great show.

-Okay? Have a great time. -CHILDREN: Thank you.

FEMALE SUPERVISOR: Party Scene, we'll be calling you in about 15 minutes.

BOY 1: I'm not nervous.

BRANDON: Hopefully, you won't do that in the show.

-GIRL 2: Sophia, you nervous? -Yeah.

GIRL 2: The Nutcracker, 25 chances to mess up. (LAUGHS)

BOY 2: I'm so nervous.

BOY 3: I'm scared about my hair.

More than 1,000 people watching us.

GIRL 3: I'm more worried about Ms. Abergel seeing the mistakes,

than I'm worried when my family's watching.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

STEVE: It doesn't seem real yet.

We can't wait to see Sophia on stage doing what she loves.

It’s gonna be great.

They flew in from Virginia Beach yesterday.

KAI'S GRANDPA: We're going to see Kai.

He's the Nutcracker, the Prince, the whole show.

I feel that Balanchine was able to capture in his Nutcracker,

this really iconic family feeling

of holiday and celebration.

I think that's partly why so many people bring their children at first

and sometimes only to The Nutcracker.

(PERFORMANCE START BELL DINGING)

Hey, guys! You feel good?

-Yeah. -Okay. Can't wait to see you guys.

(ORCHESTRA STARTS PLAYING)

MALE STAGE CREW:

(APPLAUSE)

("THE NUTCRACKER" BALLET MUSIC PLAYS)

BRANDON: I was a bit nervous with Sophia when we were sitting on the chair.

But after that I was, like, I got this. (CHUCKLES)

SOPHIA: Getting to play Marie was super special.

You definitely get to connect with the whole cast.

(APPLAUSE)

And he used to go to SAB. (SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)

-GIRL 3: No. -Oh, God. What?

GIRL 4: There's Tenzin, is Prince. He's right here.

-GIRL 5: Where? -ELLA: And there's me!

GIRL 6: They tried to paint over them,

-but everybody rewrote them. -ELLA: I wrote my name for Party Scene.

(BALLET MUSIC PLAYING)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

-Go, go, go, go, go. -FEMALE STAFF: Come on guys, quicker.

And remember, when you're in your wing, take out your tail. Go.

Don't drag your tails, hold them until you get in your wing.

JOHN:

Okay.

(APPLAUSE)

GIRL IN MOUSE COSTUME 1:

GIRL IN MOUSE COSTUME 2:

GIRL IN MOUSE COSTUME 3:

GIRL IN MOUSE COSTUME 1:

GIRL IN MOUSE COSTUME 1

GIRL IN MOUSE COSTUME 3:

FEMALE SUPERVISOR:

When I see Kai dance on the stage,

in The Nutcracker specifically,

-I feel terror. Uh… -(KAVITA CHUCKLES)

CHRIS: There's a green room and a screen that monitors the live performance

and sometimes I have to leave the room for a few minutes.

KAVITA: It's just great to see your children

engaged in something so deeply.

I live a little vicariously through my kids.

There's a joyfulness and a pleasure, and this elation that you can sense.

It's like I can almost feel it.

(BALLET MUSIC PLAYING)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

WOMAN: Let's go, you guys.

KID IN RABBIT COSTUME: That's not yours

-anymore. -Come on.

(BALLET MUSIC PLAYING)

(APPLAUSE)

BALLERINA 1:

BALLERINA 2: Nice job.

DENA:

SOPHIA AND KAI: Thank you.

DENA:

(SOPHIA CHUCKLES) There's so much snow.

There's a lot on my back.

REGINA: Okie-doke.

So, what are you gonna do with a cup of confetti snow?

I don't know. (LAUGHS)

-GIRL 7: Sophia, you did great. -GIRL 8: Yeah.

-CHRIS: You happy? -Yeah, really happy.

I think I was better on stage than I was in rehearsal.

It's almost as if you're performing more in the story

and it continues instead of stopping in places to fix things. So…

ULRIKA: Was it fun up there?

-Yeah. -Yeah?

Were you nervous?

A little. Not really when I was on stage.

But definitely in the beginning. While we were waiting.

-But it felt good afterwards, doesn't it? -Yeah.

Yeah. That's good

-It was pretty awesome. -KAI: Thank you.

Guys look at my wings, I'm flying. (GIGGLES)

I'm flying.

ANGEL 1: Those are the hoops. Look.

-Look what she's wearing. -ANGEL 2: Oh.

Oh, my God, boy Poli costumes, it's like pregnant men,

like an alternate universe.

FEMALE SUPERVISOR: Walk on over in a line. Hoops at the back door.

CHILDREN: Merde!

-ANGEL 3: Going on stage -ANGEL 4: Are you nervous?

Sort of. Sort of. Like, kind of.

MAN 1: You're welcome.

MAN 2:

-Thank you. -MAN 1: You're welcome.

ANGEL 5: Merde. Goodbye.

(INTERMISSION WARNING MUSIC PLAYS)

DENA: Remember behind your "X"s, girls, before the Sugarplum dance, okay?

-(APPLAUSE) -Trees below your chins. Below your chin.

(BALLET MUSIC RESTARTS)

LUIS: (IN SPANISH)

ANGELICA: (IN SPANISH)

-(MUSIC STOPS) -(APPLAUSE)

(MUSIC RESTARTS)

(APPLAUSE)

CHILDREN:

-(MUSIC STOPS) -(AUDIENCE CHEERING)

(INAUDIBLE)

(MUSIC RESTARTS)

GABBIE: When you hear the orchestra it makes you feel, like, weird

because you've listened to a piano play it all this time.

And then there's this loud music

with all this instruments. It's pretty cool.

And actually, the Hoop costume is sort of an instrument.

(APPLAUSE)

(GIGGLING)

(MUSIC STOPS)

(APPLAUSE, CHEERING)

JULIE: This will be her last year in children's division,

then it would be a jump to the intermediate, if she's accepted.

So, we think about it, but we try not to focus on it.

OLIVIA: Where's Meredith?

-(GIRLS MURMURING) -DENA: Come on, girls.

OLIVIA: I just love performing on stage.

I become the person that I want to be.

-ELLA: It's cool to have an audience. -(BALLET MUSIC PLAYING)

It's weird too though

'cause you're like, "There's people watching me."

JANIE: Well, once you stop crying, because of course

it's amazing to see your child up there, it's incredible.

You see her up there, excelling at something like that.

Every parent, I think,

wishes that for their child, to be a part of something like this.

It's so cool.

(APPLAUSE)

(CHEERING)

(MUSIC STOPS)

DENA: That was the best one!

-GIRL 9: Seriously? -You guys were great.

Yes! It was great!

Everyone was exactly on their count sautéing into the skirt, right?

-I'm so proud of you guys. It was great. -Thank you.

DENA: How was it for you? It looked great.

-That was great for me. -DENA: It's was really good.

PRESTON:

Thanks, guys.

-Okay. -(MUSIC RESTARTS)

(APPLAUSE)

(CHEERING)

(GRAND FINALE MUSIC PLAYS)

-(MUSIC STOPS) -(APPLAUSE)

(GRAND FINALE MUSIC RESTARTS)

-(FINAL DRUM ROLL) -(APPLAUSE, CHEERING)

-(MUSIC STOPS) -(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

(APPLAUSE AND CHEERING CONTINUES)

-GABBIE I'm so sorry. (LAUGHS) -GIRL 10: It's okay.

-Good job, guys! -GIRL 11: You too!

DENA: Hey, guys, it was a great show!

Did everyone feel good?

-CHILDREN: Yeah. -Great job.

-Thank you. -DENA: See you next time.

-BIANCA: Thank you. You did amazing! -KELLY: Okay, let's go.

-You did really good. -Thank you.

FEMALE SUPERVISOR: Do remember to take your cheeks off.

-KAI: Bye. -You did so good! Do you feel good?

All of a sudden I really was teary-eyed,

but I had to pull myself together a little bit.

-JULIE: First one down. -GABBY: Yeah, 24 to go.

JULIE: Goodnight!

-RUBY: Mind if I wear a skirt for that? -KAY: Okay. The skirt's fine.

-So, do you remember this? -Yeah.

I learned it back at PNB, I never learned it here.

-Okay. So why don't we go over it first? -So...

Kay Mazzo and Jonathan Stafford have chosen me

for the Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award,

which is an award that is given to one person

from each of the cohorts of Lincoln Center.

And then behind you and then you go here…

RUBY: And I get to perform a variation, and there's a dinner.

Kay Mazzo wants me to do the jumping variation from Raymonda,

which I learned back when I was at Pacific Northwest Ballet.

-(BALLET MUSIC PLAYING) -(KAY CLAPPING RYTHIMICALLY)

RUBY: I haven't done it in a few years.

I think it's much better for you.

I know you haven't done it that fast maybe,

but I think it's gonna be just fine,

it's gonna be good.

(JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING)

-ELISE: Hi. How was rehearsal? -RUBY: Hello. It was good.

-ELISE: Hi -Hi, nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you, I'm Elise.

I've heard so much about you.

You're gonna see her onstage and be surprised.

Awesome. Well, we're gonna feed her a little bit

-and then get ready… -KAY: Good. Stay warm.

-'Cause it's cold. -Yes, it's chilly.

KAY: Bye-bye.

My brother Endre, who's closest to me,

we were each other's best friends, and still are.

RUBY: I've never seen you in a suit before.

ENDRE: Yeah, I've never seen me in a suit either.

-RUBY: These shoes. -ELISE: Aw.

RUBY: Yeah. Kay gave these to me for the show.

-ELISE: Oh, my gosh, I love it. -RUBY: Yeah. They're clip-ons, yeah.

-(ELISE GASPS) -Yeah.

-(CLICKS TONGUE) -Oh, that's really sweet.

-Yeah. -ELISE: I'm so proud of you, Ruby.

Mmm. Mwah.

-Bye, Endre. See you backstage. -Bye.

-Six o'clock? -ELISE: Yeah.

-I'll text you when we're on our way. -Okay.

Hi, Isa. This is the first time you've seen my dress.

Hi! It looks so beautiful!

Oh, my goodness.

Turn around.

LARISSA: Are you proud of your sister?

Oh, yeah, definitely, yeah.

It's cool to be here.

Like, I know it's not every day.

Some people asked me what

my biggest inspiration is as an artist.

Definitely my family is where I get a lot of my love for music and art.

But also just the city and the place that I live.

(CAR HORN HONKING)

-(INDISTINCT CHATTER) -RUBY: I'm excited.

There's like a singer and there's a violinist,

and they gave the award to one dancer from New York City Ballet.

And I'm the only high schooler.

At a time when most of her peers back in Seattle are worrying about prom,

she is making a new home and new career for herself

-here in the greatest city in the world. -(APPLAUSE)

(PIANO PLAYING)

RUBY: Raymonda, it's really short, it's not too challenging.

Like the steps are relatively simple.

But it's, it has a lot of room for artistic…variation?

You can make it your own.

My strong suit is jumping. And it has a lot of jumps, which is fun.

-Tiring but fun. (CHUCKLES) -(APPLAUSE)

It is now my great honor to present the 2020 Martin E. Segal Award

to Ruby Lister.

Things like that don't happen every day. Out of the 24 incredibly talented people

in my class, they chose…

It's crazy.

(PIANO PLAYING)

MALE INSTRUCTOR: A little better.

SAM: I think I'm the only one in my class, at this point,

who's had a consistent injury that's…

stopped them from dancing for this long.

So it makes me feel like I'm really far behind.

At this point I'm not able to audition for any summer course programs.

Sometimes they're able to communicate with different directors at the schools

and try to get you a spot in those summer courses.

Before I got injured I was definitely looking a lot into Miami and Boston.

But, at this point I'll take anywhere. (LAUGHS)

My parents are both coming up to New York,

and me and a lot of my friends are going out to brunch.

(FRIENDS CHATTERING)

-GIRL 1: Wait, smile. -Oh, that's so cute.

BOY 1: That's kinda cute.

Well, today is Sam's seventeenth birthday.

This is the day.

GIRL 2:

SAM: No!

ELLE: Since he was having a difficult semester…

He has been dealing with an injury for several months…

We thought that it would be a great idea to give him a party to cheer him up.

GIRL 3:

GIRL 4:

-GIRL 5: Is it coming out today? -GIRL 6: Yeah.

-BOY 2: I didn't get into Boston. -They came out?

-They came out a week ago. -Oh, okay.

Is the Miami one today or tomorrow? We don't really know, right?

-GIRL 7: Friday. -GIRL 8: It's supposed to be Friday.

Wait, that's actually nerve-wracking.

I haven't gotten like audition results since 2018.

-MARK: Where do you want to go, Dominika? -Miami.

(WHOOPING)

ELLA: He's where he belongs, he's in his element.

Yeah. It is really great to see him smile so much.

ALL: (SINGING) Happy birthday to you

Whoo!

SAM: I feel like my friends

have really been there for me.

The spring workshop this year,

it's something I've been looking forward to.

I'm gonna be 100% back by then.

(JAZZ MUSIC PLAYING)

KATRINA: Come on, you guys, let's go.

Today we are going to the Queens Theatre to do a lecture demonstration

that promotes our spring community auditions.

Twelve of our dancers from our advanced division,

they're gonna be showing how we work from the studio

all the way to the stage.

Count again, why am I nervous?

Four swans, raise your hand. That's what makes me nervous.

-One, two, three, four. -(LAUGHING)

KATRINA: If we only had three, it would not be good.

Pointe, partnering we have…

Queens, here we come. Whoo-hoo!

GIRL 1: That is the theatre.

GIRL 2: It looks so weird. Oh, gosh.

(STUDENTS CHATTERING)

DOMINIKA: Lecture demonstrations are really great because we get to travel

all over New York.

And I get to visit places I've never been before.

It is great for us to show what ballet is

and what the school is like to many other people.

KATRINA: A lot of this audience is gonna be very young. Like,

-this age. Okay? -(STUDENTS CHUCKLE)

This is probably their very first time to see ballet.

It's so, so important, right? Giggles,

laughs, loud noises,

clapping, exuberance. Whatever it is, you are doing what?

What we do, right?

It's very, very important that we keep it like that.

We're gonna show this young audience

what it is actually to become a ballet dancer.

We show barre. We show how we work en pointe.

Then we have six excerpts that we'll be showing the audience.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

Alright, we're at five minutes to show. Five minutes to show.

That's a places call for Jaslyn,

Kye, McKenzie, Charlie, Katrina and Leo.

Okay, folks, you guys break legs, have a good show.

I'll be upstairs. I'm on the stage right side.

GIRL 3: We all heard.

KATRINA: Merde everybody. Have fun.

TAELA: What was after the tendu, tendu?

One and two and three and four, five, six, seven, eight.

-Close en pointe. Wait… -And then one.

-No, I think that was right. -(LAUGHS)

One and two and three and…

TAELA: I think there was only three combinations.

-Oh! Plié up, plié up. -Yeah!

-(BOTH VOCALIZING) -Okay, that was it,

-that was all of them. Okay. -That was it, yeah.

(PEOPLE CHATTERING)

Let's have house come down.

KATRINA: Hello, everyone.

I'm Katrina Killian, I'm a teacher from the School of American Ballet.

I'm gonna be your host today.

Pointe work is very difficult, and it's even harder

when you're attached to three other dancers.

Pas de deux. Can you say pas de deux?

AUDIENCE: Pas de deux.

(BALLET MUSIC PLAYING)

KATRINA: Every young ballet dancer hopes she'll get to be

the Sugar Plum Fairy when she grows up.

TAELA: Am I next? Am I next?

-Wait, Stars and Stripes. -GIRL 4: That's you.

TAELA: All of us, we're kind of like, jittery a little bit.

-But you just have to let yourself… -(APPLAUSE)

…feel the music and go with it.

Just ends up becoming second nature.

KATRINA: We're going to show you a solo from a famous ballet by George Balanchine

called Agon.

Watch how the steps Taela dances are responding to this unusual music.

(BALLET MUSIC PLAYS)

(CHUCKLES) Oops!

Let's go.

Thank you, Taela. Very nice. Good job.

So a dance for three people in ballet is called pas de trois.

-Can you say pas de trois? -AUDIENCE: Pas de trois.

KATRINA: Perfect.

Now we're going to show you one of the most entertaining pas de trois

that George Balanchine ever made.

(BALLET MUSIC PLAYS)

DOMINIKA: I'm very aware of the audience. But it's a good thing for me

because I'm not only dancing for myself,

but for other people, which makes me I feel like do better.

And I like to show people what dancing is like and how enjoyable it is.

KATRINA: I'd now like to bring on all our dancers for one last bow.

And I'd also like to thank our pianist, Mr. Leo Shih.

Swanies in the front, Kye over here, Taela there.

Look at the audience taking pictures of us.

-We started something. -(CHUCKLES)

Whoo! (LAUGHS)

DOMINIKA: Spring workshop is a big performance coming up soon.

So many rehearsals, so many exciting costumes.

All of us are very, like, out of this world excited.

Good job everybody. Yay.

Good job. Thank you! Thank you.

There's so many things to look forward to.

WOMAN: Autograph… Thank you!

Kai! You did an excellent job. You were wonderful! Right, hon?

Very good.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

Wait, on the back or the front?

On the back. Everyone can sign my shirt!

How's the green cast feeling today?

(CHILDREN CHEER)

I just wanna tell you all it has been

a wonderful, wonderful run of Nutcracker.

I have been so pleased and so proud.

You guys have brought that magic of Mr. Balanchine's Nutcracker

to thousands and thousands and thousands of audience members.

Remember our first rehearsal?

CHILDREN: Yeah!

Do you… Do you think you learned a lot since then?

CHILDREN: Yes.

And you have been led so beautifully by Kai and Sophia in this cast.

So, I wanna congratulate you all.

Nutcracker!

(THEATER PUBLIC APPLAUDING AND CHEERING )

KAI: It is always kind of emotional.

Like you've been working and then it's over.

I'll probably be too tall next year.

-GIRL 5: Wait, can you sign this? -Yes.

It's been a long run of hard work.

But I feel like being in The Nutcracker has been a super experience,

and I will never forget it.

GIRL 6: Gabbie's already crying.

I remember… I remember…

I'm really sad that this is my last year…

Can you get us all?

…because it's a big family almost.

And then we get to do it here.

It just feels like I'm losing a part of my life, you know?

My favorite, when we would play cards

in the middle of the dance.

DENA: It's always bittersweet for them. You know,

it just goes on, and they progress,

and they get to the next thing.

-Thank you. -You've done such a beautiful job

as Marie. So effortlessly.

-Thank you. -You really, um,

made the ballet come alive.

-Thank you. -So congratulations.

SOPHIA: Being Marie is gonna be a really special memory that I have.

-GIRL 7: Bye, Ms. Abergel. -DENA: Bye!

As long as I've been in Nutcracker, it's been a tradition

-to have a wrap party. -CHILDREN: Green cast, green cast…

We do a circle…

-(CHEERING) -…and everybody

goes in and does some dances that they know.

Yeah, it's a lot of fun.

(DANCE MUSIC PLAYING)

It's weird to think that's the last time I did that step,

and that's the last time I exited the stage or I went into costume.

-Group hug, group hug. -I'm not crying.

-Group hug, group hug. Everyone in. -Now you're gonna make me cry.

ELLA: But it's also like, the new people need

to come in and do what they need to do, so…

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

-GIRL 8: Bye Sophia! -SOPHIA: Bye.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

SOPHIA: My life kinda felt empty after Nutcracker for a little bit,

just because I was so used to that busy schedule.

FEMALE INSTRUCTOR: Sophia, first position.

Take your right leg, sweetheart. Front, that's a girl. Half.

SOPHIA: When you go back to class, it's kind of weird

that you don't have to go to rehearsal afterwards

or you don't have a show the next day or things like that.

But, eventually, you kind of go back into the schedule,

and class is more, I guess, exciting.

…your head high.

SOPHIA: I'm definitely looking forward to progressing en pointe.

FEMALE INSTRUCTOR: Very good, Sophia.

-Hi, Ella. Standing tall in first. -(CHUCKLES)

ELLA: We're learning how to work with our feet en pointe,

like the proper positions. Sometimes you do new stuff

and those are really exciting classes.

I love ballet.

And I want to continue with ballet for as long as possible.

KAI: It's kind of weird in January when nothing's really going on.

You feel like your schedule is so open sometimes.

ARCH: Glissade, full arm, up and in.

KAI: I wanted to get to ballet class right away.

ARCH: Good, guys. Good, good, good.

Reach it long!

Yeah! Good. Let's go left.

In Level V, we're working on our turns.

If I do make it into the company,

it will be a long time until I get back on that stage.

So, it drives me to work really hard.

Okay.

ISA: There are some kids who are…

-changing to leave tomorrow. -SION: Good. Okay.

We had to make

the very difficult decision to extend our spring break

from one week to five because of the Coronavirus.

Yeah, so when should I leave the dorms, if my flight is at 11:40?

TAELA: I'm not gonna be packing a lot.

WOMAN: Get home safe.

Only ballet clothes and homework.

ELIAS: I'm flying home on Saturday.

We're supposed to start workshop rehearsal on Monday.

So, it sucks that we're gonna have to wait

over a month before we start.

It's our end of the year performance.

-Bye! -Bye.

-Bye, guys. -Bye.

RUBY: It'll be interesting to see how this affects workshop.

'Cause normally we're working on these ballets for months.

SION: I think the thing they're gonna miss the most

is spending five weeks in the studios with their friends.

That's the hardest thing.

I can't remember the last time I've gone five weeks without dancing.

KAY: Okay. So how do… Katie, how do I then…

Oh, there they are. Hello everybody.

Hello, hello, hello, hello, hello.

I'm seeing them coming on.

Wait, now I lost my gallery view.

Girls it looks so good.

Everybody looks like they're in great shape.

RUBY: After the fourth week being at home they sent out an email saying, like,

the rest of the year is canceled.

We were all, like, so disappointed that like we didn't give better goodbyes.

-They were crying. -Yeah.

Nice and big, juicy tendu,

and high, high relevé, okay.

CHRIS: I know Kai gets a little frustrated

because we were all hoping his online classes would be temporary.

But I feel like he's embraced them more fully in the last couple of weeks.

ISABELA: It's hard 'cause we're trying to regain our strength

since we were away for a while.

ELIAS: I'm doing pretty well.

We figured out the ballet studio,

so that was a big help.

And I can dance a couple hours every day.

SOPHIA: We're definitely doing a lot more than I thought we would.

And overall, I think

pointe is progressing.

RUBY: When they announced that the workshops

and SAB was canceled, it scared me a little bit.

You look forward your whole life to your senior…

It's like senior prom,

but it's workshop.

I'm gonna be going into my first job next year.

I wanna be able to put my best foot forward.

Jonathan Stafford told us, "It's okay.

"You are still all gonna get to be apprentices next year."

Which was… (EXHALES) …a huge sigh of relief.

SAM: I haven't been doing any ballet or dance classes online.

It's been really helpful because it's allowed me to recover.

I want to dance professionally, but I've been looking at a few colleges

that I would be interested in going to.

DOMINIKA: It's been hard, but right now there are bigger problems in the world.

Just trying to stay in shape and get ready for anything

that happens when we get back is the most important thing right now.

ARCH: Great, good. Follow Brandon.

SABRINA: It was always such a pleasure

-to watch him go to SAB every day… -Yeah.

… because you could see it in his face

and all the other kids' faces.

It reminds me even more that SAB is really family.

MALE INSTRUCTOR: One, two…

KELLY: I watch Sophia, and on days where she has class,

she's happier, she feels connected.

One-two, three-four,

-five-six, seven-eight. -ELLA: I'm excited for when

I get to interact with my friends in person again.

FEMALE INSTRUCTOR: Plié and straight, go side…

ELLA: I didn't realize how much

more real ballet is in the studio than it is like online.

-Plié, sous sous. Plié, sous sous… -RUBY: When anything like this happens

it makes you realize

how much you took for granted when it's taken away.

Beautiful! That's right, that's right.

RUBY: This is really pushing everyone in the dance community,

not just as dancers and athletes, but also as artists.

JONATHAN: That's where we need to be.

That side of me still needs to be replenished.

-JONATHAN: There! Good. Not bad. -RUBY: Nothing compares

to being in the studio.

-ARCH: Knees away, knees away. -RUBY: So, I know that once

I get back into the studio I'll be that much more grateful for it.

ARCH: Good guys. Good, good, good.

Anyone wanna go one more time on the same sides?

-One, two, up, up. -KAY: …three, four,

five, six, seven, eight.

-ALLEN: Thank your partner. -STUDENTS: Thank you!

ALLEN: Thank you. Goodbye.

(UPLIFTING INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING)

(MUSIC CONCLUDES)