ON a recent Saturday, 124 young ballet students stepped to the barre with numbers pinned to their leotards hoping to be chosen for a few coveted spots at the School of American Ballet. Kay Mazzo, co-chairman (along with Peter Martins) of the school, which is the official training academy for the New York City Ballet, watched the dancers carefully, looking for a certain energy, a potential that stood apart.
The School of American Ballet, which holds open auditions in 25 cities, offers those who make the cut positions in a five-week summer intensive at its New York studios. While there, the students live dormitory style, take classes up to three hours a day (some with members of the company), attend performances in New York and Saratoga, N.Y., and live, breathe and dream ballet.
