Greenwich Village · New York, New York
Joffrey Ballet School
Year-round pre-professional ballet and contemporary training, the official ballet school in New York City founded by Robert Joffrey in 1953.
- Ballet
- Contemporary
- Jazz
- Hip Hop
- Children's Dance
How Joffrey Ballet School comes across
Joffrey Ballet School presents itself through lineage first — "Founded by Robert Joffrey in 1953," with Gerald Arpino — and frames its mission as "deconstructing dance" so technique "flows naturally and passionately from within" while it "cultivates the individual artist within you." The impression is of a large, multi-track institution rather than a single-discipline academy: Children's Ballet from age 2, Youth Ballet, a year-round pre-professional Trainee Program (ages 13-25) in either ballet or jazz & contemporary, the resident Joffrey Concert Group, plus a sprawling network of summer intensives across the US, Italy, Japan and Switzerland. It openly distinguishes itself on "versatility," noting that "most of the top ballet schools... are focused primarily on a single discipline." The Trainee Program is NASD-accredited, with a BFA pathway and residence life. A parent would read it as a serious, nationally branded pre-professional pipeline that also keeps genuine beginner doors at its Greenwich Village flagship.
An editor's impression, drawn from the school's own website and public materials, 13 June 2026. Not a review — if it misses the mark, the school or a parent can tell us via the form below.
About the school
The Joffrey Ballet School was founded in 1953 by Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino and continues as the official ballet school in New York City. Programming includes year-round pre-professional training across multiple dance disciplines, summer intensives, drop-in classes, and workshops for dancers from beginner to professional. The school operates from a Greenwich Village facility on Avenue of the Americas.
At a glance
- Address
- 434 Avenue of the Americas, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10011
- Suburb
- Greenwich Village
- City
- New York
- State
- New York
- Disciplines
- Classical Ballet, Contemporary, Jazz, Modern, Hip Hop
- Approach
- Competitive
What stands out
- i.Founded 1953 by Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino
- ii.Official Joffrey Ballet School in NYC
- iii.Year-round pre-professional pathway
- iv.International summer intensives
Teachers listed on the school's site
- Paula Alvarez — Youth Ballet Faculty
- Tomiko Magario — Youth Ballet Faculty
- Candice Michelle Franklin — Youth Ballet Faculty
- Annastasia Mercedes — Youth Ballet Faculty
- Christopher LaFleche — Youth Ballet Faculty
- Irene Hogarth-Cimino — Youth Ballet Faculty
Plus additional teaching faculty across the Children's Ballet, NYC Ballet Trainee and NYC Jazz & Contemporary Trainee programs — see the school's full Faculty index.
Sourced from the school's Youth Ballet Program faculty page (joffreyballetschool.com/faculty/youth-ballet-program). Teachers can request removal or correction via the listing-edit form below.
Also in Greenwich Village
Creative Cultural Center
Nonprofit West Village dance and cultural center inside St Veronica Church, offering ballet, jazz, hip-hop, modern, and flamenco for children alongside studio rentals and workshops.
Joffrey Ballet School — Manhattan
Ages 2+
Manhattan home of the Joffrey Ballet School, founded 1953 by Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino, with Trainee Programs, Youth Ballet (ages 8-18), Children's Ballet (ages 2-7), and adult open classes.