Dance Expression Competitors

Steps on Broadway, founded in 1979, is more than just a dance studio. It is an internationally recognized community of artists, committed to the cultivation of individuality and talent, to the joy, the work, the focus, and the abandon of dance. Classes are offered seven days a week at all levels in ballet, jazz, modern, contemporary, tap, theater dance, hip hop, ethnic, and body conditioning. Steps is the true epicenter of New York’s professional dance community. It is home to many of the best and most world-renowned teachers, and a training ground for generations of aspiring and professional dancers. On any given day, one may take class alongside today’s performers and seasoned veterans from concert dance companies, such as New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theater, Paris Opera, Kirov and Royal Ballets, Boston Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Complexions, and Martha Graham, as well as the opera, Broadway, and the commercial dance world. Steps is a celebrated space. It’s a state-of-the-art facility with an old-world ambiance and a steady pulse of passion, energy, and inspiration. It is a cultural hub, an artistic resource, and a cosmopolitan treasure.

American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is recognized as one of the great dance companies in the world. Few ballet companies equal ABT for its combination of size, scope, and outreach. Recognized as a living national treasure since its founding in 1940, ABT is the only major cultural institution that annually tours the United States, performing for more than 450,000 people. Over its 83-year history, the Company has also performed in a total of 139 cities around the world. As a result of this vast domestic and international reach anchored in its American roots, in 2006, by an act of Congress, American Ballet Theatre became America's National Ballet Company.® When American Ballet Theatre was founded, the aim was to develop a repertoire of the best ballets from the past, and to encourage the creation of new works by gifted young choreographers, wherever they might be found. In January 2022, former American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancer, Susan Jaffe, was appointed Artistic Director. Jaffe is committed to maintaining the Company's vast repertoire, engaging the leading choreographers of our time to create exciting new work, and bringing the art of dance theater to the great stages of the world. With a repertory of the great full-length classical ballets and contemporary one-act ballets, ABT’s performance season includes a Summer season at the Metropolitan Opera House and a Fall season at the Koch Theater in New York City. ABT also tours in the US and abroad and has a robust Education program which includes the ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (JKO) School, ABT Summer Intensive programs across the US, and the ABT National Training Curriculum, a training program for dance educators.

The Ailey organization's mission is to further the pioneering work of Alvin Ailey by establishing an extended cultural community that provides dance performances, training, and community programs for all people. As important as its artistic and educational mission, the Ailey organization plays a social role, using the beauty and humanity of the African American heritage and other cultures to inspire and unite people of all races, ages and back grounds. Named “Cultural Ambassador to the World,” by a United States Congressional Resolution, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater numbers 31 of the most talented dancers in the world, and its diverse repertory is unparalleled in modern dance. A typical season includes engagements in its home base of New York City: 5 weeks each winter at New York City Center and 2 weeks each spring at Brooklyn Academy of Music, a 20 city United States tour and extensive international touring. Annually, nearly 500,000 people experience Ailey performances and programs. A multifaceted organization, the Ailey family also encompasses Ailey II, a second company dedicated to the development of young artists and community outreach; The Ailey School, a world-class dance academy which provides instruction to a diverse group of students aged 3-25; and Ailey Arts in Education and Community Programs which provide young people from diverse cultural and economic backgrounds the opportunity to explore dance, build self-esteem and develop life skills.