What is the ballet starting age?

Students are chosen through audition. The children's divisions begin training starting at age seven or eight in order to prepare them for more advanced study. Children in the younger divisions are able to perform in various ballets with the company including George Balanchine's famous 'The Nutcracker, 'A Midsummer Night's Dream, Peter Martins's Swan Lake, and Sleeping Beauty. The most advanced students perform in a workshop at the end of each year where the heads of many prestigious ballet companies choose several of them to join their companies, including New York City Ballet.