By Beth Deitchman
Only the best of the best young dancers are accepted to New York City’s esteemed School of American Ballet (SAB) where, through hard work and dedication, those truly gifted 8-18-year-olds learn to become even better at what they already do so beautifully. The new docuseries On Pointe, coming to Disney+ this Friday, December 18, gives viewers an unprecedented inside look at SAB, as well as the lives of these remarkable dancers and their families over the course of a season.
The older SAB students come to Manhattan from across the U.S. to train for professional careers in ballet, while younger dancers commute to classes from around the greater New York City area and, in some cases, are selected for coveted roles in New York City Ballet’s holiday classic George Balanchine’s The NutcrackerÒ. They’re all in pursuit of a common dream, and as SAB’s Chairman of Faculty Kay Mazzo notes in On Pointe’s first episode, “Some succeed and some don’t. But if you say, That’s all I can do with my life—I have to dance, you’re in the right place.”
Director/producer Larissa Bills led a small crew that gathered hundreds of hours of footage captured within SAB’s classrooms and dorms, as well as the students’ homes. The filmmakers set the barre high, approaching the project as if they were creating a six-hour documentary film, as opposed to a reality show about SAB. As a warmup, here are a few things you need to know before watching On Pointe:
1. SAB represents the gold standard in terms of ballet schools in the United States.
Legendary choreographer George Balanchine founded SAB with the goal of creating an American ballet company. SAB is now the preeminent ballet school in the U.S., and is inextricably linked to New York City Ballet, for which it serves as the official training academy. “It’s a serious place,” notes young Isabela in On Pointe, which follows the 9-year-old from her audition to acceptance at SAB and her journey to (hopefully) be cast in The Nutcracker. Sixteen-year-old Ruby echoes Isabela’s admiration for the school, sharing, “There’s just so many talented dancers and the fact that they chose me is unreal.”
2. The filmmakers were given unprecedented access to SAB and its students.
“The school was aware that it would be a very small crew, it would be very intimate, it wouldn’t intrude,” Bills tells D23, noting this is the first time that SAB has opened its doors to an outside production. The filmmakers shot verité-style, creating as small a footprint as they could. Executive producer Sara Bernstein explains, “It’s about being as observational as we possibly can to let the real-life events that are unfolding help guide the story, as opposed to trying to push the story in any particular direction.”
3. SAB’s older students come to New York from all around the country to train for careers in ballet.
The teenagers featured in On Pointe come from very different backgrounds and cities across the U.S., but all of them have made the choice to move to New York City to attend SAB and live away from home. Bernstein acknowledges, “There is tremendous dedication and sacrifice for parents to say, ‘OK, I’m going to send my 15-year-old to New York City of all places to follow their dream.’ I think there’s something really beautiful in that.” The stakes are high, but so is the level of commitment. In On Pointe, viewers will see how the teens balance their dance classes with academic studies, through online learning or at a nearby professional school many SAB students attend in person. Bills emphasizes, “They’re like Olympic athletes and they’re training at a really high level.”
4. The younger dancers also make a huge commitment when they enter SAB.
SAB’s 8-13-year-old students attend school during the day before braving long commutes to SAB’s Manhattan campus from their homes around the New York area—with homework still waiting for them after their classes end and they return home for the night. On Pointe’s filmmakers accompany these young dancers and their parents on the subway as they travel to and from SAB and take viewers inside their homes to shine a light on the commitment and sacrifice that are shared by the entire family. “There’s an incredible amount of dedication there, especially in terms of these families that have to shuttle their kids back and forth all the time to the school,” Bills underscores.
5. On Pointe presents a unique look at New York City through the lens of SAB and its students.
“Living in New York, at the age of 16, you do need a certain level of independence,” Sam, who moves to New York from Richmond, Virginia, points out in On Pointe. Director/producer Bills shares, “I think what’s really great is that this isn’t just a portrait of the school, but it’s a bit of a portrait of being a kid in New York City… These are kids from all over and really diverse backgrounds.” As part of its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, SAB casts a wide net to find students for its younger programs through an audition process that isn’t confined to Lincoln Center’s Upper West Side neighborhood but extends to Harlem, Chinatown, Queens, and beyond. The younger students who appear in On Pointe are true “city kids,” many of whom were drawn to SAB after first seeing George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker performed during the holiday season, as well as children who have never before experienced a live professional ballet performance and now find themselves preparing to dance on the Lincoln Center stage.
6. The docuseries takes viewers behind the scenes of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker like never before.
During a typical year, it’s a time-honored holiday tradition for New Yorkers and visitors to the city to converge upon Lincoln Center for New York City Ballet’s annual production of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker. On Pointe begins as SAB is embarking upon a new school year and follows the 8-13-year-olds through the audition process for roles in The Nutcracker, as well as rehearsals and ultimately, the staged production of the iconic ballet. Since 2020 is far from a typical year, Bernstein is happy that On Pointe allows viewers to be able to experience the production in a new way, given that New York City Ballet won’t be performing George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker live this year. “I think it becomes that much more special for Disney to be able to share this with audiences,” she says.
7. On Pointe is set within the world of ballet, but it has a powerful message that translates to any chosen pursuit.
In On Pointe, you’ll rarely see a kid focus on a smartphone or tablet rather than the world around them while they’re working toward a challenging goal. Bernstein believes that the SAB students’ commitment and hard work will resonate with anyone who watches On Pointe, whether they’re an aspiring dancer, athlete, artist, or scientist. She shares, “I hope that viewers are inspired by seeing kids live out their dreams and dedicate themselves to something that is rigorous and isn’t easy, and understand that with practice and training, you can excel.”
