MYB Executive Artistic Director, Rose Caiola, first opened Studio Maestro in 1995 at the 68th St. location on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Ms. Caiola's dream was to create a pre-professional ballet school for students, ages 7 through 18, with a team of instructors with varying dance backgrounds. The first teacher for the pre-professional division of the school was current MYB Head Faculty, Deborah Wingert.
As time progressed, Ms. Caiola was able to bring on more faculty members including current Head of Classical Repertoire, Marina Stavitskaya. She also brought in esteemed guest teachers including Violette Verdy, Judith Fugate, Christina Fagundes, and Leslie Browne. As the school grew, the need for a larger space became apparent. The search began for an ideal location to house the growing school, which was renamed Manhattan Youth Ballet in 2005.
In 2008, Manhattan Youth Ballet moved to Ms. Caiola's dream space of Manhattan Movement & Arts Center, an 18,000 square foot multi-purpose facility dedicated to serving the evolving needs of New York City’s arts community, as well as a cultural home base for one of the City’s newest residential neighborhoods, West Clinton.
The school has grown from a two-level program into a six-level graded curriculum that includes classes in technique, pointe, men's technique, partnering, character, contemporary, and pilates. Each year, MYB serves over 100 students from New York City’s tri-state area, placing its graduates into some of the world’s leading dance companies. Focused on real-world training, students are offered multiple opportunities to expand their professional experience, thanks to seasonal intensives, workshops and master classes taught by leading artists from around the globe.
In 2011, MYB added New York City Ballet Principal Dancer, Daniel Ulbricht as Artistic Advisor and Brian Reeder as Choreographer-in-Residence.
