Pure Fitness, Long Island City

In the 60 years since Robert Joffrey founded his school, graduates have gone on to dance in major ballet companies as well as modern and contemporary troupes. And it's easy to see why they'd have such diverse careers: Joffrey pioneered modern music in ballet with his 1967 opus Astarte, for which he commissioned original rock and roll, and then with Billboards, which was set to the sweet funk of Prince. With teachers ranging from a veteran of the National Ballet Company of Guatemala to the ghost of Gene Kelly, the school continues to blend multiple dance styles into its balletic training, building well-rounded dancers versed in jazz, contemporary, character, and hip-hop. All of the training tends to pay off; graduates of the Joffrey Ballet School frequently go on to shine in companies including the Joffrey Ballet, the American Ballet Theater, the New York City Ballet, and San Francisco Ballet.