The School of American Ballet (SAB) is the official school of the New York City Ballet. It is locate in the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. It is considered to be one of the most prestigious ballet schools in the United States. Graduates dance with New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Pacific Northwest Ballet, San Francisco Ballet and others. The school was founded by choreographer George Balanchine, with assistance from philanthropist Lincoln Kirstein, and opened at 637 Madison Avenue with 32 pupils on January 2, 1934. Balanchine and Kirstein wanted to start an American classical ballet company, and needed a source of dancers, and hence a school to train them.