Now and then: What life inside the National Ballet School was really like

Think of it as dance-school confidential. 

An Improbable Dream, a new documentary about the National Ballet School's class of 1981, airs on CBC Television Sunday, March 27 at 4 p.m. (5 NT).  

That's the year Rex Harrington graduated from the country's foremost classical ballet school, and while he became one of the National Ballet of Canada's great stars (and currently serves as their artist in residence), every dancer's journey is different. In this hour-long special, which reunites the classmates 35 years later, we see how this uniquely demanding experience shaped them all as they reveal what life was really like inside the school. 

Much of the documentary relies on classic news footage, which captures the lives of NBS students from the time they were children dreaming of nothing but dance and the approval of school co-founder, Betty Oliphant. 

Right now, kids from around the world are submitting their auditions for the school's professional ballet program, hoping to join a tradition that CBC News' The Journal celebrated in 1984, when the school marked its 25th year. 

This piece, which takes you inside a regular day at NBS — while also catching up with notable alumni, including former NBC prima ballerina Veronica Tennant — features several scenes also appearing in Sunday's documentary. Have a look!

An Improbable Dream airs on CBC Television Sunday, March 27 at 4 p.m. (5 NT).