Welcome to the New York City Ballet, where competition is cutthroat, dancing is like breathing and Sarah Jessica Parker narrates everything.


A new docudrama entitled "city.ballet." goes behind the scenes of the intense lifestyle, chock-full of toe shoes, leotards, pliés and anxiety. The 12-episode series explores the highs and lows of life on stage in five-minute segments, with the handy narration of SJP herself.


In the first episode Ballet Master in Chief Peter Martin discusses what it's like to climb up the ranks. Check it out above.



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  • Dancers of the Monte-Carlo ballet perform in the show 'Choré', a new creation by French dancer and choreographer, Jean Christophe Maillot, on April 24, 2013 in Monaco. (VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images)




  • In this April 3, 2013 photo, young ballet students practice before a class at the National School of Ballet in Havana, Cuba. The school, housed in a graceful building that occupies a full half-block in colonial Old Havana, not only teaches dance, but subjects like language, math and history. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)




  • Dancers Robyn Hendricks, right, and Daniel Gaudiello from Australian Ballet perform "Dyad 1929" in a dress rehearsal from a triple bill of works called Vanguard in Sydney, Australia, Monday, April 29, 2013. Vanguard opens at the Sydney Opera House April 30 for 20 performances. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)




  • Dancers of the Czech 'South Bohemia Ballet' group perform at the Arts' Palace in Budapest on April 23, 2013 during their dance test prior to their evening production. The Czech team is a main participant of the more than one week long international ballet festival of Budapest. The dance feast will be ended on April 29. (ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP/Getty Images)




  • A dancer of the Monte-Carlo ballet performs in the show 'Choré', a new creation by French dancer and choreographer, Jean Christophe Maillot, on April 24, 2013 in Monaco. (VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images)




  • Dancers of the Monte-Carlo ballet perform in the show 'Choré', a new creation by French dancer and choreographer, Jean Christophe Maillot, on April 24, 2013 in Monaco. (VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images)




  • An Iraqi ballet dancer from the ballet and music school, performs during their annual production that marks the end of the school year, at al-Ribat hall theatre in central Baghdad on April 25, 2013. (AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)




  • Dancers perform on stage during a rehearsal of the ballet 'Les Nuits' (The Nights) by French choreographer Angelin Preljocaj on April 27, 2013 at the Grand Theatre de Provence, in Aix-en-Provence, southern France, as part of the Marseille-Provence 2013 European capital of culture. (BORIS HORVAT/AFP/Getty Images)




  • Dancers Brett Chenowyth, bottom, and Lana Jones from Australian Ballet perform "Dyad 1929" in a dress rehearsal from a triple bill of works called Vanguard in Sydney, Australia, Monday, April 29, 2013. Vanguard opens at the Sydney Opera House April 30 for 20 performances. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)




  • In this photo taken on Wednesday, May 1, 2013, ballet dancers reflect in a giant mirror during a "pre-premiere" performance, put on for veterans and senior employees of the theatre in the new Mariinsky Theatre on the eve of the it's official opening in St.Petersburg, Russia. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)




  • David Rousseau


    NaTalia Johnson, of Manhattan, performs a classical ballet dance during lunch time at Columbus Circle, Friday, May 3, 2013 in New York. Temperatures in the New York metro area are expected to reach into the mid 60s Friday. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)




  • Dancers of the Monte-Carlo ballet perform in the show 'Choré', a new creation by French dancer and choreographer, Jean Christophe Maillot, on April 24, 2013 in Monaco. (VALERY HACHE/AFP/Getty Images)




  • NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 27: Members of Studio of Marilyn Klaus: Ballets with a Twist perform during the Family Festival Street Fair/ESPN Sports Day during the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival on April 27, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images)




  • In this photo taken Thursday, May 2, 2013, a dancer of he Staatsballett Berlin (State Ballet Berlin) performs during a rehearsal of the production "Masse" (Mass) at the Halle am Berghain in Berlin, Germany. The world premier of the ballet, which is a cooperation between Staatsballett Berlin and the electronic music Club Berghain will be held at a former boiler house near the techno club Berghain on Saturday May 4, 2013. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)




  • In this April 3, 2013 photo, identical triplets Marcos, left, Cesar, second from right, and Angel Ramirez Castellanos, right, attend their ballet dance class at the National School of Ballet in Havana, Cuba. The Ramirez brothers spend 12 hours a day at the National School of Ballet, housed in a graceful building that occupies a full half-block in colonial Old Havana. Classes include not only dance, but more mundane subjects like language, math and history. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)




  • From left, Sujari Britt, Veronika Part and Jeewon Park perform onstage at Beyond the Ballet Presented by Bright Future International at the Beacon Theater on Wednesday, May 8th, 2013 in New York City, New York. (Photo by Todd Williamson/Invision for Bright Future International/AP Images)




  • Members of the dance company 'Käfig' of France perform during the presentation of the 1st International Dance Biennial of Cali, Colombia, on May 8, 2013. The 1st International Dance Biennial of Cali will be held between November 5 and 11. (LUIS ROBAYO/AFP/Getty Images)




  • L.A. Dance Project ballet master, American dancer Charlie Hodges performs on the stage of the Chatelet theatre in Paris, Wednesday May 22, 2013.(AP Photo/Benjamin Girette)




  • FILE - In this Nov. 25, 2012 file photo, Filipino slum dweller Jessa Balote, center, practices with other students during a class at Ballet Manila in the Philippine capital. Balote, who used to tag along with her family as they collect garbage at a nearby dumpsite, is a scholar at Ballet Manila's dance program. As an apprentice, she makes around 7,000 pesos ($170) a month, sometimes double that, from stipend and performance fees. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)




  • Chinese dragon dance performers participate in a ceremony marking the completion of the basic building structure for a sprawling mall project run by the Inter IKEA Center Group in Beijing, China, Wednesday, June 5, 2013. An IKEA outlet, which is included in the RMB4.4 billion or US$717 million project, will open by the end of 2013 followed by the entire mall complex which includes a cineplex and electronic megastore by the end of 2014. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)




  • CHICAGO, IL - MAY 25: A pole dance artist performs at The 2013 Central Pole Dancing Competition on May 25, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jeff Schear/Getty Images)




  • Performers dance on stage during a media preview of the musical "Dirty Dancing" at the Marina Bay Sands MasterCard Theaters in Singapore, Tuesday, May 28, 2013. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)




  • A member of 'Dressed to Dance' rehearses befoer their show at Tower Of David on May 29, 2013 in Jerusalem's old city, Israel. The show will feature outfits that were designed by Picasso, Salvador Dali and designers from the last century. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)




  • A man practices break dancing before grafitti in Beijing on May 29, 2013. The International Monetary Fund cut its 2013 growth forecast for China to 'around 7.75 percent', a top official said, citing a sluggish global recovery which hurt exports. (Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images)




  • High-school graduates dance during the last school bell ringing ceremony to celebrate the last day of the classes outside a school in the Belarus capital Minsk, on May 30, 2013. Belarus teenagers celebrated today the end of their studies in a traditional ceremony called the 'Last Bell' that has rung out across the country. (VIKTOR DRACHEV/AFP/Getty Images)




  • Young girls wait before performing a dance before the match between the British and Irish Lions and the Barbarians at Hong Kong Stadium on June 1, 2013. (PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP/Getty Images)




  • Demonstrators dance under umbrellas during an anti capitalism Blockupy protest in Frankfurt, Saturday, June 1, 2013. Police in Germany's financial capital say about 7,000 protesters are refusing to move after officers encircled a group of about 200-300 people for refusing to remove face masks. Organizers of the "Blockupy" protest say up to 20,000 people have come to demonstrate against the ECB's role in pushing European countries to cut government spending as part of efforts to reduce public debt. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)




  • Pakistani folk artists perform a traditional dance at the Margalla Festival 2013, which began at the Arts and Crafts Village in Islamabad on June 2, 2013. Many renowned artists will perform at the Margalla Festival, which provides an oppurtunity for city residents to observe national heritage and culture. (AAMIR QURESHI/AFP/Getty Images)




  • Rugby Club Toulonnais' (RTC) Samoan winger David Smith (2nd L) and New Zealander flanker Chris Masoe (2nd R) perform the New Zealander haka dance in front of supporters on June 2, 2013, in Toulon, after their team won the European Cup final against Clermont on May 18 in at the Aviva stadium in Dublin. Just two weeks after reaching for the stars in upsetting favourites Clermont in the European Cup final, Toulon saw the tables turned on them by outsiders Castres in the Top 14 decider on June 1, 2013. Their glorious 16-15 victory in Dublin was all but forgotten as Toulon were defeated 19-14 at the Stade de France in Paris. (STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images)




  • Couples dance tango in a park in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, June 2, 2013. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)




  • This June 3, 2013 photo released by Sam Morris PR shows dancers from the Art of Dance in Chester, N.J., perform at the Fred and Adele Astaire awards in New York. The awards honor dance in theater and film. (AP Photo/Sam Morris PR, David Dupuy)