World Ballet Day – Global First: Five World-Class Ballet Companies, One Day of Live Streaming on Wednesday 1 October

One of the most fantastic things that the Royal Ballet did in 2012 was Royal Ballet Live – where the company threw open the doors to what they do throughout the day and live streamed it all – from class to rehearsals to interviews with choreographers & directors to coaching sessions and more – it started at 10:30 and finished with the airing of a full evening performances. It seriously impressed us all and I can’t wait to see how this new and much bigger initiative pans out. The full press release follows these links to what each of the companies is saying about the event (as at 9/9/14)…

Australian Ballet blog
Bolshoi Ballet page
Royal Ballet page
National Ballet of Canada page (pdf)
San Francisco Ballet page
San Francisco Ballet Kickstarter to raise money for World Ballet Day
 

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_{Monday 8 September at 23:00}

GLOBAL FIRST:
FIVE WORLD-CLASS BALLET COMPANIES, ONE DAY OF LIVE STREAMING ON WEDNESDAY 1 OCTOBER

www.roh.org.uk/worldballetday

Australian Ballet  |  Bolshoi Ballet  |  The Royal Ballet  |  The National Ballet of Canada  |  San Francisco Ballet

The first ever World Ballet Day will see an unprecedented collaboration between five of the world’s leading ballet companies. This online event will take place on Wednesday 1 October when each of the companies will stream live behind the scenes action from their rehearsal studios.
 

Starting at the beginning of the dancers’ day, each of the five ballet companies – Australian Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, The Royal Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada and San Francisco Ballet – will take the lead for a four hour period streaming live from their headquarters starting with the Australian Ballet in Melbourne.  The live link then passes across time zones and cultures from Melbourne to Moscow to London to Toronto to San Francisco.

The live streaming will take viewers on a journey into the rarely seen backstage lives of ballet dancers.  This unusual access will throw a spot light on the differences in style between the five companies as they follow a very similar routine but approach choreography and performance in the ways that have made them unique on the world stage.  Starting with morning class to warm up the body with different exercises, moving on to rehearsals for their upcoming performances the day will be a celebration of dance; the athleticism and unparalleled dedication of all those involved in creating a world-class ballet company.
 

Viewers will be able to engage and interact with dancers, choreographers and coaches who live and breathe ballet every day of their working lives, asking questions throughout the day as well as having the opportunity to contribute by submitting a film of themselves doing a pirouette wherever they are in the world.  These will be edited into a film celebrating the worldwide appeal of dance.

The day’s streaming will be repeated on YouTube in full so that viewers around the world can catch up on any parts of the day they missed.  Edited highlights will then be made available for further viewing.

World Ballet Day is a development from Royal Ballet Live which was a nine-hour live streaming via YouTube and The Guardian website in March 2012.  This unique event achieved 200,000 views of the live stream and repeat broadcast and a total of 2.5 million views of YouTube Royal Ballet Live material to date.  It is, however, the first time that four of the five ballet companies are taking the cameras backstage to reveal the sweat and determination of these talented dancers.
 

In another first, this collaboration is the first time that YouTube has streamed live more than nine hours of content.

Full details of the unique day’s activities will be available in due course.  Highlights from The Royal Ballet will include Principals Marianela Nuñez and Federico Bonelli rehearsing for their performances of Kenneth MacMillan’s masterpiece ballet Manon which opens at Covent Garden on Friday 26 September and is screened live into cinemas across the world on Thursday 16 October.

www.roh.org.uk/worldballetday

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