On 1st October the Royal Ballet in conjunction with the Australian Ballet, the Bolshoi, The National Ballet of Canada and the San Francisco Ballet will once again celebrate World Ballet Day. Last year these five companies joined together in an unprecedented collaboration to celebrate dancing; and giving audiences around the world a chance to see what it takes to be part of a top dance company. The day was an unmitigated success and so they have joined forces again this year to give us another 24 hours jam-packed with live-streamed rehearsals, interviews and sneak previews.
The day starts off with the Australian Ballet at 3 am (BST) with a glimpse into the company’s morning class, then we are treated to a backstage pass to the rehearsal of their new production of Sleeping Beauty by David McAllister. We will then go behind the scenes at the Australian Ballet School, finding out more about their Audience Engagement and Philanthropy programmes, before visiting the Wardrobe Department. Finally we will get a sneak preview of the company’s new children’s ballet before heading to Moscow for 8 am.
With the Bolshoi we will once again sit in on their morning class, before getting an insight into their recent productions of Radu Poklitaru’s Hamlet, and Yuri Possokhov’s Hero of Our Time. We well then be able to watch them rehearse Jean-Christophe Maillot’s The Taming of the Shrew and a Legend of Love. We will finish off our time with the Bolshoi with a preview of their upcoming season, which includes a gala in memory of Maya Plisetskaya. Throughout the day we will also be treated to interviews from Yuri Possokhov, Sergei Filin, Vladimir Urin, Boris Akimov, Brigitte Lefevre and Azarii Plisetski.
We then head to London, where the Royal Ballet will be taking their morning class at 11 am. We will witness the preparation and off-stage action ahead of their matinee performance of Kenneth Macmillan’s Romeo and Juliette, featuring Lauren Cuthbertson and Frederico Borelli, before seeing the rehearsal for the world premiere of Carlos Acosta’s Carmen, which will open later this season.
Then in Canada we will attend a class lead by Principal Dancer, and current Artist-in-Residence, Rex Harrington, before sitting in on a rehearsal of Christopher Wheeldon’s A Winter’s Tale. This will be followed by a behind the scenes tour of the dress rehearsals for Marco Goecke’s Spectra de la Rose, and Wayne McGregor’s Chroma. There will also be interviews with the company’s Artistic Director Karen Kain, Principal Dancer Greta Hodgkinson and other company dancers.
We then finish the day by visiting the San Francisco Ballet at 9 pm. They will allow us to attend their company class and a rehearsal of the ballets that will feature in their upcoming Repertory Season and tour to China. This visit to the States will also include interviews from the company’s Artistic Director and Principal Choreographer Helgi Tomasson, the Royal Ballet Artist in Residence Liam Scarlett and the Associate Choreographer of the Paris Opera Ballet William Forsythe.
Throughout the day they will also feature pre-recorded footage of a range of regional companies including the American Ballet Theatre, Bangarra Dance Theatre, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Boston Ballet, English National Ballet, Hamburg Ballet, Houston Ballet, Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, National Ballet of China, Nederlands Dans Theater, Northern Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Royal New Zealand Ballet, and Scottish Ballet.
You are also encourage to get involved in the day’s celebrations by taking part in their ‘Dance Anywhere’ competition. Submit a video or photograph of yourself dancing in front of regional landmarks to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram tagged #WorldBalletDay before the 30 September and you might appear in the live stream.
To celebrate World Ballet Day Dancewear Central have a 10% Discount on all Ballet Shoes until 2nd October. Just type in the discount code BALLET10 when you reach the check out, so you too can get dancing.
Image credited to LMPA Flickr Account
