World ballet is turning to live streaming and digital platforms to grow its fanbase and be more accessible for fans, and Australian Ballet is leading the dance.
To mark the first global World Ballet Day, which is today (1 October), Australian Ballet has teamed up with other ballet organisations around the world including Royal Ballet in London and the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow to create a series of integrated offline and online events.
For the first time a live streaming event, which kicks off in Australia, will use digital platforms to give behind the scenes access to watch world class ballerinas and artistic directors from five global dance companies.
The live stream starts in Australia and then pirouettes its way around the world to Britain, Russia, Canada and the US. Each national ballet will lead four hours of content including exercise classes, rehearsals and performances.
Viewers can also interact by asking questions via Twitter and submitting a pirouette selfie video which will edited into a short film.
It's been designed to give ballet fans, and non-fans a rare view into the world of ballet and extend the reach of the dance discipline through digital.
The Australian Ballet’s live stream will feature rehearsal highlights of Graeme Murphy’s Swan Lake, Stanton Welch’s La Bayadère, and a preview of Ostinato by resident choreographer Tim Harbour which will be performed in New York this October.
World Ballet Day grew from a UK initiative between the Royal Ballet which hosted a nine-hour live stream on YouTube and The Guardian in 2012. it achieved 200,000 views and has been viewed 2.5 million times on YouTube.
Closer to home, Australian Ballet is hosting a public ballet class in Melbourne's Federation Square between 8am and 10am with 100 local dancer taking to the streets to perform. The street dance event will also being streamed and shared on social.
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