Mark your calendars!
This Tuesday, July 7, join pre-professional dancers across the globe in an inaugural live-stream event celebrating World Ballet School Day 2020. Made “by students for students,” the event aims to bring young generations of dancers together in an international recognition of the unifying power of ballet, dance and the art world at large. The program, featuring dancers from a dozen internationally renowned ballet academies and organizations, will be broadcasted online on the WBSD website at 7 am EDT and will be available for viewers on-demand for one month following the premiere.
Students around the world will participate in discussions and showcase their training on this online platform, with special attention given to the effect of COVID-19 shutdown on young artists. The event will also feature performance footage, including the premiere of a new work choreographed by Didy Veldman focusing on physical restriction—a familiar sensation for dancers worldwide during the pandemic. Students from The Royal Ballet School, San Francisco Ballet School, Canada’s National Ballet School, Paris Opéra Ballet School, The Royal Danish Ballet School and the Dutch National Ballet Academy worked together with Veldman over Zoom to create the new work. She and UK–based company BalletBoyz then compiled each dancer’s video into the finished product for the upcoming broadcast.
The WBSD collaboration, conceived by English National Ballet School director Viviana Durante, has a wide reach, featuring 12 schools and institutions from three different continents. Participating organizations include:
The Australian Ballet School
Boston Ballet School
Dutch National Ballet Academy
English National Ballet School
Canada’s National Ballet School
Palucca University of Dance Dresden
Paris Opéra Ballet School
Prix de Lausanne
Royal Ballet School
Royal Danish Ballet School
San Francisco Ballet School
New Zealand School of Dance
“World Ballet School Day provides students from across the globe the opportunity to connect and unite through the common language of dance,” says Boston Ballet School director Margaret Tracey. “Their passion and commitment to training brings together the next generation of artists who will lead us into a more hopeful future.” For more information, visit the WBSD website, and share your experience on social media with #WorldBalletSchoolDay.
