World Ballet Day 2022

[volcanohunter]

The Australian Ballet sent out an e-mail announcing that World Ballet Day will take place on November 2 this year. With only two of the original five companies remaining, and a nine-hour time difference between eastern Australia and the UK, it will probably be difficult to produce a continuous stream of programs, but I expect there will be a glut of company classes taking place simultaneously in the Central European zone.

Quote

World Ballet Day returns on Wednesday 2 November 2022 to unite the dance community across the globe.

 

Over the course of the day, rehearsals, classes and behind-the-scenes exclusives will be streamed for free across 6 continents, offering glimpses of ballet’s biggest stars and up-and-coming performers.

 

Following on from the success of last year – which saw over 50 companies take part – it will showcase the very best of the art form, both in terms of its long history and its vibrant future.

 

The Australian Ballet will open the day at 11am. Join us on YouTube to watch for free.

 

Visit australianballet.com.au/world-ballet-day or follow us on social media for updates.

https://worldballetday.com/

[pherank]

Good news: SFB is hinting that they will once again be participating:

"Save the Date 📢 #WorldBalletDay returns Nov 2nd 📢  Join us for this global celebration of ballet and get a behind the scenes glimpse into rehearsals for our Repertory Season. More details coming soon!"

https://www.instagram.com/p/CiiIFJjOxBX/

[volcanohunter]

Many more company logos have been added to the World Ballet Day site:

Royal New Zealand Ballet; Australian Ballet; National Ballet of Japan, Korean National Ballet, Universal Ballet; Cloud Gate Dance Theater, Hong Kong Ballet, West Australian Ballet, Singapore Ballet; Bangkok City Ballet
(Nice!  )

Estonian National Ballet, Sofia Opera Ballet; Polish National Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet (), Staatsballett Berlin, Bavarian State Ballet, Vienna State Ballet;
Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Scottish Ballet, Royal Academy of Dance

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ballet Concierto de Puerto Rico, Ballet Nacional de Cuba, Acosta Danza; San Francisco Ballet

Edited September 17, 2022 by volcanohunter
companies listed by time zone order

[pherank]

Looks like there are 24 logos, so there will be 24 one hour segments - presumably pre-recorded. SFB said that they would be showing some company class and some rehearsal time. That's a lot to pack into 1 hour. Hopefully WBD will publish an hour by hour schedule before the date.

[volcanohunter]

There will be at least 26 companies, including "core" presenters Royal Ballet and Australian Ballet. In years past, the main feeds included half-hour guest segments. More recently it was a decentralized affair, with multiple companies going live simultaneously on their own YouTube channels.

I can't imagine the Royal Ballet limiting itself to an hour, given that its hour-plus company class is always the most viewed component of World Ballet Day--some years have accumulated 4 million views--and the ROH video/streaming department is top-notch.

There is a lot of potential for online logjams, because Taipei, Hong Kong, Perth and Singapore are in the same time zone, so are Copenhagen, Berlin, Munich, Vienna and Warsaw, and the same goes for New York, San Juan and Havana (x2). On the other hand, there's a substantial gap between Bangkok and Sofia/Tallinn. I fully expect the Royal Ballet to keep going until the Eastern time zone is ready to take over.

Edited September 17, 2022 by volcanohunter

[pherank]

On 9/16/2022 at 9:54 PM, volcanohunter said:

There will be at least 26 companies, including "core" presenters Royal Ballet and Australian Ballet. In years past, the main feeds included half-hour guest segments. More recently it was a decentralized affair, with multiple companies going live simultaneously on their own YouTube channels.

Which begs the question: how exactly does one watch this thing? Or is really about taking a number of days to troll through assorted YouTube offerings?

[volcanohunter]

3 minutes ago, pherank said:

Which begs the question: how exactly does one watch this thing? Or is really about taking a number of days to troll through assorted YouTube offerings?

Yes, for the past few years that's exactly how it's been, and while I watched a few streams, I definitely didn't watch them all.

But I hope that each of those logos will lead to the relevant feed. In that regard the central site could be very useful.

[volcanohunter]

Sure enough, on the World Ballet Day site most company logos are now linked to the companies' YouTube channels.

The Australian Ballet will be streaming for four hours, beginning at 11:00 am AEDT, which should translate to 8:00 pm November 1st in New York.

[sandik]

I certainly can't watch everything on offer in 24 hours, but I'm still so pleased that everyone is bringing themselves to this joint project -- especially during the limitations of the pandemic, many of us relied on streaming programming to see what we could see.  As people continue the shift back into the theater, I'm glad to see many companies continue to offer online access -- World Ballet Day is another way to get this window in front of audiences.

[volcanohunter]

Many more companies have been linked to the World Ballet Day site.

Royal New Zealand Ballet;
Australian Ballet;
Queensland Ballet;
National Ballet of Japan, Korean National Ballet, Universal Ballet;
National Ballet of China, Hong Kong Ballet, Cloud Gate Dance Theater, West Australian Ballet, Singapore Ballet;
Ballet Indonesia, Bangkok City Ballet

Joburg Ballet, Cape Town City Ballet
(I'm very happy to see this, because I was worried they might be on summer hiatus by November.)

Finnish National Ballet, Estonian National Ballet, Sofia Opera Ballet;
Polish National Ballet, Royal Swedish Ballet, Norwegian National Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, Staatsballett Berlin, Stuttgart Ballet, Bavarian State Ballet, Vienna State Ballet, La Scala Ballet, Ballets de Monte-Carlo, Paris Opera Ballet, Ballet de Barcelona, Dutch National Ballet;
Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet, Scottish Ballet, Royal Academy of Dance, ISTD

São Paulo Companhia de Dança;
National Ballet of Canada, Boston Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Philadelphia Ballet, Ballet X, Washington Ballet, Sarasota Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Ballet Concierto de Puerto Rico, Ballet Nacional de Cuba, Acosta Danza;
Joffrey Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, Ballet Arkansas, Texas Ballet Theater, Houston Ballet;
Ballet Idaho, Ballet West, Ballet West Academy;
Pacific Northwest Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet, Smuin Contemporary Ballet

https://worldballetday.com/

Edited October 31, 2022 by volcanohunter

[volcanohunter]

Friendly reminder:

When the Royal New Zealand Ballet kicks off World Ballet Day at 9:00 am NZDT, this will be November 1st at 4:00 pm in the Eastern Time zone.

https://fb.watch/gv38bh6Axe/

When Australian Ballet begins its 4-hour stream at 11:00 am AEDT, this will be 8:00 pm Eastern on Tuesday evening.

[volcanohunter]

There's a huge variety of approaches. The Royal Danish Ballet gave us a package about 20 minutes long, while the Ballets de Monte Carlo were live for nearly four hours. The Royal Ballet launched the original Ballet Day ten years ago, and it's still the champ for content and viewers.

I caught a bit of the National Ballet of China last night--a rehearsal of Swan Lake--but it appears that feed was available only while it was live. Same goes for Smuin Ballet? I caught it briefly and can't find it anymore. Finnish National Ballet did only Facebook/Instagram stories.

Also, Ailey's multi-generational film of Revelations is available only for 24 hours.

I'm definitely happier watching on YouTube than on Facebook (which is awful) or Instagram (which is worse). In any case, these are the best links I could find.

Royal New Zealand Ballet (YouTube version);
Australian Ballet;
Queensland Ballet;
National Ballet of Japan, Korean National Ballet;
National Ballet of China, Hong Kong Ballet, Cloud Gate Dance Theater, West Australian Ballet, Singapore Ballet;
Ballet Indonesia, Bangkok City Ballet

Joburg Ballet, Cape Town City Ballet

Estonian National Ballet, Latvian National Ballet, Sofia Opera Ballet;
Polish National Ballet, Royal Swedish Ballet, Norwegian National Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, Staatsballett Berlin, Semperoper Ballett Dresden, Stuttgart Ballet, Bavarian State Ballet, Vienna State Ballet, La Scala Ballet, Ballets de Monte-Carlo, Paris Opera Ballet, Dutch National Ballet;
National Ballet of Portugal, Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet (pt. 2), New English Ballet Theatre

São Paulo Companhia de Dança;
Boston Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ballet X, Ballet Met, Washington Ballet, Sarasota Ballet, Ballet Concierto de Puerto Rico, Acosta Danza;
Kansas City Ballet, Ballet Arkansas, Texas Ballet Theater, Houston Ballet;
Ballet West;
Pacific Northwest Ballet/Dance Theater of Harlem, Oregon Ballet Theatre, San Francisco Ballet, Smuin Contemporary Ballet

Added: The National Ballet of China stream has reappeared in my watch history, so the link has been added above.

Edited December 2, 2022 by volcanohunter
more links

[volcanohunter]

I have seen several productions by the National Ballet of Japan, but the Korean National Ballet is mostly unfamiliar to me, and I thought its ballerinas were beautiful (apart from their poky Russian fouettés). I was also surprised that its class was primarily in English, because a quick look at its website suggests the company is overwhelmingly Korean.

The feed from the Estonian National Ballet includes José Martinez and Agnès Letestu rehearsing Le Corsaire.

[Drew]

I enjoyed what I was able to see of World Ballet Day--I am always happy when Melissa Hamilton is featured in offerings from the ROH as she was today in the Mayerling rehearsal with Hirano. I find her quite a special dancer and would love to see her dance Mary Vetsera in the theater. Another highlight for me was the one company class I watched which was the Australian Ballet's class led by David Hallberg--"no circus" was one of his instructions--"don't muscle through" one of his repeated instructions. His own demonstrations were gorgeous and the company looked great. 

Other thoughts from the few selections I watched:  Though the Royal's Nunez is a terrific ballerina, I didn't expect to enjoy her in Diamonds, but I did.  She danced a joyful woman-in-love Diamonds. I guess maybe a bit too brightly smiling in spots, and she is not a dancer who goes "off balance" or conjures Farrellesque mysteries, but the sheer ease and boldness of her technique combined with the ease and boldness of her personality....it worked for me. (I do remember watching footage of Farrell coaching someone in the role when she was asked back to NYCB and hearing her say explicitly the ballerina doesn't have to be "aloof." Nunes is definitely NOT aloof.)

I also watched some POB footage and, from the Dutch National Ballet, Larissa Lezhnina, a favorite Aurora of my youth, rehearsing Smirnova/Caixeta in Sleeping Beauty. In a short interview after the rehearsal, both of the latter dancers spoke in glowing terms of their welcome at the Dutch National Ballet. 

I did break down and watch a very few minutes of the Bolshoi counter programming which had been streamed the day before: a stage rehearsal of Don Q w. costume and sets, though not quite a dress rehearsal. It was shot sort of oddly, as if to  give the audience a feel of being among the working dancers on stage--at least that was my best guess at what they were going for. And the dominating sight and sound in the parts of Act I saw, was Vaziev on stage, looking seemingly at every one in the crowd and calling out corrections in his trademark martinet style (I don't know Russian--I assume it was corrections.).. As bad luck would have it, the section I watched included a dancer getting injured, one of Kitri's two friends. Everything on stage just stopped. The camera kept some distance but one could see that Vaziev had rushed over to the dancer and looked plenty concerned. Then they actually interrupted the broadcast and returned a few minutes later with Kitri having been reduced to one friend. I watched a minute or two of another section with the leads (Kretova and Rodkin) and gave up. It was a little too much the Vaziev show ...

Edited November 3, 2022 by Drew

[naomikage]

5 hours ago, volcanohunter said:

I have seen several productions by the National Ballet of Japan, but the Korean National Ballet is mostly unfamiliar to me, and I thought its ballerinas were beautiful (apart from their poky Russian fouettés). I was also surprised that its class was primarily in English, because a quick look at its website suggests the company is overwhelmingly Korean.

The feed from the Estonian National Ballet includes José Martinez and Agnès Letestu rehearsing Le Corsaire.

Sometimes The Korean National Ballet streams their whole productions online but they are only streamed live and don't keep archives. So I have seen several performances by that way and they have a very high standard of Classical Ballet. Kiwan Kim, one of the principals is a brother of Kimin Kim. 

[Quiggin]

So far I've enjoyed watching the Royal Ballet rehearsal, but I find myself less forgiving of smiles in Balanchine than Drew is. Albeit added with the best intentions, I always feel that they undermine the dramatic structure.

Balanchine works best for me when the partners are not quite emotionally in sync. Something like Cubist collages where the parts of the objects don't match up but suggest a whole at a remove.

I enjoyed watching the Pam Tanowitz rehearsal (3:40:45) with Anna Rose O'Sullivan and William Bracewell. Interesting to see her thoughts and second thoughts play out creating unusual figures with the two dancers. Interesting walking on pointe steps.

 

Edited November 3, 2022 by Quiggin

[volcanohunter]

Admittedly, I've never seen Nuñez dance "Diamonds" in the flesh, but a few years ago the Royal Ballet broadcast Jewels to cinemas, and on that occasion she didn't smile all that much. Not at all in the pas de deux, if I recall. I can think of any number of dancers whose rehearsal manner and stage manner don't match. Nuñez can have trouble suppressing her naturally ebullient temperament. (On one occasion I did see her Nikiya delighting in her own technical accomplishment.) But she doesn't perform all her roles while grinning from ear to ear.

[volcanohunter]

Unfortunately, I didn’t see this performance in the cinema. The Royal Ballet is nowhere to be found in the multiplexes of these parts. But in this 2-minute clip Marianela Nuñez's Diamond looks mostly melancholy. She does smile briefly at Reece Clarke, but we end up seeing mostly him smiling back at her.

 

Edited November 24, 2022 by volcanohunter
typo

[Quiggin]

Thanks for posting the clip. Nicely constructed performance I thought, all of one piece – or mood (a thoughtful but not necessarily melancholy one).

[volcanohunter]

A month after the streams I was curious about the reach the different videos achieved. I was too late to catch the totals for Australian Ballet and the National Ballet of Japan, but unsurprisingly, as of now:

The Royal Ballet is first with 422,000 views
The POB has 161,000
Dutch National Ballet has 85,000
Bavarian State Ballet has 81,000 (actually more, since the livestream took place on its own platform before the archive was posted on YouTube)
Staatsballett Berlin has 54,000
The ABT Studio Company class has 44,000
Dresden Semperoper Ballett has 35,000
National Ballet of China has 33,000
Korean National Ballet and Houston Ballet have 32,000
San Francisco Ballet has 30,000
Queensland Ballet has 28,000
Ballets de Monte-Carlo have 25,000
Between Facebook and YouTube the joint class of Pacific Northwest Ballet and Dance Theatre of Harlem has 20,400
Hong Kong Ballet has 20,000
Ballet Met is an overachiever at 20,000, given that it wasn't listed on the WBD site

Toward the bottom are the Sofia Opera Ballet and Norwegian National Ballet with a little over 1,000 views. The latter was on Vimeo, so perhaps it lost out on YouTube's suggested links to other streams.

Ballet Arkansas was live for 6.5 hours, while the Royal Swedish Ballet video lasted 17 minutes. Only fair that Ballet Arkansas scored more views.

Company class still seems to be the way to go, comparing the 81,000 who tuned into to watch morning class from Munich, versus the 13,000 who watched Edward Clug rehearse the Stuttgart Ballet in his new Nutcracker.

Edited December 2, 2022 by volcanohunter