23 October 2019 15:13

World Ballet Day Live

Today is World Ballet Day and for the second year in a row we are pleased to have been invited to be part of World Ballet Day Live. Throughout the day, you will also get a glimpse of life behind the scenes of The Royal Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, The Australian Ballet, and many more, including the RAD!

Presenter Annaliese Dayes took the audience through a syllabus class, an audience participation moment, an appearance by a Genée International Ballet Competition medallist and performers from our Step into Dance programme, as well as a performance of a dance choreographed by longest-serving RAD President Dame Margot Fonteyn; today is a great opportunity for a wider audience to gain an insight into the diversity of the Academy’s work, perfect for this year’s theme of ‘Every Body Can Dance’.

RAD Artistic Director Gerard Charles commented on our involvement in this special day: 'As an international dance organisation, we're thrilled to have been involved in World Ballet Day for a second year. The RAD inspires and enables the world to dance in so many ways- and we have tried to share as much of that as we can in 30 minutes. From making dance available in almost every corner of the world, to running a top level international ballet competition, to leading the world of dance education.  We're so pleased to give our global online audience a peek inside our studios, alongside our wonderful colleagues around the world.'

Numeral companies across the world are taking part in the day, including the National Ballet of Japan, the São Paulo Dance Company, the Cape Town City Ballet, the Paris Opera Ballet, the Royal New Zealand Ballet and many more. A total of 31 companies are taking part across the world - making World Ballet Day a truly global event that the RAD is proud to be a part of.

We live-streamed World Ballet Day on our website, the RAD Facebook page and the RAD YouTube channel from 2.30-3:00pm as part of our contribution to the day. Our segment was hosted by the wonderful Annaliese Dates.

For those of you who tuned in live, thanks for watching. For those of you who missed it, don't worry - it is saved on our social media channels, while you can also watch it at the top of this page.

As part of World Ballet Day, Pacific Northwest Ballet live-streamed their Dance for Parkinson’s disease class. This class is taught by current MAE student Naomi Glass, who is in the process of completing her final research project which focuses on this aspect of her work. You can watch the video here:

https://www.facebook.com/PNBallet/videos/vb.21358443951/752315341856078/?type=2&theater