Dame Kelly Holmes, Colin Jackson, Mark Ramprakash, Tony Adams and Chemmy Alcott join The Royal Ballet on #WorldBalletDay, Wednesday 23 October 2019.
For the sixth year running, #WorldBalletDay will see a record-breaking 31 dance companies, including The Royal Ballet, The Australian Ballet and The Bolshoi Ballet, join forces in this global celebration of dance.
Exploring the theme ‘Every Body Can Dance’, World Ballet Day 2019 is live on Facebook and YouTube, as cameras go behind the scenes with the world’s best professional dancers.
The free online stream takes place alongside an immersive programme of daytime events at the Royal Opera House in London. Join free performances and ticketed workshops in the first year that doors have been opened for visitors to join Royal Ballet dancers and sporting celebrities on World Ballet Day.
Take part here: roh.org.uk/about/world-ballet-
The Royal Ballet will also partner with mental health charity, Mind, as Royal Ballet dancers, along with Olympians and sports stars, lead the conversation on the importance of managing good mental health at an elite level. The day will culminate in the Company signing the Mental Health Charter for Sport and Recreation – part of The Royal Ballet’s commitment to positive mental well-being. The Charter, which was set-up by Mind in partnership with the Sport and Recreation Alliance and Professional Players Federation, was created to encourage more organisations to take positive action around mental health and physical activity.
Royal Ballet Principal Alexander Campbell and Principal Character Artist Kristen McNally will present expert insights on Facebook and YouTube. The day starts with morning class at the barre (11 am) followed by rehearsals of Coppélia, Frederick Ashton’s Enigma Variations, Cathy Marston’s new ballet The Cellist, a full call of The Sleeping Beauty and a masterclass of Kenneth MacMillan’s Concerto duet with dancers from the Company and students from The Royal Ballet School. Timings to be announced via the Facebook event.
Across the day, The Royal Ballet will also host a series of immersive activities for participants of all ages and abilities, which also form part of the regular daytime events series at the Royal Opera House. These include:
- Ballet Dots, introductory class for toddlers aged from 12 months to two and a half years. Ballet Dots runs from 11am to 11.40am and tickets cost from £10 (one adult and one child).
- Monday Moves, a performance class for artists with visual impairments. This runs from 12 noon to 12.40pm, with no tickets required.
- Live at Lunch, a drop-in for a free dance performance. The event runs from 1pm to 1.45pm, and no tickets are required.
- Dance with the Royal Ballet, a workshop for school children aged 12 upwards run by Royal Ballet First Artist, Nathalie Harrison. The session runs from 2.15pm to 3.30pm, and tickets cost £10.
#WorldBalletDay, on Wednesday 23 October 2019, is a global celebration of dance live streamed on Facebook and YouTube. Together, 31 companies including The Australian Ballet, the Bolshoi Ballet and The Royal Ballet will unite to lift the lid behind the scenes of the world’s leading dance companies. In 2018, The Royal Ballet saw the highest ever engagement with #WorldBalletDay reaching 313 million social media users with the hashtag trending on Twitter. In 2018, amongst other events, celebrities including actor Jake Wood, rugby players Thom Evans and Max Evans and choreographer Arlene Phillips joined the day for a behind-the-scenes ballet class.
Viewers can get involved on the day and share videos of themselves dancing in an interesting location using #WorldBalletDay. There is a chance that these will be shown to a worldwide audience via Facebook and YouTube during the live-stream.
Watch The Royal Ballet on #WorldBalletDay, Wednesday 23 October 2019, on Facebook and YouTube. Share videos using #WorldBalletDay. To book one of the daytime events visit: https://www.roh.org.uk/about/