The Australian Ballet School has announced that it will be participating in the inaugural World Ballet School Day (WBSD), which will be streamed online on July 7, from 9am AEST.
WBSD connects the next generation of young professional dance artists with young people from around the world. Created by students for students, this event is a platform for young artists in training to share a message of solidarity through the language of dance and ballet.
Students from participating schools will join together in a round table to provide insights into the world of professional ballet and dance training especially during lockdown, and will introduce segments from each school featuring behind-the-scenes and performance footage filmed both before and during lockdown.
The event will also feature the world premiere of a new dance work. Six international ballet schools worked with choreographer Didy Veldman to explore the theme of physical restriction in a project led by The Royal Ballet School. The Royal Ballet School invited San Francisco Ballet School, Canada’s National Ballet School, Paris Opera Ballet School, The Royal Danish Ballet School and the Dutch National Ballet Academy to join them in a creative choreographic challenge for ballet students in lockdown. The dancers worked in six groups and created and rehearsed with Veldman over Zoom. The students then filmed their individual performances, and Veldman and The BalletBoyz have created a film containing their work.
The founding of WBSD is a collaboration of Boston Ballet School, Canada’s National Ballet School, English National Ballet School, New Zealand School of Dance, Palucca University of Dance Dresden and the Prix de Lausanne. The idea was originally conceived by Viviana Durante.
Twelve schools/institutions from three continents are participating in this inaugural year: 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 Opera Ballet School, Prix de Lausanne, The Royal Ballet School, Royal Danish Ballet School, San Francisco Ballet School and New Zealand School of Dance.
Lisa Pavane, director of The Australian Ballet School, says, “This year has been like no other. Through it all, our students have demonstrated resilience and commitment to the art form. World Ballet School Day is about bringing together vocational dance students from across the globe to remind them that we are all in this together, and share their strength, dedication, talent, intellect and passion with the world.”
For more information, visit www.worldballetschoolday.com.
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