Training a New Generation of Dance Artists
Tuesday July 7th, 2020 from 9pm
World Ballet School Day is delighted to announce that twelve leading international dance schools and institutions are participating in the inaugural World Ballet School Day, which will be streamed online on Tuesday 7 July from 1100 GMT, or 9pm Australian Eastern Standard Time.
World Ballet School Day (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 Didy over Zoom. The students then filmed their individual performances and Didy 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 (Director of Dance, English National Ballet School and Prize Winner, Prix de Lausanne 1984).
The twelve schools/institutions from three continents participating in this inaugural year are:
- The Australian Ballet School
- Paris Opera Ballet School
- Boston Ballet School
- Prix de Lausanne
- Dutch National Ballet Academy
- The Royal Ballet School
- English National Ballet School
- Royal Danish Ballet School
- Canada’s National Ballet School
- San Francisco Ballet School
- Palucca University of Dance Dresden
- New Zealand School of Dance
“World Ballet School Day is about uniting students training at professional ballet and dance schools around the world. We want to showcase their resilience, strength, dedication, talent, intellect and passion, celebrating how their journey begins and why—now more than ever—ballet, dance and art matter so much.” – Viviana Durante, Director of Dance, English National Ballet School
