World Ballet Day is the chance to see the beauty of ballet, expressed right before you in the most up close of ways.
World Ballet Day returns for its ninth year, giving you an insider’s view into dance companies around the globe.
See morning class and rehearsals,
get a sneak peek of upcoming performances and see ballet’s biggest stars at work.
Fill your day with dance, streamed for free across six continents.
For several decades, I was lucky enough to practice what I loved so much.
For me, it was a fantastic experience both to dance and to watch dancing. If I was free (not having to dance), I took every opportunity to see ballet performances.
My wife also enjoyed travelling with me just to see some ballet company at work. And when I was working abroad, she was there to take care of me (preparing food and taking care of loads of laundry).
Several years I sacrificed for dance. Dancing was at the very top of my agenda, and when the body would no longer cooperate, I still wanted to stay connected to that dance, by choreographing and teaching dance.
Unfortunately, the conclusion of my dancing career did not turn out so neatly and I was pushed aside for ‘a younger chick’ and had to understand that such a person was cheaper than I. That slap in my face (with what preceded it) kept me away from dancing for two years. But after a few years in retirement, that itch and pleasure for dance came again. When I retired, I had transferred my archive to the Flemish Theatre Institute so that they could take further care of it and let several (professionally) interested people enjoy it.
Though not following the dance world any more and not being subscribed to several international dance magazines, until the war in Ukraine broke the contacts, I kept contact with my Ukrainian friends of the Kyiv National Ballet and the Kyiv Choreographic Academy, the Kyiv State Choreographic School, and enjoyed several of their performances and classes. The earth of Ukraine has given birth to some very great dancers, but now in wartime exercising regularly became very difficult and many youngsters had to stop their training to fight for their country.
After the Covid lockdown I came to see lesser classes from the Vaganova Institute St. Petersburg, but keep looking forward to get back on track when the Russians will be gone out Ukraine.
My love for contemporary dance is not at all gone, but I must admit that the last twenty years here in Belgium I did not come to see many interesting works, also because I was not prepared to pay and give time to just some solo’s or to see two or three dancers, having to pay like for a whole (big) company. Though some modern works still get my attention, and not able to travel so much, today I am pleased there is so much good work to see on internet, which has broadened the availability of ballet for so many more viewers.
If you’ve ever been curious about how ballet dancers prepare for performances, now’s your chance to find out! Today a few of the globe’s biggest dance companies are streaming their classes and rehearsals for free. Catch ballet’s biggest stars, including the incredible Misty Copeland and Michaela DePrince, unscripted.
Also come to see how certain people from war-torn countries could make their way to the ballet profession. One of the lucky ones is Michaela DePrince, original name Mabinty Bangura, (born January 6, 1995, Kenema district, Sierra Leone), who was placed at an orphanage, where she was mistreated because she had vitiligo — a medical disorder of skin pigmentation that caused the appearance of white patches on her neck and chest. She also witnessed the mutilation of a pregnant teacher by rebels before her orphanage relocated to a refugee camp in Guinea. In 1999 American couple Elaine and Charles DePrince adopted her along with another girl, her friend Mia. The girls were raised in New Jersey with the DePrinces’ nine other natural and adopted children.
Soon after arriving in the United States Mabynti, as Michaela DePrince started following ballet in Philadelphia. After DePrince studied there at the Rock School for Dance Education (RSDE) for six years, the family moved to Vermont where she did not take classes. But the next year, at age 13, she resumed her training at RSDE as a boarder. In 2010 she competed in the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) for the fourth time, winning a full scholarship to the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School (JKOS) at American Ballet Theatre (ABT), New York City. As often in the cultural world it is also a matter of getting the ‘chance’ of getting ‘opportunities’. As such while at JKOS, DePrince could perform with ABT Studio Company and touring with the Albany Berkshire Ballet, opening doors further for her. She was also one of six youths profiled in American filmmaker Bess Kargman’s First Position (2011).
With stints at the American Ballet Theatre, the Dance Theatre of Harlem, and the Dutch National Ballet under her belt, Michaela DePrince now reigns as a globally renowned dancer.
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Link to Live Program
Participating companies
Africa
Joburg Ballet
Cape Town City Ballet
Asia
Bangkok City Ballet
Cloud Gate Dance Theater of Taiwan
Universal Ballet
Singapore Dance Theatre
The National Ballet of Japan
Korean National Ballet
Hong Kong Ballet
Ballet Indonesia Foundation
Europe
Finnish National Ballet
The Royal Danish Ballet
La Scala Theatre Ballet
Polish National Ballet
Stuttgart Ballet
Ballet de l’Opera de Paris
Wiener Staatsballett
Opera Sofia
Staatsballet Berlin
Dutch National Ballet
Bayerisches Staatsballett
Estonian National Ballet
Ballet de Barcelona
The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet
Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo*
The Royal Ballet
English National Ballet
Royal Academy of Dance
Birmingham Royal Ballet
Northern Ballet
Scottish Ballet
ISTD
Australia
Anna Rose OSullivan The Royal Ballet World Ballet Day 2022 ©2022 ROH. Photograph by Andrej Uspenski 1
Anna Rose OSullivan The Royal Ballet World Ballet Day 2022 ©2022 ROH. Photograph by Andrej Uspenski
Oceania
The Australian Ballet
West Australian Ballet
Queensland Ballet
Royal New Zealand Ballet
North America
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
American Ballet Theatre
Boston Ballet
The National Ballet of Canada
Miami City Ballet*
San Francisco Ballet
Houston Ballet
The Joffrey Ballet*
Pacific Northwest Ballet
Oregon Ballet Theatre*
BalletX
Smiun Ballet*
Texas Ballet Theatre*
Kansas City Ballet*
The Sarasota Ballet*
Ballet West*
Ballet West Academy*
Ballet Arkansas*
Philadelphia Ballet*
The Washington Ballet*
Ballet Idaho*
Central and South America
Ballet Concierto de Puerto Rico
Acosta Danza
Ballet Nacional de Cuba
São Paulo Dance Company
*Joining for the first time
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Preceding
Live Streaming ‘World Ballet Day’
Reasons to go and see Premiere Plus
A fresh Light in the dark light of Las Vegas
Dancer, teacher Leo Kersley departed
Historical Ziegfeld and other Multiply Groups
Dance scrables for Summer 2012
Ballet will not become the poor cousin of the Flemish Opera
Master teacher Matt Mattox died on Feb. 18 in France
Johan Inger’s Walking Mad (Excerpt) | Finnish National Ballet….
Rose adagio – Svetlana Zakharova
Michael Smuin and Intended broad appeal
Duo Paradise Le plus grand Cabaret du Monde
A good team to guaranty a musical about the First World War
The Lion King – Circle of Life
Genée International Ballet Competition in Antwerp for the first time
2014 Personalities and Obituary
Third act of Swan Lake National Opera of Ukraine, 03.11.2015
Nataliya Lazebnikova in Lileya
Jerusalem Ballet paying tribute to Franceska Mann
Star Ballerina Olga Smirnova Quits Bolshoi Over Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
Ballet Dancers Fleeing Ukraine Rubble Find Bucharest Stage
One of my teachers said: “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if I died tonight?”
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Find also other articles about World Ballet Day
- #WORLD BALLET DAY 2 November 2022
- World ballet to be celebrated on screen
- He created ballet as we know it
- Ballet
- for the love of ballet
- Balletcore; should we care?
- UNESCO Fears Ukraine Harm As Russian Culture Backlash Grows
- The Magic of the Ballet: Seven Classic Stories by Vivian French & Lauren O’Hara
- Charlotte Nebres: A New Stage
- Dancers in exile: ‘My mother said I have to share our stories’
- The Colorado Ballet’s Blood-Curdling Performance of Dracula
- Finding Love at Swan Lake
- Swan Lake – Darling Harbour Theatre, ICC (NSW)
- United Ukrainian Ballet – Swan lake
- Cheers And Tears As United Ukrainian Ballet Performs “Swan Lake”
- Listening to Swan Lake Awakens the Memory of a Former Ballerina with Alzheimer’s — Colossal
- Black Swans
- Video of the Week: Igor Moiseyev Ballet in Rehearsal
- Nicky Hilton Sparkles in Purple Sequin Dress & Crystal-Embellished Sandals at the American Ballet Theater Gala
- Sunday Almanac: When the Gipsy Kings Came to Town…
- Nocturne review
- Twinkle toes
- The Wedding Dress
- The Wind At My Back by Misty Copeland
Guestspeaker
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