One of my favourite days of the year has finally returned after being forced into a hiatus- World Ballet Day 2021! We are given a sneak peak behind the curtains to see what happens in class, rehearsal, and choreography, a rarity! With Covid scuppering plans for WBD last year, I think that this year will be even better. It is a free event, it is all online, and as long as you can stream, you can watch. I’ll be sharing the history of the day and what you can expect to see on Tuesday today, and YouTube links on Tuesday. So without further adieu, World Ballet Day 2021!
What Is World Ballet Day?
World Ballet Day was started in 2014 as a celebration of ballet, and an opportunity to see all of the behind the scenes work that leads to performances we see on stage. The Royal Ballet in London has participated annually, with other large companies like the Bolshoi and the Australian Ballet taking part as well. There are sometimes upwards of 25 companies taking place, so you often end up with close to a full 24 hours of streaming.
Depending on the company, you might see a company class, various rehearsals, schools, interviews, and more. While more and more companies are putting these things online, there has always been a wonderful excitement about World Ballet Day.
How To Watch World Ballet Day 2021
You can watch World Ballet Day in a few different ways. You can go to the World Ballet Day site directly and watch there. However, I will often go to the company’s YouTube or Facebook page to watch directly if I am particularly interested- they sometimes will go longer, and it’s nice to be able to catch that. And from what I’ve seen companies also might be sharing exclusive streams on Instagram and/or Tik Tok, so if you have the time, it wouldn’t hurt to check there either.
World Ballet Day 2021 Streams
Remember to keep checking back to this post on Tuesday, 19 October- I will be adding more links to streams throughout the day! (Some of the YouTube streams are only available for 30 days, so depending on how long after WBD 2021 you are reading this, the stream may no longer be available.)
The Australian Ballet
The Royal New Zealand Ballet
The Bolshoi
The Mariinsky
The Royal Ballet
Teatro alla Scala
Dance Theatre of Harlem
Dutch National Ballet
Bayerisches Staatsballett
If you want more ballet, you can find my History of Ballet series here!
Will you be watching World Ballet Day this year?
Cheers,
The Historian
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