The Royal Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet and The Australian Ballet are delighted to announce that #WorldBalletDay 2021 will take place on 19 October. The global celebration returns for its eighth year, bringing together a host of the world’s leading companies for a packed day of dance.

 
Photograph by Andrej Uspenski


Over the course of the day, rehearsals, discussions and classes will be streamed for free across 6 continents, offering unique behind-the-scenes glimpses of ballet’s biggest stars and upcoming performers.

With COVID-19 guidelines changing daily across the globe, dance companies have struggled to return to stages and rehearsal studios. This year’s celebration will recognize the extraordinary resilience of this art form in the face of those challenges, showcasing the breadth of talent performing, choreographing, and working on productions today.

The 2021 edition of #WorldBalletDay is set to be the biggest ever. In collaboration with TikTok, and with streams across YouTube and Facebook, this year’s viewership is expected to exceed the previous record set in 2019, when #WorldBalletDay content was viewed over 300 million times.

Kevin O’Hare, Director of The Royal Ballet, comments:
“This year’s celebration of our cherished art form will be more important and meaningful than ever, as friends and colleagues around the world return to the stage and the studio, many still with great difficulty. I hope World Ballet Day continues to provide dancers and ballet lovers across the globe with a sense of solidarity – and at the same time introduces a new generation to the beauty and inspiration of ballet that have sustained and nourished our audience members over the past 18 months.”

A full line-up of participating companies and their respective streaming schedules will be made available via www.worldballetday.com in late September.