An Embarrassment of Ballet Riches

September 24, 2014

The Bolshoi Ballet is all about making a big splash. So it’s no surprise that just as bunheads everywhere have begun clearing their schedules on October 1 for the epic 20-hour World Ballet Day livestream, the Bolshoi’s stealing a bit of pre-game thunder. A new online video series, which launched today on the YouTube channel of Bolshoi Ballet in Cinema, is inviting online viewers behind the scenes at the Bolshoi throughout the 2014–15 season. There will be never-before-seen rehearsal footage and exclusive interviews (some in Russian, some in English—click cc to bring up subtitles) with stars like David Hallberg, Olga Smirnova and Svetlana Zakharova. Check out the first episode here:

 

 

Excited enough yet? No? Okay then, here’s the full schedule for the World Ballet day which has just been announced:

 

The Australian Ballet:
The day will start with this company rehearsing Graeme Murphy’s Swan Lake, Stanton Welch’s La Bayadère, Peter Wright’s The Nutcracker, and its upcoming Fall for Dance premiere Ostinato by resident choreographer Tim Harbour. Artistic director David McAllister will be on hand to answer questions via Twitter.

 

Bolshoi Ballet:
Dancers will rehearse The Taming of the Shrew by Jean-Christophe Maillot and Yuri Grigorovich’s Legend of Love.

 

The Royal Ballet:
Carlos Acosta will coach principal Vadim Muntagirov in the role of Basilio in Don Quixote. Principals Marianela Nunez and Federico Bonelli will rehearse Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon. Artist in residence Liam Scarlett will work with Laura Morera and Steven McRae on his new work The Age of Anxiety. The full company will rehearse Christopher Wheeldon’s Aeternum and Frederick Ashton’s Scènes de ballet. First artist Ludovic Ondiviela will rehearse members of his cast as he creates his first Royal Ballet commission, Cassandra. Wayne McGregor will be interviewed about his first full length for the company, Woolf Works, and director Kevin O’Hare will talk about the company and the season ahead.

 

The National Ballet of Canada
: Anthony Dowell will rehearse the company in Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon. John Neumeier’s Nijinsky will also be in rehearsal, coached by artist-in-residence Rex Harrington and senior ballet master Peter Ottmann. Artistic director Karen Kain will be interviewed. The cameras will also go inside the company’s wardrobe department and show dancers in athletic therapy and preparing pointe shoes.

 

San Francisco Ballet:
Dancers will be rehearsing Yuri Possikhov’s RAkU, William Forsythe’s The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, Helgi Tomasson’s Concerto Grosso and scenes from Tomasson/Possokhov’s Don Quixote. The broadcast will also include interviews with artistic director Helgi Tomasson, principal dancers Maria Kochetkova, Yuan Yuan Tan and Taras Domitro, and music director Martin West, among others.