Ballet in Lockdown
With March marking a year since the world went into lockdown and the cancellation of so many performances, we wanted to share some of our favourite ballet moments and look back at some of the ingenious ways dancers continued to perform.
Organized by Misty Copeland and Joseph Phillips Swans for Relief features 32 premier ballerinas from 22 dance companies in 14 countries perform Le Cygne (The Swan) variation sequentially with music by Camille Saint-Saëns, performed by cellist Wade Davis.
The funds raised through this project were distributed to each dancer’s company’s COVID-19 relief fund.
Cinderella Games is the third original dance film directed and choreographed by Jessica Wright and Morgann Runacre-Temple – known collectively as Jess and Morgs – for the English National Ballet.
The film takes inspiration from Christopher Wheeldon’s production of Cinderella, yet imagines the fairy-tale with an alternate ending: after the ball the real Cinderella was never found, and instead a sinister game show now exists in which contestants compete for its title.
Shot in the spectacular locations of the Royal Albert Hall and Kempton Steam Museum, the ENB recruited 35 inter-generational participants from a range of dance backgrounds to work alongside professional performers, Chihiro Kawasaki and Matthew Hawkins, giving them the opportunity to experience life on a professional film set, and to be involved in a ground-breaking dance for the camera project.
Message of support and thanks from the dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet
The Dutch National Ballet and G-Star RAW join forces for a unique collaboration in which social distancing is visualised in a compelling way.
In this choreography by Remi Wörtmeyer you see Kira Hilli dancing with an impressive 3-meter wide denim tutu. Together with Manu Kumar, she dances in the streets of Amsterdam and in the empty theatre on the music of Joris Voorn and Het Balletorkest
Orchestrated by Corey Baker for the BBC, elite dancers from across the globe create a modern-day Swan Lake from their own bathtub.
Set to Tchaikovsky’s famous swan theme, 27 ballet dancers from renowned dance companies across the globe perform a modern-day Swan Lake from their own home (filled) baths.
Swan Lake Bath Ballet was choreographed, filmed and post-produced completely remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic. The quirky choreography was performed in baths from New Zealand to South Africa, America to Hong Kong, Australia to the UK
A beautiful compilation video of the Gently Quietly Project organised by the Dutch National Ballet
Peter Leung, young creative associate at Dutch National Ballet and filmmaker Altin Kaftira, created eleven short dance videos recorded at various deserted outdoor locations in Amsterdam during the lockdown.
And last but not least, from our own Australian Ballet, Wilis in Corps-en-tine.
The wilis are home in quarantine, but they’re getting mad together, corps-de-ballet style. Created by artists of The Australian Ballet while the Company was in lockdown last year, this is skit is Giselle as you’ve never seen it.