Australian Ballet Company to Kick Off Facebook LIVE's Longest Broadcast for WORLD BALLET DAY 10/4

Australian online audiences will have access to watch exclusive behind the scenes rehearsals and interviews when World Ballet Day LIVE takes place on Tuesday 4 October. For the first time in 2016 World Ballet Day LIVE will be streamed on Facebook LIVE - the longest broadcast ever to be shown on the platform.

Hosted by Channel 7 presenter James Tobin and The Australian Ballet's Coryphée Brooke Lockett, the 20-hour stream begins with The Australian Ballet at 1pm EST.

For four hours anyone with an internet connection can watch The Australian Ballet dancers in their daily class and see rehearsals for upcoming shows including Swan Lake, Nijinsky, Spartacus and Coppélia. This rare glimpse into the world beyond the spotlight can be accessed by all at worldballetday.com.

Working with Facebook Live, World Ballet Day aims to reach an even wider audience via social media channels. Viewers are encouraged to get involved online using the hashtag #WorldBalletDay and can join in by watching an instructional video that shows The Australian Ballet's Ballet Master Tristan Message teaching three exercises that will be seen on the day.

World Ballet Day LIVE is a collaboration with five of the world's leading ballet companies: The Australian Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, The Royal Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada and San Francisco Ballet.

The Australian Ballet's four-hour broadcast will also include guest appearances from Queensland Ballet, West Australian Ballet and Hong Kong Ballet.

The first World Ballet Day LIVE was held on October 1, 2014. The live broadcast attracted a total of 502,823 views from dance lovers around the world.

Allowing unparalleled, behind-the-scenes access, the streaming project revealed each company's approach to company class and rehearsals, illustrating the unique personalities that characterises five world-class companies.

As the first event of its kind, the 20-hour streaming project garnered critical and viewer acclaim with the New York Times declaring it an "unprecedented bout of internationalism" and the Toronto Star calling it a "milestone event." World Ballet Day LIVE was inspired by Royal Ballet Live in 2012, a nine-hour live streaming via YouTube and The Guardian website.

World Ballet Day Live 2015 saw an 349,000 views on the day itself and has subsequently reached an audience of over 2 million throughout the course of the year.

2016: 20-hour world-wide schedule
(Australian Eastern Standard Time)
1:00pm-5:00pm The Australian Ballet
5:00pm-9:00pm Bolshoi Ballet
9:00pm-1:00am The Royal Ballet
1:00am-5:00am The National Ballet of Canada
5:00am-9:00am San Francisco Ballet

For more details, visit:
australianballet.com.au
australianballet.com.au/tv
worldballetday.com
facebook.com/theaustralianballet