The Australian Ballet Leads the Charge as 2016's World Ballet Day LIVE Stream is Viewed Over 700,000 Times

This year's World Ballet Day, the third, broke the record for the longest Facebook Live stream to date, reaching over 315,000 people and an additional 272,000 people watching on Ballet TV, powered by video streaming provider Ooyala (a subsidiary of Telstra). The Combined reach makes it The Australian Ballet's most successful World Ballet Day yet. With 727,151 watching the 20-hour stream worldwide, it shows the global appetite for dance is undiminished.

Over 20 hours, the live stream went behind the scenes of The Australian Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, The Royal Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada and San Francisco Ballet, with each company allotted four hours.

The Australian Ballet once again kicked off proceedings, going into the studios as the company took daily class and rehearsed for upcoming seasons of Swan Lake, Nijinsky, Spartacus and Coppélia. The stream was hosted by Channel 7's James Tobin and The Australian Ballet's Brooke Lockett.

In the week leading up to World Ballet Day, The Australian Ballet's Facebook fan-base increased by 16,000 to over 200,000, with the World Ballet Day stream attracting approximately 10,000 likes and 1,200 comments. The preview alone secured over 2 million views on The Australian Ballet's Facebook page, with catch-up views expected to continue the spike in engagement over the coming weeks.

The Australian Ballet's Artistic Director David McAllister said, "World Ballet Day LIVE is a hugely important initiative in helping the company reach fans worldwide and a great way of connecting us to the global dance community.

"It's incredible to see how new technologies like Facebook Live inject the centuries-old art form of ballet with fresh excitement. Ballet fans, wherever they are in the world, feel like they're right there in the studio, getting a front-row view of the artistry and athleticism that makes ballet such a transformative art form."

The Huffington Post, meanwhile, called it "an international celebration of the dance form that's literally graced our world since the 15th century ... a live broadcasted celebration of the holiest of dance days."

World Ballet Day LIVE is one of The Australian Ballet's many commitments to reaching new audiences and fostering an engaged online community. It follows the launch of the company's new website last month with new video platform Ballet TV. The site has attracted over 695,000 visits and 2.6 million page views so far this year.

The full live stream of World Ballet Day LIVE is available until 4 November AustralIan Eastern Daylight Time on The Australian Ballet's website - Ballet TV and YouTube.

At that time, the footage will be replaced with a highlights package from each of the five companies.

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