On Thursday October 1, World Ballet Day Live is hosting 23 hours of footage from five of the world’s leading ballet companies. Following on from the first event of its kind last year, which attracted a total of 502,823 views from around the world, this year’s Royal Ballet broadcast will include, as part of its five-hour offering, 15-minute segments of live and pre-recorded content from Birmingham Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Northern Ballet and Scottish Ballet. It’s a unique opportunity for anyone interested in dance to witness the impressive array of balletic talent from across the UK.

The concept of World Ballet Live was inspired by Royal Ballet Live in 2012, a nine-hour live streaming event via YouTube and The Guardian website. For 2015, the Royal Ballet continues to dominate the action with highlights from morning class, preparation and off-stage action at a matinee performance of Kenneth MacMillan’s classic Romeo and Juliet (featuring principal dancers Federico Bonelli and Lauren Cuthbertson), and rehearsals for the world premiere of Carlos Acosta’s Carmen. There will also be exclusive footage of Royal Ballet Principals preparing for other ballets featuring in the 2015/16 season.

The Royal Ballet’s offering begins at 11am BST and includes, at 2pm, a live panel discussion chaired by Kevin O’Hare, Director of the Royal Ballet, on the future of ballet in the UK. The segments on the other UK companies will include Scottish Ballet preparing for its new production of Swan Lake, and one of English National Ballet’s groundbreaking Dance for Parkinson’s classes. 

World Ballet Day Live kicks off with five hours of coverage from the Australian Ballet, followed by three hours from the Bolshoi. Following on from the Royal Ballet are contributions from the National Ballet of Canada and San Francisco Ballet. All this year’s content will be available on BBC Arts Online for 30 days after the event.