Here's How to Celebrate World Ballet Day Tomorrow

October 3, 2017

World Ballet Day is BACK, dance friends! Tomorrow, October 5, five top-notch ballet companies—The Australian Ballet, the Bolshoi Ballet, The Royal Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada, and San Francisco Ballet—will host a 22-hour (!) live stream, bringing viewers inside their classes, rehearsals, and backstage preparations. Ten additional ballet companies will join the hosting orgs for guest appearances. It’s the fourth year we’ve been gifted this ballet present, and 2017’s version looks to be bigger and more beautiful than ever before.

So, how can you get in on the amazingness? You can watch the stream from almost literally anywhere: on the World Ballet Day website, or the YouTube channels of each of the participating companies, or Facebook. And you can start tonight, actually: The Australian Ballet will kick off the live stream at 6 pm PST/9 pm EST today, October 4 (aka 1 pm on October 5th in Melbourne). Here’s the whole schedule:

The Australian Ballet: 6 pm PST/9 pm EST to 11 pm PST/2 am EST

Bolshoi Ballet: 11 pm PST/2 am EST to 4 am PST/7 am EST

The Royal Ballet: 4 am PST/7 am EST to 9 am PST/12 pm EST

The National Ballet of Canada: 9 am PST/12 pm to 11 am PST/2 pm EST

San Francisco Ballet: 11 am PST/1 pm EST to 4 pm PST/7 pm EST

Yes, that’s a LOT, even for die-hard bunheads. But don’t worry. If you’re not intrepid enough to make it through all 22 hours of footage (or, you know, have school/work/actual ballet classes of your own to get to), you can watch highlights from the broadcasts later in the World Ballet Day video archive. In fact, head to the archive now to check out footage from past years’ broadcasts, which is the perfect way to get excited for WBD ’17. And check out this year’s official trailer:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=79&v=HeBE9Tz-hr8 expand=1]