THE LOOP — For the first time ever, the Joffrey Ballet will offer a digital sneak peek behind the curtain into rehearsals for its October "Swan Lake" showcase.
The dance school and company located at 10 E. Randolph St. will live stream rehearsals from its studios from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday on the Joffrey YouTube channel, a move pioneered by the Royal Ballet in London earlier this year.
Lizzie Schiffman says theater officials hope the stream will help people gain an appreciation for the art form:
"I think that people want to know what is it like every day inside a ballet company, and I think that, unlike reality TV shows, there is nothing staged here," said Joffrey's Artistic Director Ashley Wheater, who spearheaded the live stream initiative. "It is really a very honest look at our day and how a rehearsal takes place."
The three-and-a-half hour window into the Joffrey's rehearsals is only a snapshot of the grueling nine-hour daily rehearsal schedule for most Joffrey performers.
"Our rehearsal day here at the Joffrey, we start at 11:30 [a.m.] and we go until 6:30 [p.m.]," Wheater said. "Before that, the dancers have class from 9:45 till 11:15 ... At 2:30 we take a lunch break. What you're seeing in the live stream is the first three hours of the [rehearsal] day."
The live stream will include peeks into several different group rehearsals. "One rehearsal will maybe be all the swans, one might be the principal couples rehearsing and one will be something from act two or act three of Swan Lake, so they're very different each hour," Wheater said.
Between rehearsals, Joffrey staff will conduct interviews with key figures behind the scenes of Swan Lake, including choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, who Wheater called "the most sought-after choreographer working today."
Wheater said the dancers are "very excited" about making their digital debut.
"They realize that with the way the world is moving forward, we have access to every part of the world today. I think that being inside a ballet company is just another point of departure for people to understand what it takes to put on a full performance of 'Swan Lake.'"
And lest viewers think the live stream footage is more performance than practice, Wheater said choreographers and instructors won't go easy on their dancers just because the cameras are on.
"The rehearsals will be absolutely legitimate," he said. "We will stop and start, and make corrections as we need to."
The stream will go live on the Joffrey Ballet company's YouTube Channel Thursday. "Swan Lake" runs Oct. 15 through 26.
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