American Ballet Theatre dancer Misty Copeland recently put out her latest project “Swans for Relief”, for which she brought together ballerinas around the world to raise money for dance companies suffering during the pandemic.
“Swans For Relief” is a breathtaking recital featuring the world’s top dancers in self-recorded videos filmed predominantly in their homes and backyards. The six-minute video is available for free on YouTube, but viewers who are encouraged to donate to the fund, designed to help the struggling dance community.
“The theatre thrives on people coming together to experience a performance. Because of the coronavirus, the livelihood and careers of dancers are in jeopardy, and this will continue to have massive effects even after we start to re-open our cities,” Copeland said in a statement.
In her Instagram post, she mentioned that no donation was too big or too small to support the many dancers in the global community that are no longer able to work due to the coronavirus.
Copeland partnered with the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), with seed funding provided by K Period Media, to launch the program. A $500,000 goal has been set to help ballet dancers maintain their living expenses since so many ballet companies and venues are closed.
See Full Performance Video Below;
The 32 ballerinas in the compilation video represent companies from all over the globe, including China, Russia, Europe, Cuba, Mexico, Philippines, South Africa, Canada, and the United States. The video, released Wednesday, shows each dancer at home performing the iconic steps from “Dying Swan,” set to “Le Cygne (The Swan),” performed by cellist Wade Davis.