Royal Ballet Celebrates Radical Accessibility

This week’s World Ballet Day focusses on access as a way to make dance a welcoming space for all. 

Under the direction of Kevin O’Hare, Director of The Royal Ballet, and curated and conceived by Robert Binet, choreographer and Artistic Director of Fall for Dance North Festival, this year’s global celebration of dance will invite artists and audiences to experience ballet in transformative new ways.

Companies around the world will explore social questions about accessibility and co-create work with disabled perspectives to offer broader access to ballet.

At the heart of The Royal Ballet’s World Ballet Day celebration (November 12) will be a collaboration between four world-class choreographers and blind artist Devon Healey, whose Immersive Descriptive Audio invites listeners into the inner world of dance through sensation, sound and storytelling.

The six-minute work commissioned by The Royal Ballet will feature choreography from Resident Choreographer of The Royal Ballet Sir Wayne McGregor, principal dancer of New York City Ballet Tiler Peck, choreographer Bim Malcomson and Royal Ballet Artist Rebecca Myles Stewart. 

Each choreographer will collaborate with Devon Healey to explore how blindness can open new modes of perception and creativity in dance. 

The choreography by these four distinctive artists will be woven together with Immersive Descriptive Audio (IDA) by Devon Healey and set to music by acclaimed composer Max Richter.

Ballet companies worldwide will stream and share content for Access becomes Art: World Ballet Day 2025 from their individual platforms. Other companies include The Australian Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada, Northern Ballet, The Norwegian National Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet and San Francisco Ballet.  

See worldballetday.com for more information and links to the website for each company involved.