The Sarasota Ballet Announces an Important Update to its Fall Season in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
The Company’s opening three programs of its 30th Anniversary Season will occur as specially devised and purposely filmed programs that will be streamed to ticket buyers.
The Sarasota Ballet today announces that it will be offering unique and specifically filmed performances that will be streamed to ticket buyers, and will replace in-theater performances for the first 3 programs of its 30th Anniversary Season. The decision to do so has been made in order to safeguard audience members, dancers, and staff from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, while also allowing the Company to continue to perform so that the audience will be able to experience remarkable ballets this coming Season.
“While we’re still finalizing the exact programming elements, this newly created Digital Fall Season is something we’re all excited about,” explains Iain Webb, Director of The Sarasota Ballet. “Our aim is to continue to bring breathtaking works to the stage and ensure that we’re keeping the safety of our dancers in mind. Therefore, as we start this new project, we will focus on ballets and works that have smaller casts in order to limit the number of dancers rehearsing together. Additionally, we are continuing to investigate other innovative performance experiences for audience members and patrons of The Sarasota Ballet.”
The Digital Fall Season will emulate as close as possible the traditional experience audience members expect from The Sarasota Ballet. Additionally, the streamed performances will include extra features to bring audience members behind the scenes with special guest interviews and rehearsal clips, and a look into the process of a world premiere. The three programs will be released to ticket holders at approximately the same dates that the three in-theater programs were scheduled to open. The ballets will be filmed with multiple cameras to ensure audiences can see every aspect of the performance. These programs will then be emailed to ticket holders, who can watch the performance at their leisure over a period of time.
“Since the pandemic hit, we’ve worked tirelessly to support our dancers and staff through this extraordinary time,” says Joseph Volpe, Executive Director of The Sarasota Ballet. “It’s the reason why, after we cancelled most of our Spring Season, we continued to pay all our dancers through to the end of their contracts. As we open this newly created Digital Fall Season, we hope that our audience members will engage with these performances, and our donors will remain steadfast in their investment in this great Company.”
Webb adds, “Even though there are still relative unknowns at play, we are still planning on bringing all the dancers back in January, and we all look forward to theaters fully opening in the New Year.”
Full programming details for the October, November, and December programs will be announced in the future. Subscribers who currently have tickets for the first three programs of The Sarasota Ballet’s 30th Anniversary Season will be contacted shortly regarding their ticketing options.
