First-Ever Web Ballet Wants Your Help

If you can tweet, you can help the Diablo Ballet choreograph the first Internet-based ballet.

From now through Feb. 14, folks who submit suggestions by replying to the Twitter account @DiabloBallet will help in the creation of the world’s first "Web Ballet," which will have its debut March 1 and 2 at the Shadelands Arts Center in Walnut Creek.

The Diablo Ballet is the first professional dance company to create an entirely new dance work from ideas suggested by Internet users. People are encouraged to suggest:

• Emotion of the dancers (happy, sad, etc)
• The mood of the entire work (intense, lighthearted)
• Specific dance moves (turning, jumping, specific steps)

Participants will also be able to help select the music of the piece by voting on the three selections found on Diablo Ballet’s YouTube page:

http://www.youtube.com/user/diabloballet

More information on how to participate may be found at:
http://www.diabloballet.org/performance.html

Robert Dekkers, Diablo Ballet dancer and Artistic Director of San Francisco's Post:Ballet, will choreograph the piece. Submissions will be selected by Dekkers and Lauren Jonas, Diablo Ballet's Artistic Director. They will choose seven suggestions. Dekkers will then have two weeks to use all of the winning ideas and create a new dance work.

"Diablo Ballet is proud of making dance accessible, and this concept will allow people to participate in the creative process," said Jonas. "We're thrilled to break new ground and to show how the global web community can come together to create the power of dance."

"Inviting anyone, anywhere to participate in the creative process opens up so many possibilities for me as a choreographer,” said Deckers. “I'm eager to see how the dancers and I integrate all of the suggestions into a cohesive work. This is a rare chance to create art with people, instead of simply creating it for them."

Find out more at www.DiabloBallet.org.