Monte-Carlo Ballet launches a streaming platform…with a twist
Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo
To bring spectators closer to the ballet company in socially-distanced times of Covid-19, the Ballets de Monte-Carlo have inaugurated an on-demand streaming platform, which is anything but average.
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It’s a sort of Netflix, but for dance. For a monthly subscription of 5 euros, fans of the company and dance enthusiasts will be able to have an exclusive behind the scene look at performances and the lives of ballet dancers. The streaming service is hosted by bmcstream.com.
Interviewed by Nice Matin, Jean-Christophe Maillot, choreographer and director of the Ballets de Monte-Carlo since 2011, explained the reasons behind the new service. “This platform can allow us to reach an international audience, given that the current situation could last for a long time.” Maillot said that thanks to such a streaming platform “ballet can continue to live on, without having to perform outside.”
We want to create a space where spectators can interact with our videos. They will be able to choose how they want to watch them thanks to our new feature, which is unique in the world: a multi-camera device.
Jean-Christophe Maillot
A more personable version of ballet
However, Jean-Christophe Maillot doesn’t plan on giving up old habits anytime soon either. The streaming platform is not there to substitute live performance in favour of a more Covid-19 friendly alternative, said the choreographer. To bring the streaming platform to life, Maillot drew on the expertise of two former dancers of the Monte-Carlo Ballets, who have now converted to digital technology: Quinn Pendleton and Ediz Erguc, founders of the digital agency, Equilibre, which is based in the Principality. “I may be opening Pandora’s box, but I want to restore the value of dancers, to get spectators to know them and get attached to them as individuals.”
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