Huge Brisbane ballet class enters record books
Brisbane has set a Guinness World Record with a massive 1561 people dancing in the largest-ever ballet class.
The 30-minute ballet class took place on all five storeys of the state library on Sunday after bad weather forced officials to change the venue from South Brisbane’s Kurilpa Bridge.
Despite the rain, the turn-out was more than enough to beat Germany’s previous record of 1055, set-by leading opera company Staatsoper Hannover last year.
This record-breaking challenge was initiated by the Queensland Ballet as part of Brisbane’s Ideas Festival promoting global innovation.
Queensland Ballet head Anna Marsden told Newsbytes she “couldn’t be happier” with the result of the event and is positive it will encourage more people to join the performing arts, describing the atmosphere as “pure joy”.
“Dancing makes people happy but there are those who think there is an invisible barrier about entering this particular art form,” she said. “We have an opportunity and obligation to people of the community to provide gateways to broader audiences.”
One supporter, Amanda Manthey of Toowoomba, said the attempt on the world record had attracted people from far and wide.
“I just spoke to a lady who came all the way from the UK to attend this event, which really shows the magnitude of this event. I’m so happy my daughter could be apart of it,” she said.