“New Beginnings” is not a huge viral video. Ballet lacks the crowd-pleasing popularity of extreme sports or cat videos. Still, it qualifies as shareworthy content. The audience may be smaller, but with over 760,000 views, it’s a safe bet that this particular piece found its New York-centric arts and culture audience.

Shot in a single, unbroken take on a rooftop in lower Manhattan two weeks ago, the piece features a dance by two principals of the New York City Ballet. Under thin light of a gray dawn which slowly strengthens over the course of the three minute piece, the dance and the soundtrack work with an elegantly beautiful and remarkably tactile grace. You can feel the bracing snap of the wind at that time of day and easily imagine its sensation against the dancers’ shirtless chest or thin leotard.

“New Beginnings” was posted at dawn on September 12…another quietly elegant symbolic choice for this tribute. Beautifully done, DDB NY.

By Dennis Ryan, CCO, Olson