The Fall season at New York City Ballet (NYCB) coincides with the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attack. We looked to find a way to create a piece of original content for our social media fans that would fit with the context, while not violating the sensitive nature of the day.

With construction nearly complete, 2013 marked a new beginning on that sacred ground. Rather than create a piece of content in remembrance of the lives lost, we instead sought to rebrand 9/12 as a day that can stand for optimism and the resilience of the human spirit.

The short film we created captures a performance from choreographer Christopher Wheeldon’s poignant pas de deux “After the Rain” at sunrise on the 57th floor terrace of Four World Trade Center with breathtaking views of One World Trade Center and the spectacular New York City skyline.

“New Beginnings” has more than one million YouTube views and has been the most-viewed ballet video in the world since its debut. Within hours of its release, NYCB gained more than 1,000 new Facebook fans and attracted positive press momentum leading up to the debut of the new season.

NYCB did not issue a press release at the launch of the short film. Instead the film was released at sunrise on September 12th on Facebook with only this brief note: Sunrise September 12. A time for New Beginnings. A performance at 4 World Trade Center, as dawn signals the beginning of a new day in NYC.

We did this so that the initial distribution of the video and the conversation about it would be controlled by NYCB’s social media fans. After a week’s time, the organization issued an official press release with the details of the film for fans and journalists.

“New Beginnings” has more than one million YouTube views and has been the most-viewed ballet video in the world since its debut. Within hours of its release, NYCB gained more than 1,000 new Facebook fans and attracted positive press momentum leading up to the debut of the new season.