306 people came together at West 67th Street in New York City this week to break a ballet record. Breaking the record was part of a Live with Kelly and Ryan segment as they work with the Guinness Book of World Records to break a different record every day this week. On Tuesday, the record they were after was Most Ballet Dancers En Pointe Simultaneously. The previous record was set in Orlando in 2011 by 245 dancers.
Host Kelly Ripa even got on her toes for this one, but she was joined by generations of dancers with a love for ballet all committed to stand for one full minute without coming down from pointe or touching one another for balance. Kelly practiced staying up on pointe leading up to the record-breaking moment, but the dancers joining her have been practicing for years.
Among the most notable feet (and faces!) there were American Ballet Theatre principal dancers Isabella Boylston and James Whiteside as well as New York City Ballet principal dancers Maria Kowroski, Lauren Lovette, and Tiler Peck. Showstopper writer and model Christy Lyn was even there with her whole family (three generations of dancers!) as a remarkable reminder that ballet is passed down through generations.
“My grandma just turned 80 years old,” Christy Lyn told us after the event, “and she still put her pointe shoes on to break the record with us!” This was a moment they would never forget as a family, but it became even more memorable when they were invited to go backstage and meet the famous hosts of “Record Breaker Week”.
Even though it was a rainy morning in New York City Tuesday, this group of dancers was dedicated to showing off their skills for the dance community, standing on plastic bags to keep their pointe shoes dry. The rest of the week will be full of other records from icing cupcakes to jumping over cars with pogo sticks, but this record really had us on our toes.
