As the name suggests, the school is affiliated to Joburg Ballet and yes, they teach the Cuban method of ballet, which is the same method that taught Royal Ballet star Carlos Acosta to dance like this… Yoh!

The Joburg Ballet Cuban School is developing into a centre of excellence for aspiring dancers. The ballet company’s professional dancers and teachers work with the pupils, teaching valuable skills and knowledge in classical ballet as well as offering them exposure to other careers in the performing arts such as lighting design, arts management and costume design.

Allowing access to the same type of training that Cubans receive in Havana, the Joburg Ballet Cuban School works to secure a continuing path of improvement as Cuban teachers (and dancers) visit and share their knowledge here in South Africa. This all with the aim that maybe one day these young Joburg kids can do insanely impressive pirouettes like Viengsay Valdés seen in this Black Swan video clip.

Audition details:

• Boys aged from 6 years to 10 years and girls aged from 6 years to 9 years are invited to audition for a place in this prestigious school.
• Please note that space is limited.
• No previous ballet training or experience is required.
• There is no charge for the audition.

Joburg Ballet Cuban School pupils pose after a lesson with Dr Ramona de Saa and Elena Cangas from Havana.

Audition date: 28 January 2014 at 4pm.

Venue: Joburg Ballet studios, Hoofd Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg.

Application enquiries: Contact Fiona Brown on 011 877 6910 or fiona@joburgballet.com for application forms and further information.

Closing date for applications: 27 January 2014

Did you know?

The ballet world owes a debt of gratitude to Mr Fidel Castro for encouraging ballet legend Madame Alicia Alonso to form the National Ballet School of Cuba, which developed the unique ballet training method now known as the ‘Cuban Method’.

The same method that brought us fouettes like these (yes, we just can’t help ourselves, here’s the National Ballet of Cuba’s Viengsay Valdés again, this time in Diana and Actaeon)…

The princess of the night – Prima Ballerina Burnise Silvius, as seen here with Michael Revie in Joburg Ballet’s recent production of Cinderella. Photo by Bill Zurich.

While the term ‘prima ballerina’ refers to the ‘first’ ballerina of a company, it doesn’t go to say that every ballet company has one – usually the highest rank in a company is principal dancer, or at most, senior principal dancer. In fact, to be officially awarded the title of prima ballerina is a rare and special accolade, given only to the most exceptional of principal dancers.

Therefore, the opening night of Joburg Ballet’s season of The Nutcracker, Friday 22 November at the SA State Theatre, is a special occasion indeed as the title of Prima Ballerina of the company is bestowed upon principal dancer Burnise Silvius.

Joburg Ballet CEO Dirk Badenhorst says, “In considering the ways in which we could honour Burnise Silvius for twenty years of magnificent performances and for the continued distinction and prestige she brings to our company, we decided that the supreme accolade would be to name her Prima Ballerina of the company, a first for Joburg Ballet, a rare tribute by any measure and one Burnise Silvius richly deserves.”

“The finest role model…”

The Pretoria-born ballerina started dancing at the age of four and has danced an impressive repertoire of principal roles with companies such as PACT Ballet (which later became The State Theatre Ballet), the Hong Kong Ballet, The South African Ballet Theatre and the National Ballet of Canada.

Iain MacDonald, Artistic Director of Joburg Ballet, says, “Saluting Burnise Silvius with the title Prima Ballerina is a fitting way to honour a great South African artist who continues to give so much to her fellow South Africans. Burnise has danced abroad on many occasion and has been a member of other companies but always she has returned home to share her exquisite dancing with us and to serve as the finest role model any dancer and dance student could possibly have.”

Previous South African dancers to be awarded the title of prima ballerina include Dawn Weller of PACT Ballet – the first South African ballerina to be the subject of a book (Dawn Weller: Portrait of a Ballerina) – and the world-famous Phyllis Spira of CAPAB Ballet (now Cape Town City Ballet).

Here’s an insight into Burnise Silvius’ dancing life with this video by Tanja Bencun.

Absolutely Assoluta (the best of the best of the best)

Did you know that while ‘Prima Ballerina’ is the highest active rank a ballerina can achieve in a company, there is still an even higher title to aim for. In the same way that ‘Prima Ballerina’ is awarded to the most exceptional of principal dancers, the honourary and incredibly prestigious title of ‘Prima Ballerina Assoluta‘ is reserved only for prima ballerinas of the highest international acclaim.

However, the bestowing of this title is such a rare occurrence that only twelve ballerinas in the history of ballet have ever achieved this honour, Phyllis Spira being one, and the Cuban Alicia Alonso another. Interestingly, Burnise Silvius was one of a world-class line-up of dancers who performed for Madame Alonso in a special programme in Johannesburg earlier this year in honour of this inspiring living legend (see the photo gallery here).

Nutcracker magic – Casting details

You can see Burnise Silvius perform as the Sugar Plum Fairy alongside international guest artist Jonhal Fernández as the Nutcracker Prince on Friday 22 November at 7:30pm, Sunday 24 November at 3pm and Sunday 1 December at 11am.

Other Joburg Ballet partnerships to enjoy are:
Shannon Glover and Ramiro Sámon: Saturday 23 November at 11am, Friday 29 November at 7:30pm and Saturday 30 November at 3pm;
Lindé Wessels and Carlos Santos: Saturday 23 November at 3pm and Thursday 28 November at 11am;
Angela Maree and Javier Monier: Wednesday 27 November at 11am and Saturday 30 November at 11am.

Nutcracker Booking details:

Dates and Times:
22 & 29 November 2013 at 7:30pm
23, 24 & 30 November 2013 at 3pm
23, 27, 28 & 30 November 2013 at 11am
Venue: The Opera at the South African State Theatre, Pretoria
Tickets: from R50 to R340 via Computicket.

Special deals and discounts:

• 10% for block bookings of 10 or more;
• 15% for pensioners;
• 20% for Friends of the Ballet;
• 50% for children aged 4 to 7;
• 50% off all Opening Night seats (22 November);
• 50% off all standard ticket prices for the 11am performance on Saturday, 23 November.
• R50 for school shows on 27 and 28 November at 11am.

P.S. You can follow prima ballerina Burnise Silvius on Twitter here: @Burnerina

If you missed it, read the full story here: Highlights from the International Ballet Gala Part 1, and what they didn’t tell you about Alicia Alonso.

With an impressive combination of international and local ballet talent, the ballet gala had three programmes across their five performances, giving audiences an enticing look into ballet repertoire not often seen in South Africa, such as Balanchine’s Stars and Stripes and Agrippina Vaganova’s Diana and Actaeon.

Gala photo gallery

Whether you saw one programme, all three, or none, here’s a frame by frame recap of some of the memorable moments.

Click on a photo to open the gallery…

Viengsay Valdés and José Losada performing Don Quixote at the International Ballet Gala. Photo by Sarah Weyman

And while the pursuit of perfection can naturally not exist without imperfection, we’ll ignore the few stumbles and fumbles for now and rather highlight those dancers – as seen this past weekend at the International Ballet Gala in honour of Alicia Alonso – who are challenging, if not already breaking those ‘records’, just as the inspired Madame Alonso did repeatedly across her unusually long career. (I’ll come back to her remarkable tale later.)

Those who were in the Johannesburg audience will know what I mean when I mention Viengsay Valdés, the primera bailarina of Madame Alonso’s National Ballet of Cuba.

Valdés scares me. Or at least, her bewitching black swan does. She performed her role so convincingly that the stage and backdrop melted away, while the audience was inexorably drawn and captured by the black swan sorceress she had become. She’s the type of mesmerising artist that makes you believe again in spells and magic.

Talking of magic…

Being a superb actress is, however, not the first thing audiences will remember about Valdés, and remember her they will. The buzz in the ballet classes this week will most certainly be about her Superwoman ability to balance and balance and balaaaaaance. Whether in arabesque or retiré, or effortlessly moving between the two, she can balance on pointe for what seems to mere mortals as an impossible eternity.

Wen Ting Guan and Aaron Smyth in Grand Pas Classique pas de deux. Photo by Sarah Weyman.

And with perfect balance, naturally comes astonishing pirouettes. While most dancers spring-start their fouettés with a single turn, Valdés started the famous black swan fouettés with FIVE turns. I must admit, I was so busy re-locating my jaw that I completely lost count of the rest of her multiple revolutions.

With a chorus of gasps from the audience, she was quite literally breath-taking, which is an interesting reversal of roles for someone who as a youngster was told by teachers and doctors not to pursue professional ballet due to her asthmatic breathing difficulties.

Talking about breath-taking…

Another excited post-gala point of discussion was Aaron Smyth’s opening night pirouettes. This dancer from the English National Ballet seemed to turn as if he were a skater on ice, tightening inwards to reach blurring levels before slowing to a perfectly controlled finish.

Talking of perfect control…

Giselle is a ballet known for slow and steady adage variations, and Sadaise Arencibia will henceforth be known to South Africans as the Cuban queen of control. With never a moment of wavering, this ballerina from the National Ballet of Cuba seemed to send down roots through the stage floor and her rock-solid strength combined with her haunting emotional portrayal caused an explosion of applause.

Tamako Miyazaki and Brooklyn Mack in Diana and Actaeon. Photo by Sarah Weyman.

And talking of applause…

While Aaron Smyth has charm and precision, Brooklyn Mack from The Washington Ballet has cheek and power. An audible “geez!” echoed through the audience on one of his grand entrances, thanks to his athletic, trampoline-high jumps. And as if his enormous elevation wasn’t enough to rouse the crowds, his macho technique, (not to mention his near-naked muscled body in Diana and Actaeon), along with his cheeky grin in Stars and Stripes certainly made him an audience favourite.

As for the other favourites and memorable moments, take a look at part 2 with a full photo gallery here.

Back to Alicia Alonso and her unusual story…

The lovely Madame Alonso with the dancers of the International Ballet Gala at their final performance. Photo courtesy of SAMB

In her own dance career, she was one of those remarkable ‘record breakers’ (if you’ll excuse the shallow analogy), not just in technical ability – with critics claiming she had ability beyond her time – but also with longevity. She danced her final performance at the age of 75.

But what makes this all the more remarkable is that she danced partially blind, having been diagnosed with a detached retina at the age of 19. See the full story of how she learnt Giselle with her eyes closed and more here: Lessons from a ballerina legend.

It is her passion for the pursuit of perfection and her intense performance artistry, despite disability, that makes her story that much more inspiring.

As Madame Alonso graciously accepted her applause this weekend, some audience members might only have seen a frail 91-year old lady. But those who know her story see a very different dynamic, tireless woman, whose life work has influenced and added immeasurably to ballet around the world, creating a legacy of future generations of inspired dancers.

Click through to see part 2 with the photo gallery here.

Alicia Alonso performing as Giselle. Photo courtesy of National Ballet of Cuba.

We can joke about being able to do something with our eyes closed, but that’s exactly what Alicia Alonso learnt to do, what she had to do to succeed.

Diagnosed with a detached retina at the age of 19 – which was just the beginning of her vision problems that were to worsen throughout her life – she was ordered to lay completely still, resting on her back for many months to recover from eye surgery.

She was quoted as saying: “I danced in my mind. Blinded, motionless, flat on my back, I taught myself to dance Giselle.”

Giselle was to become her most famous role.

Here are some insights into the life of this remarkable living legend and the lessons we can take from her story.

Identify with your goal, not your obstacles

Despite being partially and permanently blind with no peripheral vision, this Cuban-born prima ballerina was known for technical ability advanced for her time, for intense emotional artistry and for her simply staggering longevity.

She danced her final performance in 1995 in a piece she choreographed called “The Butterfly”.
She was 75 at the time.

It would seem that she never allowed her disability to define her, in fact, she hardly spoke on the topic, and her audiences never suspected her blindness for a moment.

Find strategies to your setbacks

Ms Alonso developed techniques and strategies to allow for a seamless performance:

• Her partners always had to be exactly where she expected them to be at all times;
• Bright lights were strategically placed so that she could recognise the white glow of centre stage as well as her proximity to the orchestra pit;
• And in addition, a thin wire was occasionally stretched across the edge of the stage as a final precaution.

In this video, a clip from a documentary on the greatest Giselle performers in history, see if you can spot how she deliberately slowed certain moves and took a moment longer to orient and prepare herself…

Alicia Alonso’s story reminds me of a talk I recently attended by Dr John Demartini – author, human behavioural specialist and shiny can-opener to human minds – where he spoke about the common traits and success principles of the world’s highest achievers.

Nothing more important in life than knowing and doing what you love most

The first foundational trait common to every inspired high achiever, as shared by Dr Demartini, is that they know precisely what they are here to do – they have identified their highest value, the thing that is most important to them, thereby giving them their inspired purpose in life.

No-one could doubt that Ms Alonso had ‘dance’ at the very top of her priorities when, after her devastating realisation that her eyesight hadn’t improved after multiple surgeries and long dark months of recovery, she got back up on pointe and danced straight into the hearts and memories of audiences around the world.

Who could’ve guessed she had the slightest disability when she could perform multiple pirouettes and fierce fouettés like these…

She once said “Dance to me is life itself”, but more than mere words, her whole life demonstrates her inspired and determined belief and she has made history as a result.

“When the voice and the vision on the inside become more profound and clear and loud than the opinions on the outside, you’ve mastered your life.” – Dr John Demartini

It’s not always easy, but it’s not hard either when you’re living your dream

Another trait of highly successful top achievers is that those with an inspired vision will endure both pleasure and pain equally to achieve it. “Everything is on the way, not in the way”, says Demartini.

Watch this short video clip of Ms Alonso remembering her first performance of Giselle and see if you can spot this balance of pleasure and pain at play…

Never lose sight of your inner vision

Even though her impaired physical vision meant that Ms Alonso would complete her pirouettes and posé towards a pas de deux partner she couldn’t see, her strength of will and focussed determination trumped any fear of missing the mark. To anyone else, that would require tremendous courage, but I have a feeling that if asked, she would simply wave it off as a minor nothing.

Madame Alonso, prima ballerina assoluta and founding director of the National Ballet of Cuba.

In fact, the only vision deficiency Madame Alonso seems to allow is that she simply doesn’t see her obstacles. Nothing is in her way, everything is on the way to her own success.

When old age threatened her dance career, she simply took no notice. In an interview for the New York Times she said:

“If a person keeps thinking, ‘How old am I going to be?’ and thinking about the age, that’s the worst thing you can do. You don’t have to think about how old you are. You have to think about how many things you want to do and how to do it and keep on doing it.”

Never allowing the voices on the outside to become louder than her own, at the age of 91, she is still actively involved today as the director of the National Ballet of Cuba, the ballet company she started back in 1948.

Thanks to her, ballet has become a proud art form in Cuba, continuing to create future generations of inspired virtuoso dancers, with Alicia Alonso now becoming that very same guiding light that she once depended on to find her way across the stage.

International Ballet Gala in Johannesburg pays homage to Alicia Alonso

Six of Madame Alonso’s principal dancers from the National Ballet of Cuba will be joined by leading dancers from other major ballet companies in Johannesburg on 28, 29 and 30 June 2013 for five ballet galas in honour of this legendary lady.

The International Ballet Gala is being presented by South African ballet entrepreneur Dirk Badenhorst, an admirer of Madame Alonso ever since he began his close association with Cuban ballet in 2008.

“Through her strength as well as her stature as a Cuban national treasure,” says Dirk Badenhorst, “Alicia Alonso set an example for the world on the way in which ballet can be part of nation building, embracing an entire national population and cutting across all racial, social and economic divisions.”

The ballet galas are taking place at the Teatro at Montecasino and more information and booking details can be found here.

And finally, if you are still in any doubt of the inspired legacy Madame Alonso is creating, just watch her National Ballet of Cuba in this jaw-dropping compilation from their production of Don Quixote in Paris.

Sadaise Arencibia and Arian Molina in a scene from Swan Lake. Photo courtesy of The National Ballet of Cuba

Covering east, west, north and south, the International Ballet Gala taking place in Johannesburg from 28 to 30 June brings us ballet stars from around the globe, including gold medallists and acclaimed dancers from far-flung regions such as Russia, South Korea, the USA and of course Cuba.

Alicia Alonso in 1955.

I say “of course” because this ballet production is Dirk Badenhorst’s way of saluting Madame Alicia Alonso, considered to be Cuba’s prima ballerina assoluta – an honorary title rather than an active rank considering that she is now in her nineties. Madame Alonso still directs the National Ballet of Cuba that she founded in 1948 and found an admirer in South African ballet entrepreneur Dirk Badenhorst ever since he began his close association with Cuban ballet in 2008.

Take a peek at who’s coming:

Dancers appearing in the galas are:

• Mariinsky Ballet, St Petersburg: Kimin Kim
• National Ballet of Cuba: Anette Delgado, Dani Hernández, Sadaise Arencibia, Arián Molina, Viengsay Valdes, José Losada
• Dutch National Ballet: Wen Ting Guan
• Dresden Ballet & Hungarian National Ballet: István Simon
• Columbia Classical Ballet, USA: Tamako Miyazaki
• The Washington Ballet: Maki Inuki, Brooklyn Mack
• English National Ballet: Aaron Smyth
• South African Mzansi Ballet: Burnise Silvius, Michael Revie, Shannon Glover, Jonathan Rodrigues, Luis de Castro, Randol Figueredo, Javier Monier, Ramiro Samón
• South Korea: Ga Yeon Jung

Brooklyn Mack from The Washington Ballet danced as Basilio in SA Mzansi Ballet’s 2013 production of Don Quixote.
Photo courtesy of South African Mzansi Ballet

What to expect:

The two gala programmes in the 5-performance only season include showpieces from Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, La Bayadére, Le Corsaire, Giselle, Don Quixote, Romeo and Juliet and more.

Of special interest to South African audiences will be the first ever performances in this country of the Balcony Pas de Deux from John Cranko’s version of Romeo and Juliet.  One of the great choreographers of the 20th century, SA-born John Cranko led the Stuttgart Ballet to international fame before his tragically early death at the age of 46 in 1973.

Get your tickets:

Dates: Friday 28 June at 8pm
Saturday 29 June at 3pm and 8pm
Sunday 30 June at 2pm and 6pm
Venue: The Teatro at Montecasino, Johannesburg
Tickets: From R90 to R400 from Computicket