Every little detail counts – artistic director, Iain MacDonald, coaches Shannon Glover during final dress rehearsals for Cinderella. Photo courtesy Joburg Ballet.

What does it take to create a brand new ballet? Robynn Burls visited Joburg Ballet to meet the real fairy godmother godfather working behind the scenes in the company’s recent season of Cinderella. This is what she discovered about the man behind the magic…

I extended my hand out as I walked up to meet Iain MacDonald, Joburg Ballet’s artistic director, but before I knew it the handshake became a hug. This, I came to learn, is Iain’s way, and it was quickly apparent why he’s so well liked by everyone who knows him.

Cinderella’s magical carriage and charming/comical horses arrive to cart her off to the Prince’s ball. Photo by Susanne Holbaek.

We were sitting down for a coffee and a talk following another successful performance of Cinderella, but any plans I might have had of some form of structured interview were tossed aside two minutes into what immediately became a lively, animated chat, delving into Iain’s latest creation.

He’s naturally warm and easy-going, but clearly equally intense with his enthusiasm for his craft. And the more we talked, the more I could identify his inspired signature all over this brand new ballet – from the little comic moments (like the bobbing of the horses heads as they pulled Cinderella’s carriage) to the laugh-out-loud antics of the ugly sisters, to the very grand and extended final wedding pas de deux.

Balancing act – mixing grand moves with traditional expectations

Iain admits that he created the kind of ballet he would’ve loved to dance himself. Being particularly fond of the pas de deux scenes, but not the stop-start solo variations in-between, he opted to drop the traditional approach and go for one big, impressive final pas de deux instead.

“I wanted it to be a wow thing,” says Iain. “I mean, the whole ballet was based around the final pas de deux. You’ll notice there are no big variations, where he goes, she goes, and I did that intentionally, because I think we’re so used to that.”

And ‘wow’ it was. The final pas de deux was certainly complicated, challenging and dazzling. It was also quite possibly game-changing, especially for the poor Prince who required tremendous strength and a deep stash of stamina to make it through this piece. And just when you thought they’d completed their final hoorah move, the couple went on to do another aerial trick and another (one-armed) lift.

Burnise Silvius and Jonathan Rodrigues created a magic all of their own in Cinderella’s big and dramatic final wedding pas de deux. Photo by Susanne Holbaek.

Iain knew his final pas de deux was tough, but he created it anyway confident that his opening night Prince Charming had the strength to pull it off. In fact, the handsome Jonathan Rodrigues couldn’t be a better fit for the role, leaving more than just Cinderella swooning over his suave, effortless strength and purrrfectly toned b…

Ahem, getting back to the story, Iain said, “For me, the prince is a tall, dark, good-looking guy and I wanted every woman in the audience to be oohing and aahing over him, which works, and the pas de deux is ridiculously hard and Jonathan’s a strong, strong partner”.

Uh-huh, no doubt about that. You can see Jonathan rehearsing with the lovely Burnise Silvius in this video montage from the SABC…

But it’s not only Iain’s final scene that was “ridiculously hard”, the corps were challenged right from the very start too. He had the flower sellers, bakers and dressmakers doing multiple pirouettes while still holding their baskets and breads. (You try doing a double pirouette en pointe while holding a big basket of stuff!) “They asked me if they could put it down” laughs Iain, “and I said no!”

And watch this short video clip (43 seconds) where Iain talks to Top Billing about Cinderella’s entrance and the big pas de deux…

Last minute changes and unexpected surprises

Apart from creating challenges for the dancers, Iain had a few challenges tossed his way too when at the last moment – at 6pm on the final dress rehearsal night – they still had to change sets and rework certain key entrances and exits. But that’s show-business for you.

Iain admits he also had a few flat-lining days during the choreography process, circling in a creative drought not sure how to proceed. And then there were the freak-out moments too.

In particular, he laughs at the cosmic joke that was played on him a few weeks before opening night, running out of time to still teach and finish the ballet. At the height of this stress, with no time to spare (or so he thought), in glided the ever-so-cool-and-calm Colombian choreographer, Álvaro Restrepo, who then wooed almost the entire Cinderella cast into a collaborative Colombian-South African piece for Celebration 5. While Iain helplessly watched the time tick away, itching to get things moving along as swiftly as possible, Álvaro had all the dancers sitting in a large circle… meditating… for three days!

Iain laughingly concedes though that it was probably exactly what everyone needed to calm the frenetic pace and frazzled nerves.

Finding the funny side

In fact, Iain seems quick to spot the humour in most things, which is probably why laughter and giggles bubbled up so naturally from the audience throughout his Cinderella production. Humour was not an afterthought, but rather a very central consideration for Iain.

After commenting on some piece of comic choreography, Iain said to me, “I hope you got the humour throughout the whole ballet. I wanted mom, dad and kids to come to the ballet and for the father not to think, oh my gosh, I’m so bored I can actually cry. I wanted there to be humour for them as well.”

Much of the comedy was also a collaborative process, where Iain allowed the dancers to experiment. “We laughed till the tears were running in the rehearsals,” he said. However, Iain has a strategy even in humour and explained that “it’s a fine line being so funny but not actually telling the story.”

Cinderella’s stepsisters brought a serious dose of comedy to the show, while the stepmother made for an impressively intimidating character. Played here from left, Carlos Santos, Kitty Phetla, Luis de Castro with Burnise Silvius as Cinderella.

In the end, after months of thinking, dreaming and dancing, through inspiration and frustration, and despite time-munching meditating circles and last minute hiccups, Iain and his Joburg Ballet colleagues created a beautifully balanced ballet, as well as a jolly good show.

Coming attractions

“So what’s next?” I asked Iain, to which the answer became another hour-long talk, revealing the mind of an inspired creator, where every song and movie holds the potential for a brand new ballet idea or a creatively updated classic.

But while (always) dreaming up fantastic ideas for future ballets, he’s also preparing for next year’s seasons of the light-hearted Coppélia and then the highly challenging classic, La Bayadere. But also look out for a few fun twists to The Nutcracker coming up in the meantime too.

Wrapping up our talk, with only five minutes to spare before his next appointment, I asked about the long and all-consuming hours he puts into his work. “But for me,” Iain says, “it’s what I love doing, I’m passionate about it. I come to work every day being inspired.”

Here are a few more photos for you to enjoy (click on an image to open the gallery):

Dancers from Joburg Ballet rehearsng Belinda Nusser’s new piece, called The Deep and Lovely Quiet. Photo by Bill Zurich.

Coming to both Johannesburg and Cape Town, the newly renamed Joburg Ballet (previously South African Mzansi Ballet) is collaborating with a leading Colombian dance company to bring audiences a showcase of classical and contemporary dance.

Starting on 20 September 2013, at the Joburg Theatre, audiences will see new works by South African choreographers – Belinda Nusser, Kitty Phetla and Shannon Glover – along with special pieces by Álvaro Restrepo, performed by the professional dancers from his Colombian company, El Colegio Del Cuerpo (The School of the Body) and dancers from Joburg Ballet.

For an inspiring and insightful insight into Restrepo’s School of the Body and its dancers, watch this short feature on the school in this episode of ArtsWorld from AlJazeera TV.

Coming up in the Celebration 5 programme…

Starting off the show will be a piece called The Deep and Lovely Quiet by Belinda Nusser. The ex-Joburg and now European-based Nusser explains her piece with these questions: “Does the feeling of belonging to a group make it any less lonely? How far does loneliness go, and where we can we find our peace?” Performed by 11 dancers from Joburg Ballet, they’ll explore the social interactions we experience in daily life and the monotony of them, but also the impact of group power and the strength that comes out of work in unison.

European-based South African choreographer, Belinda Nusser, as she works with dancers at their Joburg Ballet studios. Photo by Bill Zurich.

Talking of strength, Shannon Glover revealed at a recent choreographic discussion that her work – called Use Somebody – is all about strength, saying that the men in the Joburg Ballet company are so strong that she’s allowed them to dominate the stage. Sounds like we can expect some powerful jumps and impressive macho dancing.

Celebration 5 will also see Kitty Phetla premiere her new piece, called I am. At the same choreographic discussion, she confidently admitted that she’s “a very abstract choreographer” and likes to work with the “educated body”. Considering Phetla’s strong choreographic experience, her work with the very educated bodies of the Joburg Ballet dancers should create something rather special.

But when it comes to special moments, one of the much anticipated highlights of the production will be the work by the Colombian Álvaro Restrepo. Having watched him in action, Restrepo has a very grounded, humble, yet also spiritual approach to his work, which creates pure magic in movement. There’s also a deep sincerity and a depth of meaning to the man that seems to percolate through his wonderfully talented dancers.

These seven dancers will perform Romanian Dances, and will then join forces with 13 Joburg Ballet dancers to perform God-by-the-sea, which Restrepo says is in part a contemplative tribute to the memory of his sister, who died tragically 13 years ago.

But for those who can’t go to the ballet without actually seeing some classical ballet, you’ll be in for a treat with a pas de deux from The Flower Festival at Ganzano. It’s an enchanting Danish piece, which has not been seen on the Johannesburg stage for many years. The programme also includes a classical pas de deux from Act 1 of the ballet Le Corsaire.

Booking details – Johannesburg:

Dates: Friday 20 September at 19:30; Saturday 21 September at 19:30; Saturday 28 September at 19:30.
Venue: Joburg Theatre, Johannesburg
Tickets: From R189 to R336 from www.joburgtheatre.com

Booking details – Cape Town:

Dates: Tuesday 24 September at 19:30; Wednesday 25 September at 19:30.
Venue: Joseph Stone Auditorium, Athlone, Cape Town
Tickets: R150 (or R120 for children under 12) from Computicket

Dancer interviews about Celebration 5 and Cinderella

See Joburg Ballet’s Nicole Ferreira and Michael Revie as they talk on Ballz Radio about both Celebration 5 and their current production of Cinderella.

Colombian Álvaro Restrepo works with the dancers of SA Mzansi Ballet. Photo courtesy of SAMB.

Coming up on Monday 16 September at 09:30 at the South African Mzansi Ballet Studios, dancers, students and ballet lovers are invited to attend a free choreographic discussion and workshop with Colombian choreographers Marie France Delieuvin, Álvaro Restrepo and SAMB’s artistic director Iain MacDonald.

Following a half hour discussion on choreography, there will be a workshop facilitated by Álvaro Restrepo open to all dancers and students (at no charge) allowing for a deeper understanding into the workings of a choreographer, and a special opportunity to experience the Colombian choreographers’ methodology.

The co-founders and choreographers of Colombian company El Colegio del Cuerpo, Marie France Delieuvin and Álvaro Restrepo have returned to South Africa with seven dancers from their company, who will be performing in the upcoming Celebration 5 production in Johannesburg and Cape Town.

Workshop details:

Venue: South African Mzansi Ballet Studios, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein
Date: Monday, 16 September 2013
Times:  09:30 – Choreographic discussion
10:00 – 12:00 – Workshop open to all dancers and students facilitated by Álvaro Restrepo.
Discussion topic: The role and contribution of dance and choreography to social recovery processes.
Booking: Contact South African Mzansi Ballet on 011 877 6900 to book your seat.

Watch Álvaro Restrepo in action in this video as he performs and talks at the TEDxObserver event in London in March 2012. (The talk is in English.)