See pure white magic on stage with Cape Town City Ballet’s Swan Lake in April 2014. Photo by Pat Bromilow-Downing.

Following an already busy start to their 80th anniversary year, starting with the popular modern ballet Night & Day at Artscape, then the outdoor performances of The Firebird and Les Sylphides at Maynardville, now Cape Town City Ballet prepares for one of the greatest classical ballets of all time, Swan Lake, to be performed at the Artscape Opera House from 5 to 20 April 2014.

Royal Ballet couple make star appearances

In a major scoop for the Cape Town ballet company, their production of Swan Lake will feature two leading dancers from the Royal Ballet in London – Hikaru Kobayashi and Federico Bonelli. The real-life husband and wife team will make their special guest performances in the lead roles on 19 and 20 April, where they will be dancing the famous roles together as a couple for the very first time.

Cape Town City Ballet’s own Laura Bösenberg, partnered by Thomas Thorne as Prince Siegfried, will dance the dual roles of Princess Odette and Princess Odile, which is always a great challenge and achievement for a ballerina considering the tremendous emotional depth, technical strength and stamina required for this challenging role.

See Thomas Thorne partner Laura Bosenberg as she dances the challenging dual roles of the white and black swan. Photo by Pat Bromilow-Downing.

For the other performances, Daniel Szybkowski will partner Angela Hansford (Odette) and Kim Vieira (Odile) and Jesse Milligan will partner Kirstel Jensen (Odette) and Mami Fuji (Odile). See the casting details and dates below.

Cape Town’s great white ballet

First performed in Cape Town in 1971, this Swan Lake marks the CTCB’s 4th restaging of Attilio Labis’s version. It was originally created for the CAPAB Ballet Company by Labis, based on his many performances in productions around the world. Now produced by Prof Elizabeth Triegaardt, honorary executive director of the CTCB, who herself had the honour of dancing the role of Odette/Odile in that first production, while simultaneously, as Ballet Mistress of CAPAB, rehearsing the corps de ballet for 15 years.

Considering the hauntingly beautiful musical masterpiece that Tchaikovsky created for this ballet, audiences will be delighted to know that all but one of the scheduled nine performances of Swan Lake will be accompanied by the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra, which is also celebrating a big anniversary this year – 100 years of orchestral music in Cape Town! The orchestra will be conducted by Graham Scott.

According to the company, early ticket sales indicate that Cape Town City Ballet may have a sell-out success with Swan Lake in April 2014. Photo by Pat Bromilow-Downing.

Those with sensitive hearts will also be happy to know that this particular version of Swan Lake is one of the few that has a satisfyingly happy ending!

Casts in order of appearance:

• Saturday 5 April, 19:30: Laura Bösenberg & Thomas Thorne
• Wednesday 9 April, 19:30: Angela Hansford, Kim Vieira & Daniel Szybkowski
• Saturday 12 April, 14:00: Kirstel Jensen, Mami Fujii & Jesse Milligan
• Saturday 12 April, 19:30: Laura Bösenberg & Thomas Thorne
• Sunday 13 April, 19:30: Angela Hansford, Kim Vieira & Daniel Szybkowski (recorded music)
• Wednesday 16 April, 19:30: Kirstel Jensen, Mami Fujii & Jesse Milligan
• Saturday 19 April, 14:00: Laura Bösenberg & Thomas Thorne
• Saturday 19 April, 19:30: Hikaru Kobayashi & Federico Bonelli (Royal Ballet guests)
• Sunday 20 April, 15:00: Hikaru Kobayashi & Federico Bonelli (Royal Ballet guests)

Booking details:

Dates: 5 to 20 April 2014.
Venue: Atrscape Opera House, Cape Town.
Tickets: From R100 to R320 via Computicket or Artscape Dial-a-Seat on 021 421 7695.

Starting with The Tin Soldier from 11 to 24 December, we’ll get to unwrap a fresh new ballet creation based on Hans Christian Andersen’s magical storybook, The Steadfast Tin Soldier (Rabbit Ears Storybook Classics)

Choreographed by Cape Town City Ballet’s artistic director, Robin van Wyk, this ballet tells the story of a toy tin soldier’s love for a paper ballerina. Set to the music of Alexander Glazunov, the score will be performed by the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra for all but two performances (recorded music will be used for the shows on Friday 13 December at 11:00 and Tuesday 24 December at 14:00).

Overlapping with The Tin Soldier, from 18 to 22 December, the ballet company will present Belles and Beaux of the Ballet, which will include a selection of beautiful scenes from well-loved ballets, where Cape Town City Ballet’s star ballerinas and danseurs will perform some of the most enticing roles in the ballet repertoire.

Following this, from 31 December 2013 to 11 January 2014, comes the entertaining and popular production of Night & Day – the ballet tribute to the legendary songwriter, Cole Porter, featuring his memorable tunes and danced with a combination of ballet, jazz, tap dance and cabaret. Read more about Night & Day here, including a fun video with Robbie Williams’ take on Cole Porter too.

A bit of fun for everyone

Commenting on this bumper ballet programme, Cape Town City Ballet’s artistic executive, Keith Mackintosh says:

“I guess the idea is to create a summer festival of ballets, offering our regular audiences, together with visitors both local and international coming into Cape Town at that time of the year, the opportunity of a variety of works while at the same time demonstrating the versatility of the company and its dancers.”

Booking details:

The Tin Soldier
Dates: 11 – 24 December 2013
Venue: Artscape Theatre, Cape Town
Tickets: from R125 to R225 and children (6 to 16 years) at R50 through Computicket.

Belles and Beaux of the Ballet
Dates: 18 – 22 December 2013
Venue: Artscape Theatre, Cape Town
Tickets: from R125 to R220 and children (6 to 16 years) at R50 through Computicket.

Night & Day
Dates: 30 December 2013 – 11 January 2014
Venue: Artscape Theatre, Cape Town
Tickets: R250 or children (6 to 16 years) at R50 through Computicket.

Special Discounts:

• Block Bookings of 10 or more: R10 off ticket price.
• 2 Show Combo (The Tin Soldier and Belles and Beaux of the Ballet OR The Tin Soldier and Night & Day): 10% off ticket price.
• 3 Show Combo (The Tin Soldier, Belles and Beaux of the Ballet and Night & Day): 10% off ticket price