Watch Geneva Ballet perform at Artscape and then rehearse with the dancers and learn their moves in one of three workshops. Photo by Gregory Batardon

For aspiring dancers interested in choreography, contemporary ballet, or for the chance to learn directly from touring professional dancers, you’ll get it all with the dance workshops that the Geneva Ballet company of Switzerland will be hosting in Cape Town on 7, 9 and 10 July 2014.

As part of the company’s first visit to the city, Geneva Ballet will be offering the workshops alongside their double-bill performances of Lux and Glory, on at the Artscape Theatre from 8 to 10 July 2014. You can read (and watch) more about these two pieces here.

The two-hour workshops, which are aimed at professional, pre-professional and advanced level dancers, will give dancers a unique opportunity to learn excerpts of the choreographies that the company is currently performing. These repertory workshops will be presented free of charge at Cape Town City Ballet’s studios in Rondebosch.

Each workshop will be taught by experienced Geneva Ballet dancers, and will consist of warm-up exercises to lead the participants through contemporary movement forms, followed by teaching and building dance phrases from Glory, a work choreographed by Andonis Foniadakis.

South African born dancer, Angela Rebelo, who has been touring with the company since 2013, will be one of the teachers. The others are Vladimir Ippolitov of Russia, Armando Gonzalez from the USA, Nathanaël Marie of France and Saranawee Tanatanit of Thailand.

In this short video clip, watch these and other Geneva Ballet dancers rehearse some of the cool moves that you could be learning:

Workshop registration details:

Dates, times and teachers:

• Monday 7 July 2014: 13:30 – 15:30, Vladimir Ippolitov & Armando Gonzalez.
• Wednesday 9 July 2014: 11:30 – 13:30, Nathanaël Marie & Sarawanee Tanatanit.
• Thursday 10 July 2014: 11:30 – 13:30, Vladimir Ippolitov & Angela Rebelo.

Venue: Cape Town City Ballet studios, UCT Middle Campus, Rondebosch, Cape Town

Requirements: Dancers are welcome to register for more than one workshop, but will be responsible for their own transport and are advised to arrive 30 minutes before the workshop’s starting time.

The workshops are free of charge and open to professional and pre-professional advanced-level dancers.

To register: Individual dancers, schools or dance companies are invited to submit their names, contact details, as well as the names of the participants to info@zeldaproductions.co.za.

For more information: Contact Kathleen Kortes Lynch of Zelda Productions on 076 714 5969.

Get ready to ride… to the Hermanus FynArts Festival to see Bovim Ballet perform on Saturday 7 June 2014.

The Hermanus FynArts festival is no staid or upper-crust affair, in fact, with its focus on arts, music and wine in one of the Cape’s most gorgeous landscapes, it looks set to be a rocking little festival. No surprise then that it attracted South Africa’s rock ballet company, Bovim Ballet, to present a programme of its hip-swinging ballet highlights on Saturday evening, 7 June 2014 at the Hermanus High School Hall. They’ll be hosting a dance workshop earlier on the same day too (more on that below).

Bovim Ballet has called this production Ovations and it’s aptly named considering it includes specially selected popular pieces and award-winning choreography from across the company’s five extraordinary full length ballets: Tango Nights, Swing Time, Romeo’s Kiss, Queen at the Ballet and Private Presley.

Bovim Ballet’s founder and choreographer, Sean Bovim, has found a way to introduce ballet to whole new audiences through his highly accessible and entertaining rock-style ballet. It’s ballet with a twist, and a jive. See for yourself in this video montage of some of Bovim Ballet’s productions.

The audience can expect a night of touching duets and toe-tapping trios and quartets, as well as big hits like Fever from Swing Time and Jailhouse Rock from Private Presley. Ovations dancers will include Henk Opperman, Tanya Futter, Faye Dubinski, Devon Marshbank, Nicola van der Merwe, Trevor Schoonraad, Elzanne Crause, James Bradley, Zandile Constable, Darren Greeff, Tammy van Houten, Steven van Wyk, Llewellyn Mnguni, Sven-Eric Müller, Simoné Botha and Javan Mattei.

Bovim Ballet brings you swirling duets as well as their beat-thumping group numbers. Why not learn some of the moves too during their FynArts workshop?

Ovations is a one-off performance at Hermanus FynArts, so make sure to book your tickets now and do whatever you can to get to Hermanus to see it.

Booking details for Ovations:

Date: Saturday 7 June 2014 at 19:30.
Venue: Hermanus High School School Hall, Hermanus (about 2 hours drive from Cape Town, including a mandatory and delightful stop at Peregrine Farmstall on the way).
Tickets: R50 for scholars and R120 for full price via WebTickets here or through Hermanus Tourism on 028 312 2629.
Find more information on Ovations on the FynArts website here.

Bovim Ballet’s dance workshop

If you’re looking for an entertaining and informative insight into dance and choreography, irrespective of your age or level of dance-ability, you’re invited to join the Bovim Ballet dancers in their fun winter school-style workshop from 11:00 to 12:00 on Saturday 7 June 2014 at the Hermanus High School.

This will also give you a great sneak peek into that evening’s Ovations performance.

Booking details for Dance Workshop:

Date: Saturday 7 June 2014 from 11:00 to 12:00.
Venue: Hermanus High School School Hall, Hermanus.
Tickets: R50 via WebTickets here or through Hermanus Tourism on 028 312 2629.
Find more information on this workshop on the FynArts website here.

Fusion of Arts Fest and Winter School at this year’s FynArts Festival

To further tempt your little inner travel bug, more reasons to get to Hermanus this June include 10 days of festival activities to choose from – from 6 to 16 June 2014 – including fabulous wine routes and tastings, music recitals, soirées and workshops, art exhibitions, demonstrations and talks, and quite a bit more (see the full festival programme here) all set in the truly breathtaking scenery of this seaside village.

A little piece of heaven on earth – visit the Hemel en Aarde Valley and you’ll soon discover the truth of its name.

As for the name FynArts, it’s a play on ‘fyn’ as in the fynbos of the region and the Afrikaans word for ‘fine’ as in ‘fine arts’ or ‘of high quality’. The festival takes place across galleries, hotels and special venues in the town of Hermanus, as well as in tasting rooms and wine farms along the wine routes in the adjoining Hemel en Aarde Valley.

Oh and did I mention the classic movies?

Vintage film screening of a classic ballet movie

Ballet and film lovers alike will want to book early for the screening of The Red Shoes, showing at the terribly quaint Romantiques vintage cinema on Monday 16 June 2014 at 15:00. This 1948 film about a ballerina’s love-torn life won two Oscar awards and is considered a landmark film for its integration of dance in storytelling. Here’s the movie trailer for you to enjoy…

Booking details for the screening of The Red Shoes:

Date: Monday 16 June 2014 at 15:00.
Venue: Romantiques, 14 Aberdeen Street, Hermanus.
Tickets: Call to book on 028 312 4226.
Find more information on this film screening on the FynArts website here.