Joburg Ballet’s prima ballerina Burnise Silvius will perform the pas de deux with Ramiro Samon from the dazzling Don Quixote. Photo by Susanne Holbaek

For three performances only, Joburg Ballet are visiting a new venue with a shorter one-hour programme at a smaller price-point, aiming to take the best ballet highlights to more people. And with an impressive sounding line-up of popular dance pieces, you might want to take up the opportunity too at the Roodepoort Theatre this weekend on 10 and 11 July.

The company’s prima ballerina, Burnise Silvius, will perform the Don Quixote Pas de Deux partnered by Ramiro Samón from Cuba, who was last year’s SA International Ballet Competition gold medal winner (see the video below). Alternating these roles will be principal dancers Shannon Glover and Michael Revie.

Javier Monier in a virtuoso performance of Diana and Acteon. Photo by Pat Bromilow-Downing

Other classical ballet pas de deux include The Flames of Paris with Shana Dewey and Ramiro Samón, Satanella with Dayana Acuna and Javier Monier, and Diana and Acteon where Burnise Silvius and Ramiro Samón will share the roles with Dayana Acuna and Javier Monier.

Along with highlights from Swan Lake, La Sylphide and La Bayadère, there will also be two romantic short ballets by artistic director Iain MacDonald, including one danced to Strauss’ Blue Danube Waltz – one of the most famous pieces of music in the world.

But it’s not all about the classics, rounding off the programme are three items with South African music, choreography or themes: Gauteng to music by Miriam Makeba, Jantjie to music by Anton Goosen, and Fearless by young SA choreographer, John Tsunke.

And if you still need a little more convincing, watch this short video of the powerful, controlled performance that helped win the gold medal for Ramiro Samón. This was his Satanella variation at the 2014 South African International Ballet Competition.

Booking details:

Dates: Friday 10 July 2015 at 8pm; Saturday 11 July 2015 at 3pm and 8pm
Venue: Roodepoort City Theatre, Roodepoort (you’ll find the directions here)
Tickets: R140 to R170 from www.roodepoorttheatre.com or phone 0861 670 670.

A scene from Lauge Sorensen’s beautifully produced mini-documentary for Joburg Ballet.

Joburg Ballet have created a video series that takes you into their studios and into dancers’ homes to follow their journey as they rehearse and prepare for every detail of their new production of Swan Lake 2015.

With new choreography, new stage sets and an international cast from China, Cuba, the United States, Brazil and South Africa – the logistics are scary and the nerves are running high, but so is the excitement.

But let’s step back to one month before opening night, when the dancers first start to truly feel the pressure as they prepare physically and mentally. Here’s Episode 1, titled Pressure, with a special behind-the-scenes focus on South Africa’s own prima ballerina, Burnise Silvius.

Looking at the aspirations of up-and-coming young dancers and the unique challenges of a South African ballet company encouraging children from the townships to one day take centre stage – here’s Episode 2, Aspirations…

In Episode 3 you’ll meet soloist Nicole Ferreira-Dill and experience her joy as she learns she’s going to take on the roles of Odette and Odile for the very first time. This Episode is called Casting.

And then Episode 4, Swan Lake Production Week, shows the company in the final few days of preparations and rehearsals before opening night.

Booking details for Joburg Ballet’s Swan Lake:

Dates: Friday 17 April – Sunday 3 May 2015.
Venue: Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg
Tickets: from R100 to R400 via JoburgTheatre.com or 0861 670 670

Ramiro Samón in his gold medal winning variation from Satanella at the 2014 South African International Ballet Competition in Cape Town in February. Photo by Pat Bromilow-Downing.

Bringing the top prize back to Johannesburg, senior gold medal winner from the recent South African International Ballet Competition, Ramiro Samón, rejoins the Joburg Ballet cast along with fellow Cuban and silver medallist, Javier Monier, as the company prepares for its production of Coppélia, opening at Joburg Theatre on 7 March 2014.

Both competition medallists will perform in the lead male role (as Franz) in classical ballet’s much-loved comedy, interchanging with Joburg Ballet’s other principal men such as Michael Revie, Jonathan Rodrigues, Carlos Santos and Randol Figueredo.

Joburg Ballet’s leading ladies to perform the role of Swanhilda will include prima ballerina Burnise Silvius and principals Shannon Glover, Angela Revie and Lindé Wessels. See the casting details and dates below.

Coppélia tells the story of an old toymaker who mistakenly believes he’s breathed life into his most beautiful mechanical doll, naturally with comical repercussions. The full cast of 40 dancers delivers all the romance, jealousy, intrigue and of course comedy that makes this ballet one of the much loved classics in the ballet world.

Javier Monier receives his silver medal in the senior classical division at the 2014 South African International Ballet Competition. Photo by Pat Bromilow-Downing.

Casting for Coppélia:

Casting for the roles of Swanhilda, Franz and Dr Coppelius are subject to change.

• Friday 7 March, 19:30: Burnise Silvius, Michael Revie, Jacob Mosehla.
• Saturday 8 March, 15:00: Shannon Glover, Ramiro Samón, Luis de Castro.
• Saturday 8 March, 19:30: Angela Revie, Javier Monier, Luis de Castro.
• Sunday 9 March, 11:00: Burnise Silvius, Michael Revie, Chase Bosch.
• Sunday 9 March, 15:00: Shannon Glover, Jonathan Rodrigues, James Fraser.
• Tuesday 11 March, 11:00: Lindé Wessels, Carlos Santos, Jacob Mosehla.
• Friday 14 March, 19:30: Angela Revie, Randol Figueredo, Luis de Castro.
• Saturday 15 March, 15:00: Burnise Silvius, Michael Revie, Chase Bosch.
• Sunday 16 March, 15:00: Shannon Glover, Jonathan Rodrigues, James Fraser.
• Tuesday 18 March, 11:00: Lindé Wessels, Carlos Santos, Chase Bosch.
• Friday 21 March, 19:30: Shannon Glover, Ramiro Samón, Jacob Mosehla.
• Saturday 22 March, 15:00: Burnise Silvius, Randol Figueredo, Luis de Castro.
• Sunday 23 March, 15:00: Angela Revie, Javier Monier, Jacob Mosehla.

Booking details:

Dates: 7 – 23 March 2014
Venue: The Mandela at Joburg Theatre, Johannesburg
Tickets: From R100 to R450 via wwwJoburgTheatre.com

Gold medallist ballerina Yuanyuan Zhang with partner Anpu Yuan (both from China) during the finals of the 2014 South African International Ballet Competition. Photo by Pat Bromilow-Downing.

Following on from our Part 1 story (read it here), enjoy these photos from the Finals and Awards of the South African International Ballet Competition, held on the Saturday night of 22 February 2014 at the Artscape Theatre in Cape Town.

Magical moments from the SAIBC Finals and Awards

Don’t squint, click on a photo to open the gallery and pin your favourite dance pics to Pinterest. Look out for more behind-the-scenes ballet competition photos and videos to follow… [Update: find the sneak peek backstage photo gallery in Part 3 here.]

Back row, left to right: Seung Yeon Yang, Yuanyuan Zhang, Xu Jing Kun, Fu Yi Yang, Francois Llorente Nunez, Javier Monier, Rafael Quenedit Castro, Ramiro Samon, Mthuthuzeli November, Ga Yeon Jung.
Front row: Byul Yun, Yu Hang, Leroy Mokgatle, Lou Spichtig, Gabrielle Chock, Julia Conway.
Photo by Pat Bromilow-Downing

In a breathtaking and sometimes eye-popping display of talent, technique, strength and agility, 70 dancers from the ages of 11 to 28 competed and were systematically eliminated in what dancers labelled an “intense” week at the South African International Ballet Competition, held at Artscape in Cape Town from 18 to 22 February 2014.

In what’s said to be the highest level of performance ever seen at the South African International Ballet Competition, the final few dancers went head-to-head and toe-to-pointed-toe during the finals on the Saturday night competing for the top positions, medals and a share of R370 000 in cash prizes.

Big dreams come true for young South Africans

South African Mthuthuzeli November was a big winner of the night with a gold medal and a scholarship to the Ailey School in New York City. Photo by Pat Bromilow-Downing.

The South Africans held their own in the competition, with Mthuthuzeli November (20 years old) – a student at the Cape Academy of Performing Arts (CAPA) in Cape Town – taking gold in the Senior contemporary section. He had also won gold in the same category in the previous 2012 competition and this highly talented young man, originally from the Zolani township outside Montagu, so enchanted the audience that competition judge Melanie Person offered November a scholarship to the prestigious Ailey School in New York, of which she is co-director.

A second Ailey scholarship was also offered to another Cape dancer, Khanya Mandongana (17) from the Cape Junior Ballet who beamed onto stage, despite striding on with crutches thanks to a foot injury sustained during his final performance.

Young star-in-the-making, Leroy Mokgatle (14) from the Art of Motion school in Johannesburg was an impressive South African competitor in the scholar division and won a gold medal in the contemporary section as well as a silver medal for his striking classical performance of Don Quixote.

14 year old Leroy Mokgatle from Johannesburg wowed the audience with his performance from Don Quixote. Photo by Pat Bromilow-Downing.

Tough international acts to follow

But the night belonged to China with the biggest number of medals, six in total, with five golds and one bronze medal. The star of the night was Yuanyuan Zhang (19) from China, winning a double gold for both the junior classical and junior contemporary sections. You can see her perform with her partner, Anpu Yuan (21), at the Young Ballet Stars of the World gala events in Johannesburg on 25 and 26 February 2014.

Double gold medallist in the junior category, Yuanyuan Zhang. Photo by Pat Bromilow-Downing.

The South Korean dancers will travel home with two golds and two silvers across the contemporary and classical sections; and following just behind the Koreans, the Cubans were awarded two golds, one silver and a bronze medal. Two medals will also travel back to the USA and one to Switzerland.

The gold medal in the men’s senior classical division went to Ramiro Samon, who along with fellow Cuban and silver medallist, Javier Monier, are both currently dancing with Joburg Ballet and can be seen in their upcoming production of Coppélia at the Joburg Theatre in Johannesburg from 7 to 23 March 2014.

Here are the full results from the 2014 South African International Ballet Competition:

Senior Classical – Girls
Gold: R25 000: Ga Yeon Jung (21), South Korea
Silver: R15 000: no medal awarded
Bronze: R10 000: no medal awarded

Senior Contemporary – Girls
Gold: R15 000: no medal awarded

Senior Classical – Boys
Gold: R25 000: Ramiro Samon (20), Cuba
Silver: R15 000: Javier Monier (21), Cuba
Bronze: R10 000: no medal awarded

Senior Contemporary – Boys
Gold: R15 000: Mthuthuzeli November (20), South Africa

Junior Classical – Girls
Gold: R20 000: Yuanyuan Zhang (19), China
Silver: R12 500: Lou Spichtig (16), Switzerland
Bronze: R7 500: Gabrielle Chock (16), USA

The senior classical gold medal went to Cuban dancer Ramiro Samon, currently dancing with Joburg Ballet. Photo by Pat Bromilow-Downing.

Junior Contemporary – Girls
Gold: R10 000: Yuanyuan Zhang (19), China

Junior Classical – Boys
Gold: R20 000: Rafael Quenedit Castro (17), Cuba
Silver: R12 500: Byul Yun (19), South Korea
Bronze: R7 500: Francois Llorente Nunez (18), Cuba

Junior Contemporary – Boys
Gold: R10 000: Byul Yun (19), South Korea

Scholar Classical – Girls
Gold: R7 500: Yu Hang (14), China
Silver: R5 000: Seung Yeon Yang (15), South Korea
Bronze: R2 500: Julia Conway (14), USA and Fu Yi Yang (13), China

Scholar Contemporary – Girls
Gold: R5 000: Yu Hang (14), China

Scholar  Classical– Boys
Gold: R7 500: Xu Jing Kun (13), China
Silver: R5 000: Leroy Mokgatle (14), South Africa
Bronze: R2 500: No medal awarded

Scholar Contemporary – Boys
Gold: R5 000: Leroy Mokgatle (14), South Africa

Enjoy more fantastic competition photos from the finals in Part 2 here, with a behind-the-scenes sneak peek photo gallery in Part 3 here.

Claudia Monja dances with the Nutcracker Prince and the Rat King in Joburg Ballet’s The Nutcracker. Photo by Bill Zurich.

We’re told that year after year, from the 1980s until the turn of the century, the hugely popular Christmas classic The Nutcracker was always a firm feature on Pretoria’s festive season calendar. That all changed after the closure of The State Theatre Ballet in 2000, and even the subsequent South African Ballet Theatre moved from Pretoria to Johannesburg soon after.

But now years later, the magic will be sparked anew when the newly renamed Joburg Ballet (previously SA Mzansi Ballet) brings their production of The Nutcracker to Pretoria’s SA State Theatre for the first time from 22 to 30 November 2013, with nine performances featuring the full ballet company.

See Joburg Ballet’s Angela Maree and Javier Monier when they perform in Pretoria in November 2013. Photo by Bill Zurich.

Joburg Ballet’s Nutcracker is based on the much-loved traditional classical version, which first premiered in Russia all the way back in December 1892. The current production has been further developed by artistic director Iain MacDonald, with the help of ballet mistresses Angela Malan and Lauren Dixon-Seager.

Set to Tchaikovsky’s magical melodies, The Nutcracker tells the story of a young girl called Clara who receives a nutcracker soldier as a Christmas gift. She dreams her nutcracker turns into a handsome prince who then leads her to strange and enchanted places, like the Land of Snow and the Kingdom of the Sweets. The audience gets swept away too and meets a delightful assortment of Sugar Plum Fairies, Nutcracker Princes, Christmas Tree Fairies, Chinese, Russian and Spanish dancers, waltzing stars, dancing snowflakes and more.

Good cheer and family fun…

While you remind yourself of the simply marvelous music, have a good laugh at these three South African ballerinas giving the funniest rendition of The Nutcracker ever, caught on camera as they wait in the wings during a 2008 performance by the South African Ballet Theatre.

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);
• R50 for school shows on 27 and 28 November at 11am.

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):

Fairy-tale dreams with Shannon Glover and Jonathan Rodrigues in SAMB’s all-new Cinderella. Photo by Bill Zurich.

Johannesburg audiences will have a choice of four ballerinas alternating in the title role of South African Mzansi Ballet’s all-new production of Cinderella, which opens on Friday 13 September 2013 at the Joburg Theatre.

SAMB’s principal dancers, Burnise Silvius and Michael Revie. Photo by Bill Zurich.

Won, two, three, four…

Across this 11-performance season, the local SAMB stars – Burnise Silvius, Shannon Glover and Lindé Wessels – will share Cinderella’s magical coach with international guest dancer, Jin Ho Won from South Korea. (Read more about Won here: Gold medalist guest ballerina arrives in SA.)

The source of the magic in the story, Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother, will be danced by Nicole Ferreira, Lindé Wessels, Sanmarie Kreuzhuber, Claudia Monja and Kitty Phetla; while the dashing Prince Charming will be danced by Jonathan Rodrigues, Michael Revie and Ramiro Samón.

Providing the comic flamboyance to the story, Cinderella’s two Ugly Sisters will be pranced, ahem, I mean danced by men, with Luis de Castro, Chase Bosch, Javier Monier, Carlos Santos, Keke Chele and Randol Figueredo getting their drag on in alternating performances.

And adding the high jinks (and high jumps) will be the Jesters danced by Javier Monier, Randol Figueredo, Luis de Castro and Chase Bosch.

Casting Summary

Here’s the quick casting guide for Cinderella and her Prince:

• 

  See visiting star, South Korean Jin Ho Won as Cinderella. Photo courtesy of SAMB.

  Friday 13 September at 19:30: Burnise Silvius & Jonathan Rodrigues

• Saturday 14 September at 15:00: Jin Ho Won & Michael Revie
• Saturday 14 September at 19:30: Lindé Wessels & Jonathan Rodrigues
• Sunday 15 September at 11:00: Shannon Glover & Ramiro Samón
• Sunday 15 September at 15:00: Jin Ho Won & Michael Revie
• Tuesday 17 September at 11:00: Lindé Wessels & Jonathan Rodrigues (School Performance)
• Saturday 21 September at 15:00: Shannon Glover & Ramiro Samón
• Sunday 22 September at 15:00: Burnise Silvius & Jonathan Rodrigues
• Friday 27 September at 19:30: Jin Ho Won & Michael Revie
• Saturday 28 September at 15:00: Shannon Glover & Ramiro Samón
• Sunday 29 September at 15:00: Burnise Silvius & Michael Revie

Cinderella booking details:

Dates: 13 to 29 September 2013
Venue: Joburg Theatre, Johannesburg
Tickets: From R189 to R336 from www.joburgtheatre.com

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…

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