Cape Town City Ballet dancers rehearsing during auditions for the Neumeier ballets. Photo by Michael Groenewald.

Following four years of negotiations, 2014 will be the ground-breaking year when Cape Town City Ballet presents three ballets by John Neumeier, the world-renowned choreographer and artistic director of the Hamburg Ballet company in Germany, considered by many to be one of the ballet world’s greatest living choreographers.

To be performed from 26 to 30 September 2014 at Artscape in Cape Town, the three ballets selected to be staged will be Neumeier’s Spring and Fall, danced to music by Dvorak; Vaslav, to music by JS Bach; and his Rite of Spring (Le sacre du Printempts) to music by Igor Stravinsky.

Keith Mackintosh, artistic executive of Cape Town City Ballet (CTBC), said that he has long wished to bring the ballets of John Neumeier to Cape Town and has been working on this major collaboration between Hamburg Ballet and CTBC for the past four years.

Commenting on the collaboration, Keith Mackintosh said:

“The CTCB has throughout its history cultivated international cultural relations with other countries, ballet companies, dancers, choreographers and producers, but this is the first time we’ll be performing works of John Neumeier.

Presenting his ballets will not only provide opportunities for our dancers’ development, but also offer audiences the chance to witness the sublime creativity of this master choreographer”.

The US-born Neumeier has already choreographed some 130 ballets during his career thus far, all displaying diverse styles and new creative ideas. According to Hamburg Ballet, “Mr. Neumeier has continually focused on the preservation of ballet tradition, while giving his works a modern dramatic framework. His ballets range from new versions of evening-length story ballets to musicals and to his symphonic ballets, especially those based on Gustav Mahler’s compositions, as well as his choreographies to sacred music.”

Watch this video for insights into John Neumeier and Hamburg Ballet’s approach to ballet choreography and dance creativity, from their ballet school through to the professional company:

Booking details:

Dates: 26 to 30 September 2014
Venue: Artscape Theatre, Cape Town
Tickets: R110, R120 or R130 through Computicket or Artscape Dial-a-Seat on 021 421 7695.

Robin van Wyk and Annette Fransman dicsuss the finishing touches for a costume for Cape Town City Ballet’s brand new ballet, The Tin Soldier.

As the final preparations are being made for the premiere of Cape Town City Ballet’s brand new ballet, The Tin Soldier, the company is offering you a sneak peek behind the curtains to see the creative process first-hand on Friday 6 December 2013 at the Artscape Opera House at 6pm.

Hosted by the company’s Artistic Executive, Keith Mackintosh, and joined on stage by choreographer and director, Robin van Wyk, their Insight into The Tin Soldier evening will explain all the aspects of creating this new ballet, from the glittering costumes, to selecting the music and reworking the sets.

The Cape Town City Ballet dancers will also demonstrate key aspects of the choreography, particularly how the placement of the choreography transitions from the studio to the stage rehearsals.

The Tin Soldier is an all-new ballet adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s tale of a toy tin soldier who wins the heart of a paper ballerina. On stage from 11 to 24 December 2013 at the Artscape Opera House in Cape Town, the ballet company will be also accompanied by the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Allan Stephenson at selected performances. See more information here for this ballet and the two other productions in Cape Town City Ballet’s rather busy Christmas Season at Artscape.

Tickets for ‘Insight into The Tin Soldier':

Date: Friday, 6 December 2013 at 6pm
Venue: The Artscape Opera House, Cape Town
Tickets: R50 from Computicket or Artscape-dial-a-seat on 021 421 7695.
Duration: 70 minutes

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

Keith MacKintosh teaching Mariette Opperman and Claire Spector at Cape Town City Ballet’s dance studio.

Joining international ballet stars such as Darcey Bussell, the artistic executive of Cape Town City Ballet, Keith MacKintosh, has been invited to participate in the prestigious International Ballet Masterclasses in Prague, where he will conduct a daily 90 minute ballet class from 22 to 27 July 2013.

MacKintosh was invited by prima ballerina Daria Klimentova, who is the founder and director of the Prague master class series.

Klimentova is particularly well-known to British audiences, having danced at Scottish Ballet and then, since 1996, as a principal and senior principal at English National Ballet.

Cape Town audiences however, will remember Klimentova from her time spent at CAPAB in the early 90’s, and of course as a guest performer in Cape Town City Ballet’s most recent production of The Nutcracker in December 2012.

Have a look at Daria Klimentova’s brand new book available on Amazon: Daria Klimentova: Agony and Ecstasy: My Life in Dance

Apparently it was during this visit, while working with MacKintosh, that she was so impressed by his daily classes that the invitation to teach at her high profile summer school came shortly afterwards.

International master classes attract top ballet stars

This year’s Prague teaching faculty includes Darcey Bussell, former prima ballerina of The Royal Ballet and one of the most filmed and documented ballet stars of our time; Vadim Muntagirov from the English National Ballet; Jan-Erik Wikstrom from the Royal Swedish Ballet; and several other principal dancers and ballet masters including Daria Klimentova.

“I’m absolutely thrilled to have been invited and look forward to being part of such a prestigious faculty,” said Keith MacKintosh. 

“Most of the faculty members are currently star dancers at major ballet companies in Europe. So it’s quite an honour as I am a retired dancer as such!”

The Prague International Masterclass sessions are now in their 11th year, held at the studios of Prague’s National Theatre Ballet Company from 22 July to 3 August 2013. You can find out more about these ballet master classes and the masters that teach them here.

Bringing more ballet talent to South Africa

Keith MacKintosh has often been invited as a guest teacher with dance companies in Europe, which is useful considering his other role and responsibility for engaging international guest dancers for Cape Town City Ballet productions.

In what was described as a major scoop, he recently contracted two leading principal dancers from The Royal Ballet. Roberta Marquez and Nehemiah Kish will perform at select performances in the company’s upcoming production of The Sleeping Beauty at Artscape from 10 to 18 August 2013. See the full details and casting here.

We wonder what other big ballet names we’ll be seeing in Cape Town following this teaching/ scouting trip in Europe?

On Twitter? Follow the dancers and contacts here: Daria Klimentova, Vadim Muntagirov, Darcey Bussell, Nehemiah Kish, Cape Town City Ballet, and BodyMindBallet.