The St Petersburg Ballet Theatre bring a festival of ballets to South Africa in May 2015, including Giselle, Don Quixote (seen here) and Swan Lake.

Having already toured to 36 cities in France since the start of the year, the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre open their South African tour on Wednesday 6 May at Montecasino in Johannesburg performing Giselle, followed by Don Quixote and Swan Lake before they head to Cape Town to perform Swan Lake at Artscape from 19 May 2015.

But at least in Johannesburg, the Russian company has a tough act to follow after Joburg Ballet’s very recent and spectacular production of Swan Lake, complete with grand new sets, clever new storytelling twists, and a collaborative international cast of 80 dancers including three prima ballerinas sharing the stage.

For ballet fans though, there’s no such thing as Swan Lake fatigue, and every company offers their own unique experience. In this case, the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre have a few things going for them.

For one, ballet lovers in Joburg are in for a decadent triple-bill treat, with the cast of 55 dancers performing the three ballet favourites of Giselle, Don Quixote and Swan Lake in true traditional, classical Russian style.

Due to scheduling constraints for the Cape Town tour, the company will be performing the much-loved Swan Lake only, but it’s the first time the company will be in the mother city after eight years, which is in itself a welcome treat. All performances are accompanied by a live orchestra too, with either the Johannesburg Festival Orchestra or the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra.

The company’s trump card

But the ace up the company’s sleeve is most certainly their prima ballerina, Irina Kolesnikova, who recently returned to the stage after the birth of her daughter. Known for her magnetic stage presence, rock-solid technique and fiery fouetté turns, she transports the audience deep into the magic and mystery of her ballet characters.

Watch this entertaining video clip as the Top Billing crew go behind the scenes for more insights into the company, its lead ballerina and their upcoming SA tour…

Booking Details – Johannesburg:

Dates for Giselle: 6 – 8 May 2015
Dates for Don Quixote: 9 – 10 May 2015
Dates for Swan Lake: 12 – 16 May 2015
Venue: The Teatro at Montecasino
Tickets: from R290 to R690 via Computicket

Booking Details – Cape Town:

Dates for Swan Lake: 19 – 25 May 2015
Venue: Artscape Opera House
Tickets: from R285 to R630 via Computicket

Cuban prima ballerina Viengsay Valdés and US star Brooklyn Mack will dance the principal roles in two performances of Joburg Ballet’s Swan Lake this weekend.

As the prima ballerina of the National Ballet of Cuba, Viengsay Valdés is widely acclaimed as one of the leading ballerinas of our time. Watch her and US ballet star, Brooklyn Mack from the Washington Ballet, in this mini-documentary video clip as they perform and talk about their inspirations and challenges, particularly with Swan Lake.

For more behind-the-scenes footage, see the other mini-documentary episodes here.

Two performances only for the dynamic duo

As visiting guests, Viengsay Valdés and Brooklyn Mack will be performing together in the leading roles in Joburg Ballet’s new production of Swan Lake for two performances – on Friday evening, 24 April 2015, and Sunday afternoon, 26 April 2015.

You’ll also have one more opportunity to watch Brooklyn Mack when he dances opposite South Africa’s own prima ballerina Burnise Silvius, with their single performance together scheduled to close the Swan Lake season on Sunday, 3 May 2015 at 3pm.

Booking details:

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

The Liaoning Ballet’s Yu Chuanya performing in the opening night of Joburg Ballet’s Swan Lake. Photo by Bill Zurich

“China is now producing superb classical dancers, among the best in the world,” said Joburg Ballet’s artistic director, Iain MacDonald. And he should know, considering his tour to China with the company last year, and Joburg Ballet’s collaboration with China’s Liaoning Ballet for their current season of Swan Lake. And now you’ll have a unique opportunity to see for yourself, not just by watching the dancers on the Joburg stage, but in their warm-up class too.

This Saturday, 25 April 2015, Joburg Ballet is hosting an open day at their studios, featuring the 20 Liaoning Ballet dancers as they take class with the company and warm up for their performances. The open day starts at 1pm to coincide with the dancers’ class, followed by tea from 2pm. Tickets are R120 (which includes the tea) and bookings can be made with Edgar on 011 877 6898 or edgar@joburgballet.com.

See the Liaoning Ballet’s principal dancers, Ma Ming and Yu Chuanya, in ballet class during Joburg Ballet’s Open Day on 25 April 2015. Photo by Bill Zurich

Big collaboration for Swan Lake

The combination of Joburg Ballet, the Liaoning Ballet, as well as guest dancers from Cuba and the United States plus additional performers appearing in this production brings together an impressive 80 dancers for Swan Lake.

The 20 dancers from the Liaoning Ballet will perform alongside Joburg Ballet’s dancers in principal, soloist and corps de ballet roles, with two performances during the season (Sunday 19 April at 3pm and Saturday 25 April at 7:30pm) featuring principal dancers from the Liaoning Ballet in the leading roles of Odette-Odile and the Prince. You can find the full casting details here.

The Liaoning Ballet of China was founded in 1980 and is one of China’s major ballet companies, performing ballets on Chinese themes as well as a strong classical repertoire, including Swan Lake, Le Corsaire, Don Quixote, The Nutcracker, Giselle, The Sleeping Beauty and Spartacus. The company has 64 dancers in its roster and tours extensively, with past destinations including Europe, Australia, Japan, Cuba, Russia and Canada.

Here is a video clip of the company performing a traditional Chinese folk dance en pointe.

Booking details for Open Day:

Dates: Saturday 25 April 2015 from 1pm to 2pm, followed by tea.
Venue: Joburg Ballet studios off Hoofd Street, Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg
Tickets: R120 per person (includes tea), bookings via Edgar on 011 877 6898 or edgar@joburgballet.com

Booking details:

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

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

South African prima ballerina, Burnise Silvius, with Jonathan Rodrigues and dancers from Joburg Ballet in front of the company’s grand new sets designed by Andrew Botha. Photo by Lauge Sorensen

With an impressively large cast of over 80 dancers hailing from Cuba, China, Brazil, the United States and South Africa, Joburg Ballet is readying itself for what it claims is the “largest and grandest” production of Swan Lake South Africa has yet seen, taking place at Joburg Theatre from 17 April to 3 May 2015.

It’s a big claim that’s bound to raise the eyebrows of the competition (St Petersburg Ballet Theatre are performing Swan Lake in Johannesburg and Cape Town in May). But with Joburg Ballet’s knack for always finding innovative ways to surprise and delight, we’re rather keen to see what they’ve got hidden in those wings.

For a start, the ballet company has announced a very peculiar, but creatively enticing decision regarding their casting for the opening night. Each act will see a different leading couple perform the roles of Odette/Odile and the Prince, giving the audience an absolutely unique opportunity to enjoy the performances of the international guests as well as Joburg Ballet’s own principal dancers in sequence in one night.

While this might mess with classical purists’ sense of calm and continuity, the exposure to more dancers with their individual interpretations and style is bound to be an interesting take on a Swan Lake opening night.

Commenting on this decision, Joburg Ballet CEO Dirk Badenhorst said, “We decided to make the opening night of Swan Lake a gala event, partly to celebrate having all of our friends from around the world here dancing with us and partly to showcase everything this collaborative run will offer to the high profile audience – which includes government ministers, ambassadors and other dignitaries from South Africa, China, Cuba and the US – on the first night.”

Cuban prima ballerina Viengsay Valdes with partner José Losada performing a black swan variation at the International Ballet Gala in Johannesburg 2013. Photo by Sarah Weyman

Dancing stars from across the globe

So who are these leading dancers sharing the stage?

From Cuba, you’ll see prima ballerina Viengsay Valdés from the National Ballet of Cuba partnering with US ballet star Brooklyn Mack from The Washington Ballet, who is always a popular crowd-raising guest on the South African stage.

Miss Valdés is also a returning visitor to South Africa and gave an electric performance of the black swan during the International Ballet Gala of 2013. She’s known for her remarkable sense of balance and performed six pirouette turns leading into fouettes! See for yourself in the video below.

From China, the Liaoning Ballet’s prima ballerina, Yu Chuanya, will perform with her partner Ma Ming. And South Africa’s own prima ballerina, Joburg Ballet’s beautiful Burnise Silvius dances with the dapper Brazilian Jonathan Rodrigues. It’s the United Nations on one stage in one night.

Missed opening night? Here’s the casting for the rest of the production for you to take your pick (casting subject to change).

Casting for Joburg Ballet’s Swan Lake 2015

April 2015:

• Friday 17, 19:30: Gala Performance with Joburg Ballet stars and visiting guest stars
• Saturday 18, 15:00: Burnise Silvius (Odette-Odile), Jonathan Rodrigues (Prince)
• Saturday 18, 19:30: Nicole Ferreira-Dill (Odette), Claudia Monja (Odile), Juan Carlos Osma (Prince)
• Sunday 19, 15:00: Dancers from the Liaoning Ballet of China
• Tuesday 21, 11:00: Claudia Monja (Odette-Odile), Juan Carlos Osma (Prince) – Edutainment Performance
• Friday 24, 19:30: Viengsay Valdés (Odette-Odile), Brooklyn Mack (Prince)
• Saturday 25, 15:00: Burnise Silvius (Odette-Odile), Jonathan Rodrigues (Prince)
• Saturday 25, 19:30: Dancers from the Liaoning Ballet of China
• Sunday 26, 11:00: Kirstel Jensen (Odette-Odile), Michael Revie (Prince) – Edutainment Performance
• Sunday 26, 15:00: Viengsay Valdés (Odette-Odile), Brooklyn Mack (Prince)
• Tuesday 28, 11:00: Nicole Ferreira-Dill (Odette-Odile), Juan Carlos Osma (Prince) – Edutainment Performance

May 2015:

• Friday 1, 19:30: Burnise Silvius (Odette-Odile), Jonathan Rodrigues (Prince)
• Saturday 2, 15:00: Kirstel Jensen (Odette-Odile), Michael Revie (Prince)
• Saturday 2, 19:30: Shannon Glover (Odette-Odile), Ramiro Samón (Prince)
• Sunday 3, 15:00: Burnise Silvius (Odette-Odile), Brooklyn Mack (Prince)

Now brace yourself for this, partly because of the poor video quality, but don’t worry, the other ‘partly’ has to do with such astounding dancing that you can easily forgive the amateur footage…

Booking details:

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

Get behind the scenes and take a look around the life of a professional dancer during Cape Town City Ballet’s Open Day on 29 March 2014. Photo by Jeanine Bresler

Cape Town City Ballet’s annual Open Day takes place this Saturday 29 March 2014 with a full day of activities offering a peek behind the curtains and into the real workings of a professional ballet company.

The event, hosted at the UCT School of Dance in Rosebank, is presented by the Cape Town City Ballet (CTCB) in association with the UCT School of Dance and the Cape Junior Ballet. Tickets for the action-packed day will go on sale at the door at 09:30 on Saturday.

The Open Day will include fun activities for little ones, eye-opening opportunities for young, aspiring dancers, along with open rehearsals and a variety of dance performances to be enjoyed by ballet lovers across all ages.

Learn insights into how dancers prepare for the next big show at CTCB’s Open Day. Photo by Jeanine Bresler.

Visitors can arrive at any time, but the schedule looks something like this:

Watch the professional dancers in their Company Class which begins promptly at 10:00; or visit the Cape Junior Ballet dancers in their Pre-Professional Classical Ballet Class, including repertoire and coaching.

At 11:15, one the CTCB’s outreach partners, ZAMA Dance School, will present a special lecture demonstration on working with young dancers in Gugulethu and perform a tap dance piece called Blurred Lines. The UCT School of Dance will offer a look into the life of a student dancer, with a Contemporary Dance Class, a Spanish Dance Class, as well as an African Dance Class.

Special fundraising performances including a variety of short ballets and pas de deux scenes will take place at 12:30 and 13:30. Tickets for these performances will sell for R50 from the Friends of CTCB table.

During the day, there will also be a company rehearsal for CTCB’s forthcoming production of Swan Lake, which is an exclusive opportunity to see how one of the world’s most beloved ballets takes shape behind the scenes.

There will also be an introduction to stage make-up, face-painting for the playful ones as well as a fun and relaxed beginner’s class called “Introduction to Ballet”, open to all ages where everyone can participate dressed as they are. And to further inspire big ballet dreams, many of the company’s beautiful ballet costumes will be on display.

Refreshments will be available throughout the day, giving visitors even more opportunities to rub shoulders with their favourite dancers in a relaxed atmosphere.

Tutu wonderful! Kids from the Zama Dance School from Gugulethu take part in the fun at CTCB’s Open Day. Photo by Andrew Warth.

Tickets to Cape Town City Ballet’s Open Day:

Date: 29 March 2014, from 09:30 am.
Venue: UCT School of Dance in Rosebank, Cape Town.
Tickets: Admission of R30 for adults and R20 for children under 13 is available at the door only and includes attendance of all activities except the fundraising performances. For these performances, at 12:30 and 13:30, tickets at R50 will be available at the Friends of CTCB table.

Proceeds from the Open Day support CTCB’s Outreach & Development Programmes.

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.

Beautifully convincing corps de ballet, but sometimes uninspired solos. Photo by Sarah Weyman.

Despite being the second largest theatre (in terms of seats) on the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre’s international tour – which includes 50 cities so far in 2013 – the Teatro at Johannesburg’s Montecasino doesn’t have a particularly large stage, made even smaller by the ballet company’s beautifully elaborate sets. Add the corps de ballet of 24 swans and there is little space left for the principals and soloists.

However, we don’t think any stage on the planet could restrain prima ballerina Irina Kolesnikova. Her stage presence is so dramatic and magnetic that everything else fades into unimportance as she glides onto the scene.

Irina Kolesnikova as Odette in Act II. Photo courtesy of SPBT.

And ‘glide’ she does. As the anguished Odette, her movements are feathery soft and smooth, and her portrayal was so touching and absorbing that my little heart actually ached in empathy of her pain.

As Odile, however, her wicked deception was fierce and electric (as were her fouettés). When her evil con was revealed and she laughingly threw Siegfried’s love on the floor, I caught myself whispering under my breath what the rest of the audience was surely thinking too: “Bitch”.

In fact, the split-personality contrast of Irina’s dual roles had the ballet newbies next to us confused and amazed, asking “did she really dance both white and black swans?”; followed by their excited wide-eyed realisation: “oh my god, so she has to dance and act!”

Yes, that’s how prima ballerinas roll.

But not everyone in the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre (SPBT) cast manages to get that right – although you’ll probably only notice this when Irina is off stage, because you’re not really watching anyone else when she’s on.

Letting the flock down

The strongest contrast to Irina’s masterful performance was probably her principal partner, Dmitri Akulinin performing Siegfried. A little like Neo in The Matrix, he seems to only ever have one expression. Whether he’s happy, sad, angry or triumphant, it’s the same wooden look.

Swan Lake final fight scene with Dmitri Akulinin and Von Rothbart. Photo courtesy of SPBT.

In his favour though, Dmitri does have strength and his pas de deux partnering was perfectly seamless, just don’t expect dramatic solos. Unfortunately the same can be said for most of the male soloists, who lacked personality, precision and punch. Particularly the jester (Erkin Rakhmatulaev) and tutor (Dmitri Shevtsov) appeared a little too rehearsed, occasionally anticipating the others’ gestures too soon, effectively stealing any sense of spontaneity.

The notable exception here would be Rothbart performed by Dimchik Saikeev, who was powerfully menacing, further enhanced by his excellent costume changes and eerie red-eyed make-up. But even Rothbart and Odette’s presence couldn’t save the final fight scene from Siegfried’s unconvincing triumph. “Oh. Look. Um. I think I tore off Rothbart’s wing.”

Four little swans in perfect timing. Photo by Sarah Weyman.

Flying in formation

Acting skills aside though, when it comes to drama, SPBT still delivers plenty with their grand sets, bejewelled costumes and then there’s the corps de ballet of mesmerising swans, so perfectly in time and in sync, moving together as if by Russian magic.

The four little swans were particularly brilliant with their strong and fast footwork and their tick-tock, up-down, left-right movements. See more photos from their rehearsals below.

Though the stage did, at times, seem a tad small for SPBT’s big production, Montecasino’s impressive Teatro is perhaps still the most appropriate venue for Swan Lake, with seats rising all the way up to the clouds. And with Tchaikovsky’s haunting melodies delivered by the Johannesburg Festival Orchestra, it made for a rich and dreamy ballet experience.

If you haven’t done so yet, I’d suggest you make quick about booking those tickets (here), as 75% of the seats were already sold prior to opening night. It may be a while before you get to see such a grand performance of Swan Lake in South Africa by such a ballet company in high demand around the world.

Also, find out all the fascinating behind-the-scenes facts in this Swan Lake ballet infographic.

Have you seen this ballet yet? What were your thoughts? Whether you agree or disagree, tell us in the comments below.

The best of the Swan Lake rehearsal photos…

Click on the first photo to open the gallery.

As far as we can tell, St Petersburg Ballet Theatre (SPBT) is the only classical ballet company in the world to be completely independent of government aid or sponsors’ funding – an impressive achievement in today’s art world. But to run the ballet as a business, they have to consistently deliver top-class performances and many of them. The company gives around 200 to 250 performances every year.

The making of SPBT’s Swan Lake

With this infographic, we take a quick snapshot of their tours and travels so far in 2013 with a bunch of fascinating facts you probably didn’t know about the making of Swan Lake…

Swan Lake in SA

You can read more about SPBT’s South African season of Swan Lake here, which has already been extended twice with 75% of the tickets sold prior to their opening night this past Wednesday, 10 July.

Irina Kolesnikova and Dmitri Akulinin in the Grand Ballroom Scene of Swan Lake Act III.

If you don’t have your tickets yet (seriously, what were you thinking?), you can now breathe a sigh of relief. But make it a short sigh and then go and book those seats quick-sticks, because this is the last and final extension before the swans fly off to Australia the very next day.

With less than a month before the premiere on Wednesday, 10 July 2013, the touring St Petersburg Ballet Theatre has added an additional six performances to its Johannesburg run of Swan Lake, after already adding extra dates last month.

Irina Kolesnikova as Odile from Act III.

Last chance shows:

• Sunday, 21 July 2013 at 1pm
• Sunday, 21 July 2103 at 6pm
• Thursday, 25 July 2013 at 8pm
• Friday, 26 July 2013 at 8pm
• Saturday, 27 July 2013 at 2pm
• Saturday, 27 July 2013 at 2pm

The international tour producer, Andrew Guild, says “this is the last time we will be able to add extra performances and although excellent new seats are now going to be available we anticipate that they will sell fast”.

And we don’t think he’s bluffing. The season was sold out the last time the St Petersburg Ballet Theatre (SPBT) performed Swan Lake in South Africa and he says “this time our ticket sales are even better when compared to the same lead-up period”.

In addition, this year we’ll see Swan Lake performed at The Teatro, Montecasino for the first time, with the Johannesburg Festival Orchestra led by the SPBT conductor, Vadim Nikitin.

You can read more about the production here: Swan Lake – Russian ballet at its best travelling to SA, or…

Book your tickets:

Dates: 10 to 27 July 2013
Venue: The Teatro at Montecasino, Johannesburg
Tickets: R210 to R490 from Computicket

Still here? Well okay, first watch this black swan variation by SPBT’s prima ballerina Irina Kolesnikova and then get your tickets. Dancers be warned, this video could cause serious symptoms of pirouette-envy.