The Nutcracker set in the Kalahari Desert? You’ll have to see it to believe it. Photo by Susanne Holbaek

It’s the Nutcracker, but re-told in an African way and re-styled with a local-is-lekker flair. While still set to the beautiful effervescent music of Tchaikovsky, Joburg Ballet’s all new The Nutcracker Re-Imagined switches the usual snowy northern Christmas scenes for such sunny African settings as the Kalahari, complete with gumboots and Namaqua daisies.

Running as part of a double season alongside the company’s first staging of La Bayadère, The Nutcracker Re-Imagined is on at the Joburg Theatre from 12 to 27 September 2014 with staging by Adèle Blank, sets by Andrew Botha and even circus tricks designed specifically for Joburg Ballet by SircuSynergy.

Ballet dancers can jump, but can they stomp? Joburg Ballet’s gum boot dancers show us how. Photo by Susanne Holbaek

Same traditional storyline with some fresh new characters

While it may not be ballet tradition for The Nutcracker, a sangoma is very traditional and a completely appropriate South African replacement for the mysterious, magical and more familiar Dr Drosselmeyer character. Kitty Phetla and Sanmarie Kreuzhuber will perform as the Sangoma at alternating performances during the 5-performance season.

Clara, the young girl who receives a nutcracker doll and whose dream-world journey weaves the story of The Nutcracker Re-Imagined, will be shared by senior soloist Angela Revie, senior corps dancer Jessica Overton and Olivia Parfitt, who recently joined Joburg Ballet directly from two years at the National Ballet School of Canada in Toronto.

The characters of the Moon and the Sun, who in this production perform the Grand Pas De Deux, will be danced by Cubans Dayana Hardy Acuna and Randol Figueredo, alternating with principal dancer Shannon Glover and senior soloist Jonathan Rodrigues.

For a little sneak peak preview, see this video from Morning Live’s outside broadcast (which was filmed quite literally outside Joburg Ballet’s studios) where the company launched their double spring season of La Bayadère and The Nutcracker Re-Imagined.

Booking details:

Date: Final show: Saturday 27 September at 7:30pm.
Venue: Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg
Tickets: from R100 to R400 via JoburgTheatre.com or 0861 670 670

Special booking offer – Ballet Combo: 20% off all performances except ½ Price Nights if booking for both La Bayadère and The Nutcracker Re-Imagined at the same time. (When booking online, add the code joburg ballet into the coupon field and click on the green plus button to activate the discount to your purchase.)

Joburg Ballet invites young dancers to audition for their upcoming productions. Photo by Bill Zurich (from Coppélia)

Joburg Ballet will be holding auditions on Saturday 24 May 2014 and boys and girls aged 6 to 12 are invited to audition for The Nutcracker and boys for La Bayadere. Both productions take place in September 2014.

Dance schools are encouraged to audition as a group. Here are the details:

Date: Saturday 24 May 2014
Times: From 9am to 10am for children aged 6 to 9 years old; 10:15am to 11:15am for children aged 10 to 12 years old.
Venue: Joburg Ballet Studios, Joburg Theatre, Hoofd Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg
To register: contact Edgar Moagi on 011 877 6898 or edgar@joburgballet.com

If you are unable to attend an audition, you are invited to send a DVD of yourself dancing to:
Joburg Ballet, PO Box 291990, Melville 2109, South Africa.

Chukkas, dancers!

See Joburg Ballet’s principal dancers, Michael Revie and prima ballerina Burnise Silvius in Coppélia in March 2014. Photo by Suzy Bernstein.

It’s an endearing, heart-warming comedy, considered one of the great classical ballets much-loved the world over, and now Coppélia returns to the Joburg Theatre from 7 to 23 March 2014 to raise the curtain on Joburg Ballet’s opening season of 2014, and spring-load a busy year of travels and performances.

With the aim of expanding the ballet company’s reach in 2014, Joburg Ballet have announced their plans to travel with their tutus to Bloemfontein and Knysna, as well as to Gaborone in Botswana – with potentially more travel opportunities yet to be revealed. As for Coppélia, following the season-opener in Johannesburg, there will be four performances presented by PACOFS (Performing Arts Centre of the Free State) at the Sand du Plessis Theatre in Bloemfontein from 25 to 29 March 2014.

It’s not all classical though, and the month of March also brings us a mix of contemporary ballet with Celebration 6. If their previous Celebration 5 was anything to go by, look out for some gaspingly-good dance pieces, possibly spiced with some edgy ones too. Celebration 6 takes place at the Joburg Theatre for just two performances on Saturday 15 March and Saturday 22 March, both at 7:30pm.

Later in the year, launching their second major season, Joburg Ballet will perform La Bayadère as well as The Nutcracker. In the meantime though, here’s a look at some of the scheduled highlights (so far) for 2014:

• 14 February 2014 – Valentine’s Day performance at Hyde Park Corner, Johannesburg.
• 15 February 2014 – Open Day: Coppélia / Celebration 6, Joburg Theatre, book on 011-877 6898.
• 8 March 2014 – Friends of the Ballet: Pre-performance talk for Coppélia, Joburg Theatre.
• 7-23 March 2014 – Coppélia / Celebration 6 season, Joburg Theatre.
• 25-29 March 2014 – Coppélia, Sand du Plessis Theatre, Bloemfontein.
• 12-17 May 2014 – Joburg Ballet performs in Knysna in Aid of Hospice.
• 24-29 Jun e 2014 – Joburg Ballet performs in Gaborone, Botswana.
• 30 June-5 July 2014 – Joburg Ballet Winter School, Johannesburg.
• 23 August 2014 – Open Day: La Bayadère / The Nutcracker, Joburg Theatre, book on 011-877 6898.
• 13 September 2014 – Friends of the Ballet: Pre-performance talk for La Bayadère, Joburg Theatre.
• 8–28 September 2014 – La Bayadére / The Nutcracker season, Joburg Theatre.

Michael Revie in Coppélia by Joburg Ballet. Photo by Suzy Bernstein.

Booking Details for Coppélia, Johannesburg:

Dates: 7 – 23 March 2014Venue: The Mandela at Joburg Theatre, Johannesburg
Tickets: From R100 through JoburgTheatre.com.

Booking Details for Coppélia, Bloemfontein:

Dates: 25 – 29 March 2014
Venue: Sand du Plessis Theatre, Bloemfontein
Tickets: From R120 through PACOFS.

The princess of the night – Prima Ballerina Burnise Silvius, as seen here with Michael Revie in Joburg Ballet’s recent production of Cinderella. Photo by Bill Zurich.

While the term ‘prima ballerina’ refers to the ‘first’ ballerina of a company, it doesn’t go to say that every ballet company has one – usually the highest rank in a company is principal dancer, or at most, senior principal dancer. In fact, to be officially awarded the title of prima ballerina is a rare and special accolade, given only to the most exceptional of principal dancers.

Therefore, the opening night of Joburg Ballet’s season of The Nutcracker, Friday 22 November at the SA State Theatre, is a special occasion indeed as the title of Prima Ballerina of the company is bestowed upon principal dancer Burnise Silvius.

Joburg Ballet CEO Dirk Badenhorst says, “In considering the ways in which we could honour Burnise Silvius for twenty years of magnificent performances and for the continued distinction and prestige she brings to our company, we decided that the supreme accolade would be to name her Prima Ballerina of the company, a first for Joburg Ballet, a rare tribute by any measure and one Burnise Silvius richly deserves.”

“The finest role model…”

The Pretoria-born ballerina started dancing at the age of four and has danced an impressive repertoire of principal roles with companies such as PACT Ballet (which later became The State Theatre Ballet), the Hong Kong Ballet, The South African Ballet Theatre and the National Ballet of Canada.

Iain MacDonald, Artistic Director of Joburg Ballet, says, “Saluting Burnise Silvius with the title Prima Ballerina is a fitting way to honour a great South African artist who continues to give so much to her fellow South Africans. Burnise has danced abroad on many occasion and has been a member of other companies but always she has returned home to share her exquisite dancing with us and to serve as the finest role model any dancer and dance student could possibly have.”

Previous South African dancers to be awarded the title of prima ballerina include Dawn Weller of PACT Ballet – the first South African ballerina to be the subject of a book (Dawn Weller: Portrait of a Ballerina) – and the world-famous Phyllis Spira of CAPAB Ballet (now Cape Town City Ballet).

Here’s an insight into Burnise Silvius’ dancing life with this video by Tanja Bencun.

Absolutely Assoluta (the best of the best of the best)

Did you know that while ‘Prima Ballerina’ is the highest active rank a ballerina can achieve in a company, there is still an even higher title to aim for. In the same way that ‘Prima Ballerina’ is awarded to the most exceptional of principal dancers, the honourary and incredibly prestigious title of ‘Prima Ballerina Assoluta‘ is reserved only for prima ballerinas of the highest international acclaim.

However, the bestowing of this title is such a rare occurrence that only twelve ballerinas in the history of ballet have ever achieved this honour, Phyllis Spira being one, and the Cuban Alicia Alonso another. Interestingly, Burnise Silvius was one of a world-class line-up of dancers who performed for Madame Alonso in a special programme in Johannesburg earlier this year in honour of this inspiring living legend (see the photo gallery here).

Nutcracker magic – Casting details

You can see Burnise Silvius perform as the Sugar Plum Fairy alongside international guest artist Jonhal Fernández as the Nutcracker Prince on Friday 22 November at 7:30pm, Sunday 24 November at 3pm and Sunday 1 December at 11am.

Other Joburg Ballet partnerships to enjoy are:
Shannon Glover and Ramiro Sámon: Saturday 23 November at 11am, Friday 29 November at 7:30pm and Saturday 30 November at 3pm;
Lindé Wessels and Carlos Santos: Saturday 23 November at 3pm and Thursday 28 November at 11am;
Angela Maree and Javier Monier: Wednesday 27 November at 11am and Saturday 30 November at 11am.

Nutcracker 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);
• 50% off all standard ticket prices for the 11am performance on Saturday, 23 November.
• R50 for school shows on 27 and 28 November at 11am.

P.S. You can follow prima ballerina Burnise Silvius on Twitter here: @Burnerina

Jonhal Fernández will soon leap onto the South African stage as a guest artist in Joburg Ballet’s Nutcracker. Photo courtesy Joburg Ballet.

The Cuban-born Jonhal Fernández is set to visit South Africa this November when he takes the lead role as the Nutcracker Prince in Joburg Ballet’s Nutcracker, which will be at the South African State Theatre, Pretoria, from 22 November to 1 December 2013.

Having graduated from Havana’s National Ballet School in 2010, he performed as a principal dancer with the National Ballet of Cuba and Pro Danza. Then in 2011, he danced in the Dominican Republic, Peru and Ecuador before joining the Ballet de Monterrey in Mexico.

We’re told he’s been awarded several gold and silver medals at international ballet competitions, and if you watch this video clip you’ll quickly see why…

Mr. Fernández will dance the Nutcracker Prince for three performances at the South African State Theatre in Pretoria, partnering Joburg Ballet’s prima ballerina Burnise Silvius as the Sugar Plum Fairy: on Friday 22 November at 7:30pm, Sunday 24 November at 3pm and Sunday 1 December at 11am.

Mexican-based Jonhal Fernández will perform with the Joburg Ballet for three performances during their Nutcracker season. Photo courtesy Joburg Ballet.

[The following casting details have changed, see the revised casting here.]

Other partnerships to look forward to are Shannon Glover and Ramiro Sámon (Saturday 23 November and Saturday 30 November at 11am); Lindé Wessels and Jonathan Rodrigues (Thursday 28 November at 11am); Angela Maree and Javier Monier (Wednesday 27 November at 11am); Shannon Glover and Michael Revie (Friday 29 November at 7:30pm); and Angela Maree and Michael Revie (Saturday 30 November at 11am).

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.

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):