Ernst de Jong with his American Dream Wheel.

South African artist Ernst de Jong – considered somewhat of a legend in the art and design world – marks his 80th birthday with artworks and stage designs specially painted for the Stars of American Ballet production, taking place at Montecasino’s Teatro from 20 to 22 June 2014.

As the design director for the South African bank notes (with the big five animals) and the artist behind many everyday items, from Five Roses Tea to the blue and red designs on Cobra taps, Ernst de Jong has been quoted as saying, “Nobody can escape art. [It’s] the furniture that we sit on, the fashion that we wear, the designs of the cars we drive.”

And now his artistic influence stretches to the ballets we watch too.

The paintings he’s created each reflect one of the items performed in the Stars of American Ballet galas, such as Tarantella, Le Corsaire, Balanchine’s Who Cares and others. They will appear behind the dancers on large onstage LED screens, making it the first time that LED screens form the décor for ballet in South Africa. The artworks will also be exhibited in various locations at the Teatro at Montecasino.

Okay, this is lovely, but what’s the link you ask?

The link is a rather personal one, with Ernst de Jong’s own granddaughter, the Johannesburg-born and New York-based Andrea Schermoly, appearing as one of the stars in the show. She was awarded the Outstanding Choreographer Award in 2012 and 2013 at Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP) and this year received the Emerging Choreographer Grant to choreograph at Lincoln Center at YAGP’s 15th anniversary gala.

Here’s an entertaining example of her choreography from the 2012 YAGP. This one’s called “Tricks are for kids”, performed by junior competitor Adam Bernstein.

You can watch more of Andrea Schermoly’s choreography in action, along with works by Balanchine and pieces from other crowd-pleasing classics such as Le Corsaire and Don Quixote at the 5-performance-only season of Stars of American Ballet this weekend.

Born in the USA by South African artist Ernst de Jong.

Presented by local ballet entrepreneur Dirk Badenhorst, the show is directed by Joaquin de Luz of the New York City Ballet and features the following American dancers:

Ashley Bouder, Joaquin de Luz, Amar Ramasar, Emilie Gerrity and Indiana Woodward (all from New York City Ballet);
Adiarys Almeida (International free-lance dancer, previously Boston Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet and Corella Ballet Madrid);
Isaac Hernandez (Dutch National Ballet, previously San Francisco Ballet);
Jonhal Fernandez (Ballet de Monterrey);
Joseph Gatti (international freelance dancer, previously Boston Ballet and Cincinnati Ballet);
Anna Maria Lucaciu (Cedar Lake);
Andrea Schermoly (Nederlands Dans Theater);
and Michaela DePrince (Dutch National Ballet Junior Company and star of the First Position movie).

Booking Details:

Dates: 20 June 2014 at 8pm; 21 June 2014 at 3pm and 8pm; 22 June at 11am and 3pm.
Venue: The Teatro at Montecasino, Johannesburg
Tickets: from R150 to R420 via Computicket.

See the Korean Youth Ballet Stars perform in Cape and Johannesburg in February 2014.

As the first major ballet gala event of 2014, the Young Ballet Stars of The World production is said to be possibly the largest gathering of young international ballet dancers ever seen in one South African event. Following immediately after the South African International Ballet Competition (SAIBC) in Cape Town – and including the competition’s medal winners alongside international guests – the Young Ballet Stars of The World assemble for gala performances in Cape Town on 23 February at Artscape and then Johannesburg on 25 and 26 February 2014 at the Lyric Theatre, Gold Reef City.

South Africa’s ballet entrepreneur, Dirk Badenhorst, has invited the Korean Youth Ballet Stars, dancers from the National Ballet School of Cuba, the Youth America Grand Prix in New York as well as dancers from the United States, Switzerland, China, Brazil and Japan, who will join local South African stars to mark the highlight of the 2014 South African International Ballet Competition.

The ‘young’ part of the title Young Ballet Stars of The World relates to the fact that the four gala performances aim to showcase “the brilliance of young stars on the verge of greatness, giving SA audiences a rare glimpse into the future of international ballet in a glittering array of ballet highlights” (according to their press release).

“The ballet world has recently seen an explosion of phenomenal talent from young dancers in their teens and early twenties and the galas in South Africa offer a unique preview of greatness before these dancers take the world by storm,” says Dirk Badenhorst, CEO of the SAIBC.

Booking details – Cape Town

Dates: Sunday, 23 February 2014 at 3pm and 7:30pm.
Venue: Artscape Theatre Centre, Cape Town
Tickets: R200 or R300 via Computicket.com.

Booking details – Johannesburg

Dates: Tuesday, 25 February 2014 at 8pm; Wednesday, 26 February 2014 at 8pm.
Venue: Lyric Theatre at Gold Reef City, Johannesburg
Tickets: R120, R250 or R360 via Computicket.com.

Five minutes on stage will change their lives forever…

To find out more about the movie, the dancers and their dreams, read the story here.

Click on a picture to open the gallery.

Rebecca Houseknecht waiting backstage. Photo courtesy First Position Films.

“At least 5000 enter the competition, and then only a couple hundred make it to New York. You have five minutes on stage to prove why you deserve this chance.”

These words, heard on the First Position movie, refer to the Youth America Grand Prix finals, one of the world’s most prestigious ballet competitions and also one of the most grueling.

First Position – Bess Kargman’s award-winning ballet documentary – follows the lives of six young dancers aged 10 to 17, as they prepare themselves for this competition, pursuing their dreams for a chance to enter the world of professional ballet.

Lights, Camera, Action! Photo courtesy First Position Films.

First Position Films

Peek backstage

However, the movie is so very much more than seeing if the dancers win or lose. Instead, it gives us a backstage peek into the onstage and offstage lives of the dancers, including their everyday habits and routines – what they eat, how they train, when they play, how they train, how they train and how they train.

Yes, these youngsters are performing at such a high level, that they’ve sacrificed many aspects of their childhood and replaced it with sheer dedication and focus. Nothing short of perfection is expected, but we get to see how the dancers fight exhaustion, injuries, home-sickness and their own self-confidence in their never-ceasing achievement of that perfection.

It’s sometimes edge-of-your-seat, sometimes heart-in-your-throat viewing, where you anxiously watch the dancers slip and fall but also triumphantly succeed. It all makes for the most thrilling, exhilarating and deeply heart-warming true story.

See this trailer for an excellent introduction to the movie:

Meet the six young and tremendously talented ballet stars

Apart from their obvious talent and charm, the dancers also seem to have been purposely selected to challenge and break old ballet stereotypes – showing that not all boy dancers are gay, not all girls are anorexic divas, dancers aren’t all privileged and rich, and you don’t have to be white to succeed.

The beautifully dynamic Michaela DePrince. Photo courtesy First Position Films.

In fact, Michaela DePrince, an adopted war-refugee from Sierra Leone who was 14 at the time of filming, wanted to prove to the competition judges, and the world, that black dancers could be just as graceful as any of her fellow white competitors. South African audiences were certainly wowed by her beautiful grace and strength when she was invited by SA Mzansi Ballet to perform as Kitri in select performances in their recent season of Don Quixote.

At just 12 years old, Miko Fogarty – half-Japanese, half-American – has a strength that startles, not just in her ballet technique, but in her absolute determination. However, despite her mother’s best persuasive efforts, Miko’s younger brother Jules just doesn’t see his ballet career in quite the same way.

But like Miko, we see a similar dedication from Aran Bell, 11, who has to travel two hours every day from his father’s military base in order to attend class with (the slightly eccentric) Denys Ganio in Rome.

The movie had us rooting for the humble and talented Joan Sebastian Zamora. Photo courtesy First Position Films.

The handsome Joan Sebastian Zamora, 16, needed to travel much further though. He had to say goodbye to his family and home in Colombia, through great sacrifice of his parents, to allow him to train in New York. He’s working incredibly hard, hoping to be noticed by the Royal Ballet – and the movie has you tightly crossing every finger and toe on his behalf too.

Self-proclaimed American ‘princess’, Rebecca Houseknecht, 17, is a strikingly beautiful blonde with an equally beautiful ballet talent. She’s faced with the choice of either attending college, or finding a job with a professional company. She desperately wants the latter, but that heavily depends on her performance at the upcoming competition.

As a bonus character, we also get to see the delightful Gaya Bommer Yemini, 11, from Israel, as she develops a wonderfully touching and supportive friendship with Aran on the competition circuit.

Best supporting roles

Talking of support, the documentary wouldn’t be a documentary if we didn’t also hear the perspectives of the teachers and parents, which adds much to the emotional depth and breadth of just what’s at stake for these families.

With all the right touches of drama, suspense and feel-good inspiration, First Position makes for a marvelously uplifting film.

If you missed the recent South African screenings at the Joburg Theatre, you can either buy the DVD or ‘rent’ it via Amazon here: First Position

P.S. This is an affiliate link, meaning that BodyMindBallet will receive a small commission if you use this link to make a purchase, helping us fund the work on this website. Of course, we’ll only ever share high-quality products that we think you might enjoy.

P.P.S. If you want to see more pictures from the movie, head over to the photo gallery here.