HANSEL AND GRETEL
COMPANY: Johannesburg Youth Ballet
VENUE: UJ Arts Centre
RATING: ****
Children’s ballets, especially when danced by children for children, aren’t usually synonymous with sky-high production values and professionalism all round.
Celebrating its 36th anniversary the Johannesburg Youth Ballet, or JYB as it’s lovingly known, has exceeded the goals set by last year’s Peter Pan in the same theatre.
Choreographer Mark Hawkins returns to work with this youth ensemble from across the city who gave up their weekends and holi- days for months.
Drawn from various studios and development programmes, the JYB kids get a taste of the discipline and commitment required to practise this art form.
Nik Sakellarides’s electronic music, filled with drama, melodrama and lyricism, set the bar high for this collaboration.
Andrew Botha’s quirky fairy tale set off digitally printed screens and storybook costumes, brilliantly enhanced by Malcolm Findlay’s PENMAC video projections and Jean-Claude Laurent’s lighting, would have any professional dance company drooling.
Yet, within all this technical wizardry the dancers were never swamped by the visuals. In fact, they were dancing in an audio-visual partnership.
The cruelty of this gothic, cannibalistic, tale was represented by the heartless Stepmother (Roswyn Finlay who also doubled as the wicked Witch) and the gormlessness of the father (Nigel Hannah).
The innocence of the children was epitomised by Megan Meyer and Thula Cruikshank as the doomed brother and sister.
Young as they are these dancers can convincingly interpret character and show off their developing technique.
They, the Sandman (an impressive Yusaf Thomas) and the White Swan (Kayla Schultze), carry the narrative which is crowded with angels, birds, fire spirits, fireflies, night creatures and four tutu-ed jewels (Jaimee Mills, Aviva Sher, Kiruna Devar and Natasha Heuser).
Hawkins accommodated 55 children (including the three amazing, acrobatic, Krinsky brothers) at the cost of having uncluttered scenes and a more extended vocabulary.
But there’s enough magic and humour to make this two-acter a keeper in the JYB repertory.
Hansel and Gretel is also the perfect tribute to the memory of former artistic director and mentor Rulov Senekal.