BALLET BEAUTIFUL. Five short ballets celebrating Cape Town City Ballet’s 80th birthday. Presented at Artscape on July 11 and 12. Gen-eva Ballet performs until Thursday. SHEILA CHISHOLM reviews
BALLET Beautiful is Cape Town City Ballet’s (CTCB) third 80th birthday celebratory programme for this year.
It comprises Paquita– 1881 classical choreography by Petipa to Leon Minkus’s music; newly choreographed neo-classical ballet Of Gods and Men! by Kirsten Isenberg. Serendipity, Yarisha Singh’s funky classical/contemporary mix; The Fragile Balance– Robin van Wyk’s classical pas de deux and Uvuyo– Adele Blank’s contemporary piece for youngsters from Gugulethu’s Zama Dance School.
Ballet Beautiful is devised to give insight into CTCB’s past, present and future.
Set to Claude Bolling and costumed in mauve and black, Blank’s Uvuyo took a well-rehearsed group through a stylish contemporary piece that showcased the sound training director Andrew Warth and ballet mistress Leanne Voysey are giving these kiddies. While foot use requires additional attention, all 11 had a delightful feel for dance.
Daniel Rajna, former principal dancer, joined forces with long-time partner ballerina Tracy Li to premier Van Wyk’s pas de deux... Fragile Balance. Rajna has lost little of his partnering skills and Li seemed comfortable opposite him being held aloft, and matching pirouettes, lines and jumps.
Based on poetry by Arokuara, Van Wyk chose Adagio from Bruch’s Violin Concerto No 1 in G minor.
As her theme for Of Gods and Men! Isenberg placed man’s humanness as a power beyond the immortality of gods and set it to Armand Amar and Philip Rombi.
Singh selected soundtracks from Good Bye Lenin and Amelie and two vocal pieces by Julia Stone for her brightly costumed Serendipity. It’s a thoughtful 20-minute piece set against sets with French overtones and an underlying sadness.
Ballet Beautiful reminds us that ballet has a past, belongs in the present and must remain part of our artistic future.
l See cast changes at www.capetowncityballet.org.za. Tickets are from R150. Call 021 421 7695. Geneva Ballet tickets are R280. Call 0861 915 8000.