A sense of occasion is the salient feature of this elegant and comprehensive collage spanning the eight decades of Cape Town City Ballet’s existence.
Seventeen pieces by choreographers past and present record the company’s offerings from the 1930s, when it was known as the UCT Ballet Company, through the mid-’60s to 1997 when it became the Capab Ballet Company, to its current identity in the 21st century.
The stylish Introduction, choreographed by Robin van Wyk, puts the spotlight on soloists from ballets forming the cornerstone of classical repertoire (Giselle, Swan Lake, Coppélia)… then the full company appears in a gleaming pageant to greet the audience before the programme unfolds to chart the evolution of style from one generation to the next.
No one could fault the production for lack of variety: this is a smorgasbord of dance, from ballet at its most classical (as in La Bayadère) to the minimalism of Between Silence, the romp of Orpheus in the Underworld, and the full-throated exuberance of Cole Porter en pointe in the finale from Night and Day.
While some inclusions are more memorable than others, a common denominator is the commitment and proficiency of the cast.
On the whole it is the pas de deux that stand out rather than the larger ensembles, some of which would benefit from more rehearsal. New and unexpected partnerships inject freshness into the execution: Thomas Thorne shines performing with three danseuses (Frieda Mennen, Mami Fujii and Kim Vieira) in addition to his usual partner, Laura Bosenberg. She is beautifully paired with Ivan Boonzaaier in Erica Brumage’s Between Silence.
The reappearance on stage of veteran Janet Lindup with Johnny Bovang in van Wyk’s re-working of Dulcie Howes’s La Famille is a witty gem; this dancer has lost none of her energy and panache. The other notable return to performance by two icons of CTCB, Tracy Li and Daniel Rajna, as Eurydice and Pluto, respectively, in Orpheus in the Underworld, has to be the highlight of this production.
Angela Hansford musters all the gawky grace requisite for a sterling solo in Gary Burne’s Variations within Space; Rosamund Ford is volcanic with Xola Putye in Veronica Paeper’s Don Quixote; Mami Fujii’s lovely lines delight the eye in Raymonda and La Bayadère, and Mennen is an engaging Juliet to Thomas Thorne’s Romeo. Vieira is well up to the challenge of Aegina in an excerpt from Act 2 of Spartacus, while Sarah-Lee Chapman and Craig Pedro bring warmth and intensity to their pas de deux from David Poole’s Kami. Daniel Szybkowski is polished as ever in a pas de deux from Prokovsky’s Zhivago.
The cherry on the top for lustrous execution comes from Thorne and Bosenberg, who make the complications of Messerer’s choreography in Spring Waters look so easy.
With such inclusive repertoire and casting, it is small wonder that team spirit pervades this celebration of CTCB’s survival and achievement – the secret, no doubt, of its enduring success.