Cape Dance Company

 

 

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Cape Dance Company, Opening Night

A fabulous first night for SA's über Neo classical dance company...Cape Dance Company presented Grace at the Artscape Theatre & received a standing ovation at the end of the show...production pics to follow. Catch them before the season ends on 16 December. www.artscape.co.za to book / 0214217695

 

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Ballet~ the 5th position

Mthuthuzeli November standing spotlight ...Grace opens tonight at the Artscape Theatre. Don't miss it if you're a dance lover living in Cape Town....the Cape Dance Company at its best!

 

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Editorial day

Great coverage today in the Argus Tonight of the Cape Dance Company, about their Grace season that opened in Johannesburg last night & that opens in Cape Town this Thursday 7th December. Stunning new Neo classical ballets will be presented, choreographed by Adele Blank, Bradley Shelver & Christopher L. Huggins @CapeDanceCo @ArtscapeTheatre

 

 

A fun pic of the November cousins, Aviwe & Mthuthuzeli, who have just been awarded scholarships to attend the Washington Ballet School's summer intensive in 2013... fabulously done & richly deserved. These dancers work so hard & began learning Ballet in difficult conditions in a township called Zolani in the Cape. Bravo!

 

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Cape Dance Company...scenes from a rehearsal

 

 

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Cape Dance Company (CDC) ~ Cape Town

I watched a run through today of SA born Bradley Shelver's Neo classical ballet, Scenes. Fabulous work...what a thrilling piece...fast & quiky; the dancers just don't stop moving & the choreography is exceptional. Beautiful dancers are involved once again & I look forward to seeing this work onstage, together with the other superb ballets in this forthcoming CDC season, such as acclaimed works by Christopher Huggins from the USA & Adele Blank from South Africa. CDC Artistic Director Debbie Turner invited the New York based Shelver to Cape Town to work with her outstanding company ~ Shelver has an impressive CV (see bradleyshelver.com), having worked with the Alvin Ailey Rep company, Elisa Monte, Complexions Ballet, Ballet Hispanico, Limon Dance, Phoenix Dance Theatre & the MET Opera. He has his own dance company- the Bradley Shelver Contemporary Dance Theatre, in the US, & it's a privilege to have him here with CDC. Catch CDC at the Dance Factory in Johannesburg & at Artscape Theatre in Cape Town in December. @CapeDanceCo @BradleyShelver Book at Computicket #lovedance

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Raymonda, the ballet

Hikaru Kobayashi and her dance partner Valeri Hristov Kobayashi took the Principal roles last night in Cape Town City Ballet's 'Raymonda' (choreographed by Norman Furber) at the Artscape Opera House ~ both are First Soloists with the Royal Ballet in London. Kobayashi seemed to have had a nervous start & wasn't on top of her game until Act 3 where she danced exquisitely, with a gorgeous line, gorgeous leg extensions and excellent footwork. Her pas de deux with Hristov was beautifully fluid and her solo so stylish~ lovely epaulement & a unique interpretation. Hristov (pictured) is an elegant dancer who only really gets a chance to show off in the third act where he performed with aplomb.

Other stand out performances for me were those of the pas de trois (trio of dancers), Jesse Milligan, Rosamund Ford and Kirstel Jensen. I've not seen Jesse before & he was consistent & is very promising, if a little camp, but that can be ironed out over time with coaching & experience. Jensen & Ford were fabulous~ confident & well matched dancers with solid technique, lovely ballon & great feet. I am such a ballet-feet girl~always will be. Lauren Rogers & Kim Vieira delivered a dynamic duet as the Spanish Captives~ they were so having a ball! 

On the downside, I was so disappointed with Xola Putye's performance as Abderam...he has put on way too much weight & his elevation and ease of movement suffered badly. Make no mistake though, he is an amazing dancer with a natural talent that pulled him through his performance ~ I've known him since his days at Dance for All where he was trained, & have always been a fan. I also found the corps de ballet struggled a bit with the waltz choreography in Act 1. Furber wrote it with loads of awkward twists & turns & it needs a lot of stamina (trust me, I remember it well from my CAPAB Ballet days); the girls petered out somewhat towards the end & the footwork became sloppy. The corps throughout the rest of the ballet looked good & danced well, especially in the third act.  

The Cape Philharmonic under Allan Stephenson was superb...Glazunov's score is magnificent and the orchestra showed it off superbly. Kudo's to CTCB for having the live accompaniment at this season.

Book now for Raymonda via Computicket or 0214217695 @ArtscapeTheatre @CTCityBallet

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La Rosa, review

Stunning review in the Cape Times today on La Rosa's newest season, Pena Flamenca, at the Masque Theatre in Muizenberg until 1 September @LaRosa1990 @CapeTimesArts

 

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