CAPE Ballet Africa (CBA) is set to enthrall audiences with a new quadruple bill at The Baxter this October, launching the dynamic young company’s Spring Season. Hot off its highly successful run of Swan Lake in Johannesburg, CBA presents ELYSIUM at The Pam Golding Theatre at The Baxter from 3 to 11 October.
ELYSIUM brings together four exquisite and diverse ballets by celebrated choreographers George Balanchine, Nacho Duato, Kenneth Tindall and Michelle Reid, each offering a unique perspective on the human experience.
Through contrasting choreography, music, and artistic styles, ELYSIUM creates a rich and inspiring ballet experience, exploring themes of love, resilience, transformation and joy, celebrated through the range, beauty and emotional depth of ballet.
The programme includes two new works created for the company by extraordinary South African choreographer Michelle Reid and UK based, internationally acclaimed Kenneth Tindall.
Opening the programme is George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante (pictured above), a joyous celebration of expansive romanticism, set to Tchaikovsky’s soaring Piano Concerto No. 3. It was originally staged for CBA by Diana White of the George Balanchine Trust, who has spent her lifetime studying, performing, staging and coaching Balanchine’s works. Balanchine famously said Allegro Brillante “contains everything I knew about classical ballet.”
Next up, CBA presents Nacho Duato’s Remanso, performed to Poetic Waltzes by celebrated Spanish composer Enrique Granados. First performed by the company as part of its production Breathwords, with the support of the Embassy of Spain in Pretoria and the Spanish Consulate in Cape Town, this ballet returns due to the overwhelming response it received here.
We Met At The Moon, Briefly is award-winning choreographer Kenneth Tindall’s newly commissioned work for CBA. “I travel around the world, working with different companies,” says Tindall. “It can be quite a lonely endeavour, but then you walk into a studio space and, for a brief moment, you all hold this poetry, this art that you’re trying to create among the noise that’s happening around you.’
Closing ELYSIUM is Michelle Reid’s Duende, set to music by guitarist and composer Estas Tonne.
“When used in everyday modern language, the word ‘duende’ is used to describe someone who possesses a magnetic, inexplicable personal charm, charisma or allure,” says Reid. “When I found the music by chance, it was a very interesting sound for me as I have never worked with Spanish guitar before. I feel in love with it and could see something fun and exciting could be created.”
