| What: Cape Ballet Africa launches Spring Season with Elysium Where:The Pam Golding Theatre at The Baxter When: October 3 -11, 2026 Tickets: R200 – R495 Bookings: Webtickets online or at Pick n Pay stores Elysium features: George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante, Nacho Duato’s Remanso, Kenneth Tindall’s We Met At The Moon, Briefly and Michelle Reid’s Duende. |
Thrilling news is the announcement byCape Ballet Africa of the launch of its Spring Season, titled, Elysium. The programme features four ballets: George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante. Nacho Duato’s Remanso, Kenneth Tindall’s We Met At The Moon, Briefly and Michelle Reid’s Duende. Tindall was commissioned by Cape Ballet Africa to create We Met At The Moon, Briefly. Awesome! Read on for more about this quadruple bill and see what CBA has on the dance boards – until March 2027:
Cape Ballet Africa launches Spring Season with ELYSIUM, an enthralling new quadruple bill at The Baxter
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 ELYSIUMat 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.
“ELYSIUM marks two years since CBA debuted our inaugural production SALT at The Baxter,” says Debbie Turner, Artistic Director and Founder of Cape Ballet Africa.
“There have been many exciting developments since then and we are happy to be back on The Baxter stage with this captivating quadruple bill. The programme includes two new works created for the Company by extraordinary South African choreographer Michelle Reid and UK based, internationally acclaimed Kenneth Tindall.”
“Michelle, creator of the sassy, sensational, smouldering ballet SMOKE, will once again make an indelible mark on CBA’s repertoire with a powerful new ballet titled Duende. We were fortunate to have hosted Kenneth Tindall for two weeks as he choreographed and shaped We Met At The Moon, Briefly, his new work for our dancers. We can’t wait to share ELYSIUM with audiences, it’s a journey of ethereal beauty and classical elegance with dynamic storytelling,” says Turner.
Opening the programme is George Balanchine’s Allegro Brillante,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 lifetimestudying, 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 their 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.
Critics hailed it as:
‘a thrilling demonstration that human bodies can be used to say things that — almost 30 years after they were first expressed — still feel original and continue to have something to convey about what it is to be alive’ (Daily Maverick);
‘a witty and expressive piece’ (Beverley Brommert);
‘equal parts playful and sensual with a quirkiness that gives it an added charm’ (Theatre Scene Cape Town);
‘a dream of power, connection, confidence, love and non-judgement’ (Calloffthesearch.com);
We Met At The Moon, Briefly is award-winning choreographer Kenneth Tindall’s newly commissioned work for CBA.
Says Tindall, “I travel around the world, working with different companies. 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.
We Met At The Moon, Briefly has been created with the tools of all that are involved, the elements in the environment, and the very place itself – Cape Town. It’s a physically demanding, very beautiful ballet, full of sculpture. It’s classical, performed en pointe, but reinventing, innovating to create something different.”
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.”
ELYSIUM will be presented at The Baxter from 3 to 10 October.
Bookings can be made at Webtickets online or at Pick n Pay stores.
The performance schedule is:
Tuesday to Saturday @ 19h30
Sunday 4 and Saturday 10 October @ 15h00
Thursday 8 October – Seniors Special performance @ 11h00
Tickets cost from R200 – R495
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Cape Ballet Africa
Cape Ballet Africa celebrates cultural values imbued through dance, instilling the discipline of classical ballet while blending in the exciting heritage of South African culture. The Company identity strongly aligns with the global dance landscape while building a proudly African organisation.
Cape Ballet Africa seeks to reimagine how ballet can look in Africa, using the interplay of identity and culture, the diversity in all elements of the artform; the people and the repertory.
Cape Ballet Africaproduces performances that are bold and strongly rooted in the classical ballet technique, with exceptional quality front-and-centre as an inherent part of the artistic identity. It is founded in discipline and self-expression, individuality in teamwork, with a distinctive elegance, refinement and audacious grace.
Established in 2024 by highly respected dance figure Debbie Turner, Cape Ballet Africa will, through performance excellence and ongoing professional development of artists, inspire new generations to appreciate an artform that demands much of the human spirit, gives much back to the human spirit and fosters a broad appreciation and following within the African diaspora. Innovation and collaboration are core focuses within the operation of the Company, with unique voices a hallmark of its daily functioning, both within the cast and the creative minds.
Education and upskilling of young apprentice professional artists working with more experienced artists is also a focus for the company.
Cape Ballet Africa is honoured to include Dr Connie September, Diane Van Schoor and Thoriso Magongwa as the company’s Patrons.
In partnership with Global Star Events, Cape Ballet Africa presented The Nutcracker in Cape Town and Johannesburg as well as Swan Lake at Teatro, Montecasino in August 2026. This production will run at Artscape in February 2027.
Mthuthuzeli November’s Chapter 2, which was commissioned for Cape Ballet Africa’s inaugural season with the triple bill, SALT, won in two categories at the prestigious Benois de la Danse Awards 2025.
November won Best Choreography for Chapter 2, while dancer Joshua Williams won for his performance in Chapter 2. Williams shared the Best Male Dancer prize with Dmitry Smilevskiy, Principal Dancer at the Bolshoi Theatre.
Camille Bracher was also nominated for Best Female Dancer for her performance in
Chapter 2.
· SALT was nominated for Best Ensemble at the 2025 Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees Kanna Awards.
· Creation Wines’ short film, Celebrating the ‘culture’ in Agri-Culture was awarded a Silver Award at the International Tourism Film Festival Africa. The film was a collaboration between Creation Wines, Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, Cape Ballet Africa, fashion designer Kat van Duinen and composer Peter Johnson.
Forthcoming plans for Cape Ballet Africa include:
· 7 – 23 August – Swan Lake at Teatro, Montecasino
· 3 – 10 October – Elysium at The Baxter – a new quadruple bill
· From 27 November – Giselle at Adam Small Theatre
· 13 – 16 January 2027 – The Architecture of Beshert at Maynardville Open Air Festival. This will be a classical ballet programme that explores the elegant interplay between destiny, love and human connection.
· 3 – 14 February 2027 – Swan Lake at Artscape
· March 2027 – performances at Adam Small Theatre, Stellenbosch
Cape Ballet Africa is proud to be an Associated Company of Artscape.
“Through our longstanding association with Debbie Turner and Cape Ballet Africa, we know dance has the power to inspire, uplift, and transform lives. Our support of Cape Ballet Africa is rooted in a shared passion for nurturing talent, creating opportunities, and building strong, vibrant communities. Seeing Cape Ballet Africa grow, celebrate its first birthday, and open this beautiful new studio at SSISA is a proud moment for all of us – it’s a home for young dancers to dream bigger and reach higher. We are so proud to be part of this journey and can’t wait to see the impact this will have on the next generation of dancers.”
– Shaneen Coppin, Food Lover’s Market and Cape Ballet Africa Board Member.
Cape Ballet Africa is grateful for the philanthropic investment of Food Lover’s Market, the Sports Science Institute of South Africa (SSISA), the Embassy of Spain in Pretoria and the Spanish Consulate in Cape Town, The Fine Legacy, Theatre Dance Association, Artscape, Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, CDIC (Cape Dance Injury Centre), Sports Science Massage Centre, Sports Science Physiotherapy Centre and Ballet World.
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✳ Allegro Brillante by George Balanchine will be presented as part of Cape Ballet Africa ELYSIUM at The Baxter, October 3 -11, 2026. Sponsored feature. Images supplied.
