On stage: Cape Town City Ballet leaping into Spring with vibrant new programme- Alchemy – Three Dances

On stage: Cape Town City Ballet leaping into Spring with vibrant new programme- Alchemy – Three Dances- November 6-13, 2021

Cape Town City Ballet is leaping into Spring with a vibrant new programme that will put a spring in your step- with its programme- Alchemy – Three Dances. Info supplied:

CAPE TOWN CITY BALLET LEAPS INTO SPRING WITH VIBRANT SEASON LINE-UP

ALCHEMY – THREE DANCES honours three of the world’s most celebrated male choreographers, and includes the South African premiere of Robert North’s internationally acclaimed TROY GAME, as well as George Balanchine’s exquisite CONCERTO BAROCCO and Jiří Kylián’s arresting FALLING ANGELS.  This presentation marks the first time a Kylián work has been staged on a South African company. The season will be presented at the Artscape Opera House from November 6 until 13. Bookings are through Computicket and Artscape Dial-a-seat 021 421 7695.

Although capacity has been increased with the introduction of Level One, seating in the Artscape Opera House will still be strictly limited due to social distancing and government regulations. All COVID-19 regulations will be in place including social distancing and wearing of masks throughout.

“The dancers of Cape Town City Ballet illustrate their prowess and stylistic diversity in these three very different works choreographed by these ballet giants,” says Debbie Turner, CEO of Cape Town City Ballet. “With the lyrical beauty of Concerto Barocco, the arresting power of Falling Angels and the delicious humour of Troy Game, we have strived to compile a programme that will lift your spirits for the start of a new season and time.”

Balanchine’s neo-classical Concerto Barocco is danced to J.S. Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins, the instruments personified by the two leading ladies of the cast and an ensemble of eight female dancers. A beautiful pas de deux forms the focus of the second movement. Concerto Barocco is performed by permission of the ©The George Balanchine Trust.

Kylián’s Falling Angels is an all-women work created to an hypnotic Steve Reich score and inspired by the percussive musical rituals of West Africa. The energetic and tumultuous choreography becomes riveting as the dancers plunge into the vortex of the score.It will be staged by Elke Schepers who sets a variety of Jiří Kylián’s works all over the world.Costume Designis byJoke Visser with Lighting Design is by Jiří Kylián (concept) and Joop Caboort (realization).

Falling Angels  was first presented in 1989 by Nederlands Dans Theater. Kylián comments about the piece: “Choreographically, this piece is a study of the two most opposing properties of any art work: discipline and freedom.  It is a symbol of a strife between belonging and independence, a dilemma, which accompanies all of us from cradle to grave.” 

Troy Game is Robert North’s witty and engaging all-male work set to a Brazilian-flavoured score by Jon Kelietio and Bob Downes, it is a suite of athletic solos and intricately constructed moving friezes inspired by Ancient Greek war games and martial arts. Costume Design for Troy Game is by Peter Farmer. Lighting Design is after original design by Charter.

 ‘a funny and sexy romp…. an innovative blend of acting and movement that looks like the purest of pure dance pieces’ (The New York Times).

Robert North is director at the Krefeld/Mönchengladbach Ballet company. His illustrious career has seen him as Artistic Director of Ballet Rambert; co- Artistic Director of London Contemporary Dance Theatre; Artistic Director positions at the Italian Teatro Regio in Torino, of the Gothenburg Ballet, of the Corpo di Ballo Dell’Arena di Verona in Italy and of the Scottish Ballet.

In addition to TROY GAME, Robert has created over 90 ballets and has choreographed for more than 95 different companies throughout the world including: the Royal Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, Scottish Ballet, English National Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, New Zealand Ballet, Rome Opera, Baletto di Toscana and Royal Danish Ballet.  His numerous awards include the Positano Prize for best choreographer in Italy, and a Prize in Regio Emelia, Italy for the most outstanding choreographer of a children’s ballet with The Snowman. North was also awarded the Vignale Prize for his contribution to dance in Italy.

Jiří Kylián made his debut as a choreographer with Stuttgart Ballet and went on to create three ballets for Nederlands Dans Theater, before becoming artistic director of the company in 1975, and putting the Company on the international map with Sinfonietta. With Carel Birnie, he established a bridging programme between school and professional company life with Nederlands Dans Theater II, and also Nederlands Dans Theater III, a company for older dancers, above the age of forty. This extraordinary three-dimensional structure was unique in the world of dance.

Among the more than 100 works that Jiří Kylián has created, he has worked with companies such as the Stuttgart Ballet, the Paris Opéra Ballet, Bayerisches Staatsoper Münich, Swedish television and the Tokyo Ballet. He has worked on various films and served as Mentor in Dance in the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative.

Kylián’s extensive list of international awards include: “Officer of the Orange Order”- Netherlands; “Honorary Doctorate” – Julliard School New York; three “Nijinsky Awards” – Monte Carlo; “Benoit de la Dance” – Moscow and Berlin;  “Honorary Medal” of the President of the Czech Republic; “Commander of the Legion d’honneur” France, and in 2008 he was distinguished with one of the highest royal honours, the Medal of the Order for Arts and Science of the House of Orange given to him by Her Majesty the Queen Beatrix from the Netherlands. Kylián received the Lifetime Achievement Award in the field of dance and theater by the Czech Ministry of Culture in Prague. 

❇Sponsored content. Images supplied. Featured image: The Krefeld/Mönchengladbach Ballet company in Troy Game.