Cape Town ballet dancers coming to Harare

The show has been made possible by the co-operation of the Dance Trust of Zimbabwe, the Cape Town City Ballet and the HIFA Presents schedule of events for 2016.

DANCERS from the Cape Town City Ballet will join top Zimbabwean dancers in a highlight of the Zimbabwean entertainment calendar, Ballet Bouquet, which runs in Harare from Thursday July 28 to Sunday July 31.

Dance Trust of Zimbabwe’s Eve Stranix said this show would feature a rendition of one of the world’s most popular ballets, The Nutcracker, as well as a series of excerpts from a range of other ballet presentations.

“This will be one of the most exciting stage shows in Harare this year and we look forward to a good turnout of audiences to enjoy what promises to be one of the best dance shows in a number of years,” she said.

The show has been made possible by the co-operation of the Dance Trust of Zimbabwe, the Cape Town City Ballet and the HIFA Presents schedule of events for 2016. Acclaimed South African dancer and choreographer Robin van Wyk is producing the presentation and has already been in Zimbabwe to work with local dancers in preparation for the run of performances, which will be held at Harare’s Reps Theatre.

“Involvement on the Zimbabwean side has included more than 100 dancers, seven dance teachers and a large number of parents and supporters, and we believe this will highlight not only the depth of dance talent we have in this country but will benefit the dancers by exposing them to top international direction,” said Ms Stranix.

The first act will feature an adaptation of The Nutcracker, which is based on a famous children’s story and features a score by Tchaikovsky. This premiered in Russia in the 1890s and has become one of the world’s best-known and best-loved ballet performances. Complementing this will be dances from Coppelia, Swan Lake, Don Quixote and Genzano. The show will feature all the Zimbabwean dancers as well as four guest dancers from Cape Town City Ballet: Conrad Nussers, Rosamund Ford, Daniel Szybowski and Angela Hansford.

“It is exceptionally pleasing to be able to have the services of Robin van Wyk, and doubly pleasing to have these four accomplished Cape Town dancers on stage with our performers,” said Ms Stranix.

She said the performances would be the completion of a four-month cultural exchange with the Cape Town City Ballet, which had started with an intensive week of training in April-May, when Mr van Wyk spent time in Harare. He returns in the next few days with the South African dancers for final rehearsals.

Performances, which will be preceded by a special show for underprivileged children, will be held at Reps on Thursday July 28 (gala performance, 6.30pm), Friday July 29 (6.30pm), Saturday July 30 (2.30pm and 6.30pm) and Sunday July 31 (11am).

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