Cape Ballet Africa Celebrates First Birthday and Debut at Artscape Opera House With Triple Bill

Cape Ballet Africa will celebrate its first birthday in March with a new triple bill, as well as marking its debut at the Artscape Opera House. Performances run 25-27 March.

BREATHWORDS features two choreographies by international creators, presented alongside an expanded version of South African choreographer, Kirsten Isenberg's Reverie, which captivated audiences at its premiere in the Company's inaugural season SALT.

 

BREATHWORDS will be performed at Artscape Opera House on 25 March, accompanied by the  Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra. The performances on 26 and 27 March will be performed with recorded music.

 

An ethereal masterpiece set to Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2,  Isenberg has further developed Reverie to encompass all three movements of this iconic composition. Maggie Foyer for Dance Europe praised Reverie as ‘a ballet of gentle beauty.” Reverie is fast becoming a signature work of the company, swathed in a palette of blush pink, delighting audiences with its dreamlike meditation on movement and music.

“We are proud to announce that our first international commission for BREATHWORDS will be the world premiere of whispers from within, a ballet by globally acclaimed Dutch choreographer Wubkje Kuindersma,” says Debbie Turner, founder and artistic director of Cape Ballet Africa.

 

“Wubkje explores the beauty and power of human connection through her work, with elegance, emotion and artistry, celebrating the transformative power of dance and music. We are honoured to be staging her first production in Africa, the continent of her birth,” says Turner.

Wubkje is a choreographer based in The Netherlands.  The past years she served as Creative Associate at Dutch National Ballet (2021- 2024), where she choreographed for the junior and main company. 

 

Known for her poetic and emotionally rich works, she has a background with ballet and contemporary dance, which allows her to create pieces that are both technically demanding and deeply expressive.

 

Kuindersma was among Dancemagazine USA's Top 25 to watch list for 2019.   Her duet Two and Only for Dutch National Ballet was internationally acclaimed and performed worldwide, with Marijn Rademaker being nominated for the Prix de Benois 2018 for his role in this work. 

 

Kuindersma graduated at Codarts, and has danced with companies such as Nürnberg Ballet, Djazzex, Gulbenkian Ballet, McGregor's Random Dance and Danish Dance Theatre.  She has choreographed for Dutch National Ballet and its Junior Company, Korzo & NDT, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Ballet Dortmund, West Australian Ballet, BalletX, Danish Dance Theatre, Skanes Dansteater, Ballet Kiel, Noverre - Stuttgart Ballet, National Youth Ballet of John Neumeier, Hessisches Staatsballet, Dutch National Ballet Academy, and many others. 

 

Her work has been well received by audience and press and her many accolades include 4 nominations and 2 awards for her full length ballet for West Australian Ballet Echoes of Van Gogh at West Australian Performing Arts Awards in 2024.

 

“Dance is a universal language wherever you are in the world, and I am thrilled to be here connecting with the beautiful, generous and engaged dancers at Cape Ballet Africa to create this new work,” says Kuindersma. “

 

“I am interested in exploring our inner whispers and to discover how those whispers connect us to others. I have set the work to Summer and Spring of Vivaldi's Four Seasons recomposed by Max Richter, which for me resonates the whispers from within.”

 

Debbie Turner adds “Dance is life, dance is breath, and so from this, we celebrate with Breathwords. Movements are the dancer's word, the artist moves from one dance sentence to the next, their breath informing that direction, preparing their body and mind to determine their engagement in that next stage of movement.  Breathwords also therefore feels a fitting name for Cape Ballet Africa's new triple bill, at the start of our second year and a new journey in Our Studios at the Sports Science Institute of South Africa (SSISA).”

 

“We are beyond excited to soon be sharing with you the details of our second international commission for Breathwords – watch this space for more!” concludes Turner.

 

 

‘It's always thrilling to watch a performance from totally committed dancers, and SALT, Cape Ballet Africa's inaugural performance, was this but so much more…a company classically trained and truly African' Maggie Foyer, Dance Europe

 

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