Joburg Ballet Company Heads To Cape Town For The First Time Ever With SCARCITY

Joburg Ballet will present Scarcity at the Baxter Theatre in Cape Town from 24-26 October 2024. The highly anticipated debut season of the full company features works by South Africa’s Dada Masilo and Craig Pedro, alongside Chinese-German choreographer Hannah Ma and Netherlands-based Spanish choreographer Jorge Pérez Martínez. 

Following acclaimed performances at the Joburg Theatre and Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (KKNK) earlier this year, the exhilarating quartet of dance works in Scarcity showcases one South African premiere and three world premieres. 

Salomé is Dada Masilo’s first commission for Joburg Ballet and is based on Oscar Wilde’s play, revolving around desire, power and the destructive nature of unbridled passion. Masilo says she loves to tell stories that are universally accessible and she saw Salomé as an opportunity to create a movement vocabulary which sits well on the company. Excitingly, Masilo was honoured two weeks ago at the Premio Positano Léonide Massine for the Art of Dance in Italy with a Lifetime Achievement Award. The prestigious prize was granted in recognition of her global standing as 'one of the most innovative contemporary choreographers and dancers, famous for her revisited versions of the great classics. Her poetics blend brilliantly with African dance, managing to talk about the society in which she lives, the issues of tolerance and feelings without borders that make her one of the most loved and appreciated artists in the world.’  Previous recipients include Rudolf Nureyev, Gianni Versace, Maurice Béjart and Natalia Osipova. 

In Ukukhanya Kwenyanga: A Moonlight Waltz to music by Johann Strauss and Pietro Mascagni, Craig Pedro merges a European style of dance with South Africa’s beautiful Xhosa designs by choreographing a waltz highlighting classical ballet technique with dancers in romantic tutus embellished with Xhosa print and bead motifs. “As a nation faced with many social ills and their impacts,” Craig Pedro says, “we have proven our resilience and tenacity. Our shortcomings and limited resources have never impeded us from finding that glimmer of hope amid dark times. We continue to make something out of nothing and dance in the moonlight!”

In a world set on fire, award-winning choreographer Hannah Ma takes a dive into the vastness of the human soul with The Void, creating a moment of stillness, joy, truth, deep connection and forgiveness. The Void is a powerful reminder of the beauty of human existence and the need to preserve humanity and all lives at all times. Hannah Ma describes The Void as “a ceremonial celebration of dance as a form of resistance that tenderly caresses the spectator’s heart”.

With Azul, the production premiering in South Africa, Jorge Pérez Martínez has created a fresh, spirited piece distinguished by its expressive body language and beautiful pas de deux. Danced to three classical Spanish guitar compositions, Azul captures an evocative Mediterranean and Spanish atmosphere. Azul, which is the Spanish word for blue, has a fluid dance language reminiscent of flowing water. 

Commenting on Scarcity, Joburg Ballet CEO Elroy Fillis-Bell said: “Joburg Ballet is proud to bring creations by these applauded choreographers on a visit that marks our company’s first-ever fully-fledged tour to Cape Town. As South Africa celebrates thirty years of democracy, Joburg Ballet’s work must engage with our current moment in society. Both the concept and reality of scarcity is something many South Africans have become accustomed to, whether through a lack of service delivery or a loss of dignity. These works interrogate the social context of our lives and explore the absence of natural and material resources and the loss of memory, identity and self.”

Elroy Fillis-Bell expressed Joburg Ballet’s gratitude to the Embassies of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Spain for generously supporting the production of Azul by Jorge Pérez Martínez, the Ministry of Culture of Rhineland Palatinate for generously supporting the production of The Void, Air France and Business and Arts South Africa (BASA) for generously supporting Scarcity.

Scarcity is at the Pam Golding venue at the Baxter Theatre from  Thursday 24 to Saturday 26 October 2024. Performances are at 19h00 on 24, 25 and 26 October. Matinees take place on 25 and 26 October at 11h00 and 14h00, respectively. All tickets for the 11h00 performance are R110. Discounts are available for Senior Citizens, students, groups of ten or more, and children aged 4 to 7 years. Tickets cost from R180 to R300 through Webtickets and advance booking is highly recommended. 

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