Sensational International Ballet Galas for Cape Town and Johannesburg in September

Outstanding ballet will once again grace South African stages when the much anticipated SAIBC INTERNATIONAL BALLET GALA takes place this September in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Presented by Dirk Badenhorst, the chief executive officer and founder of the biennial South African International Ballet Competition (SAIBC), in association with Artscape and supported by South African Tourism, the highly anticipated SAIBC Galas in Cape Town and Johannesburg and the once-off BALLET IN THE BUSH performance in Limpopo will showcase thrilling ballet variations, pas de deux and neo classical works.

A stellar company of top professional dancers from South Africa, Russia, Spain, Mongolia, Armenia, the United States of America, Belarus, Cuba, Egypt and Mexico will perform spectacular pas de deux and solos from GISELLE, SWAN LAKE (the "Black Swan" and "White Swan" pas de deux), PAQUITA and LE CORSAIRE. Audiences can look forward to performances from stars like Maria Rudenko, Artemiy Pyzhov, Monier Javier Jouve, Anujin Otgontugs, Hassan Eltabie, Mariam Karapetyan, Jonhal Fernandez, Lissi Baez and Dzianis Klimuk alongside South Africa's Angela Malan and Andile Ndlovu. Renowned South African choreographer Adele Blank will also create a new piece that will enjoy its world premiere at Artscape on 2 September 2017.

Dirk Badenhorst comments:

I've always believed in the role (that the) arts and in particular ballet can play in bringing South Africans and the world together, and started calling it Ballet Diplomacy, but in this exciting partnership with with SA Tourism we are taking it one step further and now it also becomes Ballet Tourism, with outstanding dancers from around the world becoming ambassadors for this beautiful country.

The SAIBC INTERNATIONAL BALLET GALA takes place in four venues in Cape Town and Johannesburg, as follows: in Cape Town, at the Artscape Theatre on 2 September at 20:00 and 3 September at 14:00 and 18:00; in Gauteng, at Mountain Cambridge School in Hartbeespoort on 5 September at 19:00, in Johannesburg at the Mosaiek Teatro in Fairland on 7 September at 20:00, and at the Legend Golf and Safari Resort in Limpopo on 9 September at 19:00.

Tickets for performances at Artscape and the Mosaiek Theatres are through Computicket and cost from R120 - R395. For tickets and information about workshops in Hartebeespoort, call Dirk Badenhorst on 0833240940. Bookings for BALLET IN THE BUSH are available by email from Legends Lodges or by phone on 0124436700. Please note that the repertoire is subject to change.