Tracy Li and Daniel Rajna to Reunite for Cape Town City Ballet's BALLET BEAUTIFUL, July 4-12

Cape Town ballet audience favourites, prima ballerina Tracy Li and her long-time dance partner Daniel Rajna, will return to the stage for Cape Town City Ballet's upcoming season of Ballet Beautiful at the Artscape Theatre in July. They will be seen in a new pas de deux choreographed by Robin van Wyk.

Li and Rajna formed a memorable stage partnership for many years, wowing audiences with their onstage chemistry, harmony and technical finesse. They both retired in 2007. Since retiring, Li has lectured at the UCT School of Dance and holds the position of Principal's Coach at CTCB. In May 2013, Tracy made a comeback to the stage as Camille, the same role she retired in, garnering critical acclaim and standing ovations. After his retirement, Daniel Rajna qualified as an engineer, specializing in water engineering, while keeping fit with a weekly ballet class and stretching.

Both Li and Rajna have commented that dancing together again feels like stepping into a comfortable pair of shoes. Says Li, "We immediately fell back into our old routine of work, work, work and we are really looking forward to our three performances!"

The couple will reunite to appear in The Fragile Balance, a brand new pas de deux, choreographed by Robin van Wyk, CTCB's artistic director. Van Wyk, who worked with the dancers for many years, has aimed to highlight the strength and abilities of the dancers in this work, using Max Bruch's famous Violin Concerto as accompaniment.

The Fragile Balance forms part of CTCB's Ballet Beautiful season, along with two other new works by local choreographers, Kirsten Isenberg and Yarisha Singh. The classical favourite, Paquita, rounds off the varied programme that will display the versatility of the company's dancers. ZAMA Dance School will perform Adele Blank's Uvuyo (Celebrate) as curtain raiser at all performances.

Ballet Beautiful will be presented by Cape Town City Ballet at Artscape Theatre from 4-12 July. Tickets at R175 and R150 may be purchased from COMPUTICKET (tel: 0861 915 8000) or Artscape Dial-a-Seat (tel: 021 421 7695).

Performance times for Ballet Beautiful at ARTSCAPE Theatre:

Fri 4 July at 19h30
Sat 5 July at 14h00 and 19h30
Sun 6 July at 15h00
Fri 11 July at 19h30
Sat 12July at 14h00 and 19h30

CASTING (*subject to change without notice)

FRAGILE BALANCE

PAQUITA

Fri 4 July @ 19h30

Tracy Li & Daniel Rajna

Kim Vieira & Daniel Szybkowski

Sat 5 July @ 14h00

Laura Bosenberg & Thomas Thorne

Mami Fujii & Conrad Nusser

Sat 5 July @ 19h30

Angela Hansford & Daniel Szybkowski

Kim Vieira & Daniel Szybkowski

Sun 6 July @ 15h00

Tracy Li & Daniel Rajna

Mami Fujii & Conrad Nusser

Fri 11 July @ 19h30

Angela Hansford & Daniel Szybkowski

Kim Vieira & Daniel Szybkowski

Sat 12 July @ 14h00

Laura Bosenberg & Thomas Thorne

Mami Fujii & Conrad Nusser

Sat 12 July @ 19h30

Tracy Li & Daniel Rajna

Kim Vieira & Daniel Szybkowski

*The full company appears in both Serendipity and Of Gods and Men.

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