Cape Town City Ballet

The Cape Town City Ballet Company, formerly known as the CAPAB Ballet Company, is based in Cape Town, South Africa.

Logo of the Cape Town City Ballet

History

The Cape Town City Ballet originated from the UCT Ballet Company, which was established by Dulcie Howes in 1934. Notably, it was involved in the founding of Maynardville Open-Air Theatre on 1 December 1950, with its opening performance of Les Sylphides.[1][2][3][4] It later took over management of that theatre's ballet performances, in 1963.[5] The company became the CAPAB (Cape Performing Arts Board) Ballet Company under the directorship of David Poole. The company benefitted from government spending on the arts and its 60-strong company staged lavish productions at the Artscape Theatre Centre previously known as the Nico Malan in Cape Town and toured to the 1820 Settlers National Monument Theatre in Grahamstown, the Civic Theatre in Johannesburg, and the Port Elizabeth Opera House. However, funding stopped in 1994 and in 1997 the company became a non-profit organisation with the name Cape Town City Ballet under the leadership of Elizabeth Triegaardt, who is both the executive director of the company and the director of the UCT School of Dance.

Notable members

Guest artists

These have included the following dancers:

Repertoire

Cape Town City Ballet mainly performs versions of traditional classics reworked by resident choreographer, Veronica Paeper.

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007
  • David Poole's Kami and Sean Bovim's Tango Nights
  • Carmen with guest artist Jonathan Ollivier
  • Camille, by Veronica Paeper, based on The Lady of the Camellias[6]
  • Dancing for the Children (charity ballet gala featuring the Royal Ballet's principal dancer Mara Galeazzi, and guest artists from the London Royal Ballet) - extracts from Romeo and Juliet, Two Pigeons, Elite Syncopations and La Sylphide as well as the South African premiere of Hans van Manen's Trois Gnossiennes
  • Ballet Magic — featuring Nomvula – After the Rain, Tango Nights and excerpts from act 3 of The Nutcracker
  • Cape Town City Ballet Celebrates 10 Years (tribute to Phyllis Spira and Eduard Greyling) — scenes from La Bayadère as well as Adele Blank's Mad Dogs, Robin van Wyk's Nomvula, After the Rain and the premiere of Sean Bovim's Tanzanite Ten with extracts from his Tango Nights and Queen at the Ballet. Hans van Manen's Trois Gnossiennes and the pas de deux from Kenneth MacMillan's Concerto were also performed.
  • Queen at the Ballet
  • James Bond 007 - the Ballet
  • Orpheus in the Underworld

2008

2009
  • The Nutcracker with guest artist Eduard Greyling
  • La Sylphide
  • Swan Lake to celebrate the company's 75th Birthday
  • Paquita
  • Giselle
  • Balletscapes - premiere of African Landscapes, and includes Paquita and excerpts from the popular works of Paeper, Poole, Prokovsky and others in the programme

2010

2011
  • Poetry in Motion 2 - the production of 2010 was supplemented by additional dance vignettes created by well-known choreographers, including Adele Bank, Robin van Wyk, Erica Brumage, Lindy Raizenberg and Veronica Paeper
  • Swan Lake
  • The Sleeping Beauty

2012

Infecting the City 2012
  • Invasion
  • Invasion
  • Invasion
  • Invasion
  • Invasion

References
  1. "Arts Page, Official Opening of the Maynardville Ballet". Cape Times. 27 November 1950.
  2. "Arranged for Athlone Nursery School". Cape Times. 1 December 1950.
  3. Maynardville Theatre - History (City of Cape Town Website) Archived 8 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  4. History of Maynardville - Old Wynberg Village
  5. Cape Times, Arts Supplement. 1950–2012. p.14 (var.)
  6. "Camille". Cape Town, SA: iafrica.com. 3 August 2007. Archived from the original on 15 March 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
  7. Tucker, Percy (20 September 2010). "Cape Town City Ballet presents Carmen". Yeoville, SA: Artslink.co.za. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
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