Cape Town City Ballet

Logo of the Cape Town City Ballet

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

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[]

Johnny Bovang, former senior principal
Gary Burne [1]
John Cranko
[2] [3]
Eduard Greyling, danseur noble
, former principal
Tracy Li, former senior principal
Veronica Paeper [4]
David Poole, late artistic director and ballet master
Daniel Rajna, former principal
, former principal
Phyllis Spira, prima ballerina assoluta
Frank Staff [5]
Brooke Lynn Hytes, runner-up on the eleventh season of Rupaul's Drag Race
, current principal
, current principal

Guest artists[]

These have included the following dancers:

Petrus Bosman
Desmond Doyle
Thomas Edur
Margot Fonteyn
Carla Fracci
Beryl Grey
Attilio Labis
Nadia Nerina
Agnes Oaks
Alexis Rassine
Wayne Sleep
Maina Gielgud

Repertoire[]

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

2003[]

Don Quixote with guest artists Agnes Oaks and Thomas Edur
Swan Lake
Classic Highlights - excerpts from ballets such as Raymonda, Carmen, The Sleeping Beauty and
Cinderella

2004[]

SwingTime at the Ballet (premiere)
Les Sylphides
Firebird
Celebration - Adele Blank's Syzygy, George Balanchine's Rubies and Heinz Spoerli's All Shall Be
Giselle
Anna Karenina with guest artist Tanja Graafland
Gala Evening with guest artists — Thomas Edur and Agnes Oaks (Don Quixote pas de deux), Desire Samaai and Jonathan Ollivier (pas de deux from Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream), as well as highlights from the company's repertoire over the past seventy years.
Queen at the Ballet (premiere)
Orpheus in the Underworld
SwingTime and More

2005[]

Swan Lake Act 2 and Summer Waltzes - with scenes from Coppélia, The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker
Queen at the Ballet
Viva Veronica - tribute to choreographer Veronica Paepar. Scenes from her works: Carmen, Orpheus in the Underworld, Concerto for Charlie, Ten Pieces, Emperor Waltz
The Sleeping Beauty
Cinderella
Spring Selection - Veronica Paeper's Concerto for Charlie and Robin van Wyk's Ensemble for Six
Robin Hood
Let me Entertain You (premiere)

2006[]

Carmen
The Sleeping Beauty with guest artists Thomas Edur and Agnes Oaks
SwingTime at the Ballet
Queen at the Ballet
Giselle
Ballets Nouveaux - Rudi van Dantzig's Four Last Songs and Pas de Six, Lindy Raizenberg's Like So, Robert North's Entre Dos Aguas, while guest artistes from the Cuban National Ballet, Veronica Corveas and Jose Losada performed Diana and Actaeon.
Nomvula – After The Rain — premiere to music of South African rock group Freshlyground
Ballets al Fresco - Rudi van Dantzig's Four Last Songs and Robert North's Entre Dos Aguas
The Nutcracker

2007[]

David Poole's Kami and '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[]

Giselle
Summer Spectacular - solos and pas de deux from Concerto, Don Quixote, Le Corsaire, Paquita, Giselle and Bacchanale as well as Sean Bovim's Tango Nights
Coppélia
The Merry Widow with guest artists Elza Leimane and Raimond Martinov
Winter Spectacular - solos and pas de deux from Don Quixote, Le Corsaire and Paquita as well as the premiere of Christopher Kindo's Dark Secrets
The Ugly Duckling
Ballet Mosaic - solos and pas de deux from Spartacus, Sheherazade and Raymonda
Romeo and Juliet with guest artists Elza Leimane and Raimond Martinov
Christmas Classics

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[]

Aquaballet - the second act of Swan Lake and other ballets appropriate to the setting of The Waterfront
The Firebird
Ballet Bonanza - highlights of the classics, including the popular Les Sylphides and Le Corsaire pas de deux, and extracts from Sheherazade, Flower Festival in Genzano and La Bayadere
Veronica Paeper's Poetry in Motion (premiere)
Carmen, also by Paeper^[7]

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[]

Two Ballets performed at Maynardville Open-Air Theatre- Kenneth MacMillan's Solitaire and David Lichine's Graduation Ball
Giselle with guest artists Daria Klimentová and Vadim Muntagirov

Infecting the City 2012[]

Invasion
Invasion
Invasion
Invasion
Invasion

References[]

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

External links[]

Official site of the Cape Town City Ballet Company

[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.)

[Camille-6] "Camille". Cape Town, SA: iafrica.com. 3 August 2007. Archived from the original on 15 March 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2010.

[Carmen-7] Tucker, Percy (20 September 2010). "Cape Town City Ballet presents Carmen". Yeoville, SA: Artslink.co.za. Retrieved 11 December 2010.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

show v t Ballet companies
Africa	Cairo Opera Ballet Company Cape Town City Ballet
Asia	Ballet Manila Ballet Philippines Guangzhou Ballet Gwangju City Ballet Hong Kong Ballet Iranian National Ballet Company Israel Ballet K-ballet Korea National Ballet National Ballet of China New National Theatre Tokyo Philippine Ballet Theatre Seoul Ballet Theatre Shanghai Ballet Company Singapore Dance Theatre State Ballet of Georgia Tokyo Ballet Universal Ballet
Europe	Ballet Cymru Ballet Ireland Ballet Romand Ballet Zürich Les Ballets Persans Ballets Russes Barcelona Ballet Bayerisches Staatsballett Béjart Ballet Berlin State Ballet Birmingham Royal Ballet Bolshoi Ballet Cork City Ballet Royal Danish Ballet Donetsk Ballet Dutch National Ballet Eifman Ballet English National Ballet Finnish National Ballet Sukhishvili Georgian National Ballet Greek National Opera Hamburg Ballet Hungarian National Ballet Kyiv Ballet La Scala Theatre Ballet Mariinsky Ballet Mikhailovsky Theatre Ballet National Opera and Ballet Theatre of Moldova The Monte-Carlo Ballet National Opera and Ballet of Bulgaria Northern Ballet Norwegian National Opera and Ballet Novosibirsk Theatre Ballet Original Ballet Russe Paris Opera Ballet Perm Theatre Ballet Polish National Ballet National Ballet of Portugal The Royal Ballet Rambert Dance Company Russian State Ballet of Siberia Saint Petersburg Ballet Theatre Scottish Ballet Spanish National Dance Company Stanislavski Ballet Stuttgart Ballet Royal Swedish Ballet Théâtre du Silence Turkish State Opera and Ballet Vienna State Ballet
North America	Alabama Ballet Alberta Ballet Company Alexandra Ballet Alonzo King LINES Ballet American Ballet Theatre American Midwest Ballet American Repertory Ballet Anaheim Ballet Aspen Santa Fe Ballet Atlanta Ballet Atlanta Festival Ballet Ballet Arizona Ballet Austin Ballet BC Ballet Des Moines Ballet Fantastique Ballet Hispanico Ballet Magnificat! Ballet Memphis BalletMet Ballet Minnesota Ballet Nouveau Colorado Ballet Quad Cities Ballet San Jose Ballet Theatre of Maryland Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo Ballet West Ballez Bay Pointe Ballet Boston Ballet Les Grands Ballets Canadiens California Riverside Ballet Carolina Ballet Charlotte Ballet Chicago Ballet Chicago Festival Ballet Cincinnati Ballet Cleveland Ballet (1935 · 1972 · 2014) Colorado Ballet Complexions Contemporary Ballet Cuban National Ballet Dance Theatre of Harlem Dayton Ballet Greensboro Ballet Houston Ballet Joffrey Ballet Kansas City Ballet Los Angeles Ballet Louisville Ballet Moscow Ballet (United States) National Ballet of Canada National Ballet Theater of Puerto Rico New Jersey Ballet New York City Ballet Oklahoma City Ballet Oregon Ballet Theatre Pacific Northwest Ballet Pennsylvania Ballet Pittsburgh Ballet Royal Winnipeg Ballet San Francisco Ballet The Washington Ballet Tulsa Ballet
Oceania	The Australian Ballet Ballet Theatre of Queensland Queensland Ballet Melbourne City Ballet Royal New Zealand Ballet West Australian Ballet
South America	Ballet Municipal de Lima Chilean National Ballet Colon Theater Ballet National Ballet of Uruguay