Cape Town City Ballet will present a spring programme titled Alchemy – Three Dances, which celebrates three of the world’s most celebrated male choreographers. The season will be presented at the Artscape Opera House from 6 until 13 November 2021.
The programme includes the South African premiere of Robert North’s internationally acclaimed Troy Game, as well as George Balanchine’s exquisite Concerto Barocco and Jiří Kylián’s arresting Falling Angels (pictured left). This presentation marks the first time a Kylián work has been staged on a South African company.
Balanchine’s neo-classical Concerto Barocco is danced to J.S. Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins, the instruments personified by the two leading ladies of the cast and an ensemble of eight female dancers. A beautiful pas de deux forms the focus of the second movement. Concerto Barocco is performed by permission of the ©The George Balanchine Trust.
Kylián’s Falling Angels is an all-women work created to an hypnotic Steve Reich score and inspired by the percussive musical rituals of West Africa. The energetic and tumultuous choreography becomes riveting as the dancers plunge into the vortex of the score. It will be staged by Elke Schepers who sets a variety of Jiří Kylián’s works all over the world. Costume Design is by Joke Visser with Lighting Design by Jiří Kylián (concept) and Joop Caboort (realization).
Troy Game is Robert North’s witty and engaging all-male work set to a Brazilian-flavoured score by Jon Kelietio and Bob Downes. It is a suite of athletic solos and intricately constructed moving friezes inspired by Ancient Greek war games and martial arts. Costume Design for Troy Game is by Peter Farmer. Lighting Design is after original design by Charter.
Alchemy – Three Dances choreographers
George Balanchine was a Georgian-American ballet choreographer who was one of the most influential 20th-century choreographers. Styled as the father of American ballet, he co-founded the New York City Ballet and remained its Artistic Director for more than 35 years. His choreography is characterised by ballets with minimal costume and décor, performed to classical and neoclassical music. [Wikipedia]
Robert North is director at the Krefeld/Mönchengladbach Ballet company. His illustrious career has seen him as Artistic Director of Ballet Rambert; co- Artistic Director of London Contemporary Dance Theatre; Artistic Director positions at the Italian Teatro Regio in Torino, of the Gothenburg Ballet, of the Corpo di Ballo Dell’Arena di Verona in Italy and of the Scottish Ballet. In addition to Troy Game (pictured above), Robert has created over 90 ballets and has choreographed for more than 95 different companies throughout the world.
Jiří Kylián made his debut as a choreographer with Stuttgart Ballet and went on to create three ballets for Nederlands Dans Theater, before becoming artistic director of the company in 1975, and putting the Company on the international map with Sinfonietta. With Carel Birnie, he established a bridging programme between school and professional company life with Nederlands Dans Theater II, and also Nederlands Dans Theater III, a company for older dancers, above the age of forty. This extraordinary three-dimensional structure was unique in the world of dance.
What: Alchemy – Three dances
Where and when: 6 to 13 November 2021
Tickets: Computicket
WS
