DOT BLAKE REVIEWS
Every time I’m lucky enough to sit in a contemporary ballet audience, I leave taller, trying to walk with a little more grace, and vowing to get fit. Dance Intersect was no different – except it felt like a revelation. Four distinct works, each world-class, reminded me just how many ways the human body can move to tell stories.
A deeply emotional tapestry
Under the banner of shifting perspectives, a dance diplomacy as it were, Anderson Carvalho’s ACDC opened with the premiere of Fragmented Landscapes – a deeply emotional tapestry that traces the influences of the cast and Carvalho himself. The choreography folds classical lines into contemporary weight and release, mapping how we are alone, come together, splinter, and return to community.
The set – those enormous cantilevered frames – became living portals: the “pictures” we’re placed in, and the ones we place on others. At times the dancers seemed to step through memory itself.
Choreography by Marlon Zoutman
After interval, New World Dance Theatre burst on with an energetic, colour-rich ensemble choreographed by Marlon Zoutman. Billed around “the hidden truth,” the piece honours vulnerability, authenticity and love – including self-love. The unison African vocab was joyful and absolutely a crowd-pleaser. The pulse and precision were irresistible.
Smart, sharp, memorable
Gain Collective’s Discord was the shock to the system I didn’t know I needed: Four dancers, four power-hungry politicians at a boardroom table. Dual-tone tailoring, crisp phrases, razor switches between sync and counterpoint – Chesney Stanfield and Emile Petersen (both graduates of Jazzart Dance Theatre) choreograph the chaos of our current discourse with bite and wit. Smart, sharp, memorable.
Les Nuits d’été
To close, the Greek National Opera Ballet, in South Africa for the first time, offered the African premiere of the celebrated Les Nuits d’été (The Nights of Summer) within a contemporary evocation of individual journeys. You could feel choreographer Konstaninos Rigos’ customary finesse in the pacing and musicality; the costumes caught the light differently as the movements progressed, revealing new textures as the duet unfolded – classicism bending towards something intimate and immediate.
If you haven’t booked yet, hurry. Dance Intersect – produced by Anderson Carvalho and Elvis Sibeko – is a world-class evening that lifts the spirit and resets the spine. I certainly walked out taller, and lighter on my feet.
Get your Dance Intersect tickets here.
What: Dance Intersect review
When: 2 – 4 October 2025
Where: Artscape Teatre, Cape Town
Hashtags: #DanceIntersect #DanceCulture #DanceConversation
Pictures: Marko De Beer for Anderson Carvalho Dance & Choreography (ACDC)
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