Joburg Ballet to Present CELEBRATION 5 at Joseph Stone Auditorium, 24-25 Sept.

Joburg Ballet, formerly the South African Mzansi Ballet, will present CELEBRATION 5 in Cape Town at the Joseph Stone Auditorium in Athlone on 24 and 25 September 2013. The short season will showcase a major cultural collaboration between South Africa and Colombia with the Cartagena-based Dance Company El Colegio del Cuerpo combining forces with the Joburg Ballet for two performances in Cape Town, directly after their season in Johannesburg. Joining Joburg Ballet and the Colombian company for the performances in the Mother City will be Cape Town City Ballet, Cape Dance Company, La Rosa Spanish Dance Theatre and Dance for All.

The visit by El Colegio del Cuerpo marks a further strengthening of Joburg Ballet's ties with the international dance community. Director and co-founder of El Colegio del Cuerpo, Alvaro Restrepo, will stage two works for CELEBRATION 5 namely "God-By-The-Sea" to 13th century Galician music, and "Romanian Dances" to music by Bela Bartok. "God-By-The-Sea", which Restrepo choreographed in partnership with Marie France Delieuvin, will be performed by dancers from both the Joburg Ballet and El Colegio del Cuerpo, while "Romanian Dances" will be performed only by the Colombian company.

Completing the diverse programme for CELEBRATION 5 are two classical pas deux - the Act 1 pas de deux from LE CORSAIRE danced by Burnise Silvius and Jonathan Fraser and the grand pas de deux from Act 3 of THE SLEEPING BEAUTY, which will be danced by Mami Fuji from Cape Town City Ballet and Ramiro Samón from Cuba, who is with the Joburg Ballet.

Joburg Ballet, under the artistic direction of former principal dancer Iain MacDonald is supported by the City of Johannesburg and is the City's very own professional and world class African ballet company. The company's development and outreach programme receives funding from the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund. The SA visit of El Colegio del Cuerpo has received assistance from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia through the Colombian Embassy in South Africa and its Cultural Promotion Plan. The airfares for the SA visit of El Colegio delCuerpo are covered by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, through the Colombian Embassy in South Africa.

The performance on Wednesday 24 September 2013 will pay tribute to the late Carolyn Holden, the Artistic Director of La Rosa who passed away suddenly, earlier this year. Dirk Badenhorst, CEO of the of Joburg Ballet originally met Ms Holden in 1993 when he joined her and several other dancers on a Flamenco dance tour to Spain. Mr. Badenhorst has long been a great admirer of her innovative and outstanding work as the head of SA's most established Flamenco Dance Company.

Alvaro Restrepo and Colegio del Cuerpo, in association with Joburg Ballet will facilitate a workshop onstage at the Joseph Stone on the 25th September from 11h00 to 13h00 that will be open to the public, at no charge for those wishing to attend.

Performances of CELEBRATION 5 at the Joseph Stone Auditorium taken place on Tuesday 24th September and Wednesday 25th September at 7:30pm with tickets from R120 to R150 via Computicket or 0861 915 8000. Edgars Club members booking for either show get a 20% discount on the ticket price upon presentation of a valid Club card.

Photo credit: Suzanne Holbaek

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