Cape Town City Ballet Announces Promotions

Cape Town City Ballet, currently in rehearsal for their July season at Artscape Theatre, recently announced the names of dancers promoted in the company. This exciting news was made known to the company after they returned from their autumn holidays. The dancers who have received promotions are (left to right): Elizabeth Nienaber, Bradley van Heerden, Kim Vieira, Daniel Szybkowski, Laura Bösenberg, Angela Hansford, Rosamund Ford and Thomas Thorne.

Previously Principal Dancers, Laura Bösenberg, Thomas Thorne and Kim Vieira have been promoted to Senior Principal Dancers. Angela Hansford has been promoted to Principal Dancer, while Daniel Szybkwoski is now a Senior Soloist. Elizabeth Nienaber and Rosamund Ford have both been promoted to Soloists and Bradley van Heerden to Senior Artist.

Laura Bösenberg (Senior Principal Dancer) needs no introduction to Cape Town audiences, having danced many leading roles for the CTCB, most recently Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Princess Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty and Camille in Camille to great critical acclaim. She joined the CTCB in 2004 and was appointed as a Principal Dancer in 2009.

Thomas Thorne (Senior Principal Dancer) originally hails from the UK. Often on stage as the partner of Bösenberg, he has been dancing with the CTCB since 2008, portraying many prominent roles, including Prince Charming in Cinderella, Paquita, Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake, Prince Florimund in The Sleeping Princess and Albrecht in Giselle.

Kim Vieira (Senior Principal Dancer) danced with the State Theatre Ballet before joining the Dutch National Ballet in Amsterdam. She joined the CTCB in 2010. Kim most recently excelled as the Firebird in The Firebird, the Blue Bird in The Sleeping Beauty, Princess Odile in Swan Lake and Camille in Camille.

Angela Hansford (Principal Dancer) studied ballet with Gwen Mary Wells in Port Elizabeth. She has enchanted audiences with her interpretation of Odette in Swan Lake. Other roles for the Cape Town City Ballet include the Lilac Fairy and Aurora (The Sleeping Beauty), Michaela (Carmen) and the Snow Queen (The Nutcracker).

Daniel Szybkowski (Senior Soloist) is a graduate of the Central School of Ballet (London) and the Royal Swedish Ballet School. He danced with the Vanemuine Ballet Company (Estonia) before becoming a member of the CTCB in 2011. In Cape Town he has interpreted roles such as Franz (Coppelia), Cole Porter (Night and Day), Albrecht (Giselle), Jean De Brienne (Raymonda) and Armand (Camille).

Elizabeth Nienaber (Soloist), originally from Gauteng, joined the CTCB in 2010 and has displayed her flair for comic roles in many productions. Previously a member of the South African Ballet Theatre and Ballet Theatre Afrikan, she also trained at the Royal Swedish Ballet School and the Royal Ballet School in London. Her appearances for the CTCB include the Paper Doll (The Tin Soldier), Clara (The Nutcracker) and Wendy (Peter Pan and the Lost Boys).

Rosamund Ford (Soloist) trained at the Royal Ballet School in London and was engaged at the Vanemuine Theatre Ballet Company (Estonia), before joining the Cape Town City Ballet in 2011. In 2013, she won the prestigious Most Promising Newcomer Award at the Cape Town City Ballet's Annual Awards Evening. Cape Town audiences have enjoyed Rosamund's performances in Betrothal (Coppelia), as a Leading Wili (Giselle), the Snow Queen (The Nutcracker), and most recently as Columbine in The Tin Soldier.

Bradley van Heerden (Senior Artist) trained with Gwen Mary Wells in Port Elizabeth and enrolled at the UCT School of Dance in 2009. He was appointed a member of the CTCB corps de ballet in 2010. He recently performed the roles of Kostchei in The Firebird at Maynardville Open-Air Theatre and O'Malley in The Tin Soldier

All these dancers will be starring in Ballet Beautiful, part of the Cape Town City Ballet's 80 Anniversary season, at Artscape Theatre from 4-12 July, 2014. Tickets at R175 and R150 can be purchased from COMPUTICKET (tel: 0861 915 8000) or Artscape Dial-a-Seat (tel: 021 421 7695)

Photo: Pat Bromilow Downing