Moira de Swardt
2005-11-24 07:18:07 UTC
The Christmas season ballet at The State Theatre in Pretoria is
"Cinderella". I attended opening night. So did Mr Tito Mboweni, the
South African Ballet Theatre's patron. He made an amusing speech
about how he had brought his sons along to "imbibe some culture".
He went on to complain about their dreadlocks and other teenage
fashion vices. For once Mark and I had excellent seats and we could
turn our heads to watch the family in the VIP box. His sons look
like pretty ordinary young men to me, despite the complaints of the
Governor of the Reserve Bank. I hope they enjoyed the show. I
certainly did.
Several of the people that I spoke to were puzzled by the music. It
was the standard Prokofiev, so I have no idea why it offended
people. Yes, it was canned, but after Michael Dankinson's dank
performance at The Sleeping Beauty that was probably a musical
blessing for the poor dancers. The musicians, of course, need the
money and half the audience can't tell the difference anyway, and
many of those who can tell the difference still prefer the energy of
a "real" (live) orchestra. It is true, however, that Prokofiev's
score for Cinderella is not the most memorable of music scores. No
catchy tunes to hum on the way home.
The choreogrpahy was by Veronica Paeper. It tells the story
perfectly adequately. I remember seeing the ballet in 2003, also at
The State Theatre and finding it a trifle long and tedious. I didn't
find it so this time, so my mind was obviously more receptive or the
performance was better. Both are likely. With every new production
of the South African Ballet Theatre I become a more loyal fan. I'm
about as loyal to them now as I was to PACT as a teenager and CAPAB
as a young woman. The dry years in between the CAPAB phase and the
South African Ballet Theatre when we were forced to watch the corps
de ballet's every Mexican Wave during such unlikely productions as
Swan Lake and The Nutcracker (remember the balloon scene at the
beginning which reminded one of just what one was in for) were not
condusive to building loyal audiences. Mind you, there were some
productions during those lean years that I enjoyed immensely.
The dancing was every bit as pretty as could be expected. I saw the
show again the next night with different dancers and enjoyed it
again. Burnise Silvius danced the role of Cinderella on opening
night with Michael Revie as the Prince. On the next night we had
Sarah King (unknown up to now in big roles) and Andries Weidemann.
The Fairy Godmother, resplendant in the Lilac Fairy's (The Sleeping
Beauty) costume was danced by Karen Beukes and Chloe Grove
respectively on the two nights. Admill Kuyler got the small role of
a friend of the Prince both nights. Pity. I do like to watch him.
Such a beautiful young man. The other person scheduled to make an
appearance that I missed was Nigel Hannah in the role of one of the
ugly sisters.
As always, I enjoyed the grand feeling that attending the ballet in
Pretoria conveys. I notice that only two of next year's five
ballets will be in Johannesburg, The State Theatre playing host to
the other three. Together with the fact that the Moscow Ballet's
production of Swan Lake will be in Pretoria we will be in Pretoria a
lot next year. The Nutcracker is back in Pretoria for Christmas
next year. We can pray they don't do a March revival of it in
Johannesburg in 2007.
A thoroughly enjoyable evening. It's on until mid-December and I
don't think it is completely sold out yet, so if you haven't yet got
your tickets there's still an opportunity.
"Cinderella". I attended opening night. So did Mr Tito Mboweni, the
South African Ballet Theatre's patron. He made an amusing speech
about how he had brought his sons along to "imbibe some culture".
He went on to complain about their dreadlocks and other teenage
fashion vices. For once Mark and I had excellent seats and we could
turn our heads to watch the family in the VIP box. His sons look
like pretty ordinary young men to me, despite the complaints of the
Governor of the Reserve Bank. I hope they enjoyed the show. I
certainly did.
Several of the people that I spoke to were puzzled by the music. It
was the standard Prokofiev, so I have no idea why it offended
people. Yes, it was canned, but after Michael Dankinson's dank
performance at The Sleeping Beauty that was probably a musical
blessing for the poor dancers. The musicians, of course, need the
money and half the audience can't tell the difference anyway, and
many of those who can tell the difference still prefer the energy of
a "real" (live) orchestra. It is true, however, that Prokofiev's
score for Cinderella is not the most memorable of music scores. No
catchy tunes to hum on the way home.
The choreogrpahy was by Veronica Paeper. It tells the story
perfectly adequately. I remember seeing the ballet in 2003, also at
The State Theatre and finding it a trifle long and tedious. I didn't
find it so this time, so my mind was obviously more receptive or the
performance was better. Both are likely. With every new production
of the South African Ballet Theatre I become a more loyal fan. I'm
about as loyal to them now as I was to PACT as a teenager and CAPAB
as a young woman. The dry years in between the CAPAB phase and the
South African Ballet Theatre when we were forced to watch the corps
de ballet's every Mexican Wave during such unlikely productions as
Swan Lake and The Nutcracker (remember the balloon scene at the
beginning which reminded one of just what one was in for) were not
condusive to building loyal audiences. Mind you, there were some
productions during those lean years that I enjoyed immensely.
The dancing was every bit as pretty as could be expected. I saw the
show again the next night with different dancers and enjoyed it
again. Burnise Silvius danced the role of Cinderella on opening
night with Michael Revie as the Prince. On the next night we had
Sarah King (unknown up to now in big roles) and Andries Weidemann.
The Fairy Godmother, resplendant in the Lilac Fairy's (The Sleeping
Beauty) costume was danced by Karen Beukes and Chloe Grove
respectively on the two nights. Admill Kuyler got the small role of
a friend of the Prince both nights. Pity. I do like to watch him.
Such a beautiful young man. The other person scheduled to make an
appearance that I missed was Nigel Hannah in the role of one of the
ugly sisters.
As always, I enjoyed the grand feeling that attending the ballet in
Pretoria conveys. I notice that only two of next year's five
ballets will be in Johannesburg, The State Theatre playing host to
the other three. Together with the fact that the Moscow Ballet's
production of Swan Lake will be in Pretoria we will be in Pretoria a
lot next year. The Nutcracker is back in Pretoria for Christmas
next year. We can pray they don't do a March revival of it in
Johannesburg in 2007.
A thoroughly enjoyable evening. It's on until mid-December and I
don't think it is completely sold out yet, so if you haven't yet got
your tickets there's still an opportunity.