For the love of ballet
BALLET giant Johaar Mosaval, 90, received a special honour on stage at the 6th South African International Ballet Competition (SAIBC) at the weekend for his immense contribution to the art.
Mosaval’s ballet career spans over 30 years of which most of it was spent as a senior principal dancer for the Royal Ballet in London.
His career highlight was when he was chosen out of 150 dancers to do a solo for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
He was the first black dancer to join the Royal Ballet and travelled the world with the company.
The SAIBC saw 87 ballerinas from 15 different countries across the world put their best feet forward at the Artscape.
They were competing over three days of intense elimination rounds vying for gold, silver and bronze medals and cash prizes totalling R300 000.
Medals were handed out by special guest Mosaval and by the SAIBC patron Connie September (MP) and the judges.
Competing countries included France, Ivory Coast, Poland, Japan, Latvia, Romania, Italy, Germany, South Korea, China, Portugal, Panama and South Africa.
China won a total of seven medals, followed by South Korea with six and Portugal with five. One competitor, Antonio Casalinho, 14, from Portugal, took double gold, winning in both the classical and contemporary scholar sections. Kristof Skhosana from Johannesburg won gold in the senior contemporary section, while several other South Africans received special awards and invitations to participate in summer schools at ballet schools overseas.
The entrants this year, particularly in the junior division (age 16-20), were widely touted as the strongest the competition has seen since the SAIBC’s inception in 2008.
Certain judges, namely Gregor Seyffert and Annarella Sanchez, offered special prizes to many competitors to attend courses at their affiliated ballet schools, the Berlin State Ballet School in Germany and the Conservatorio Internacional de Ballet e Danca in Leira, Portugal, respectively.
The Shanghai International Ballet Competition awarded all the medallists automatic eligibility to their event in August and offered to cover major expenses such as flights and accommodation.
The West Coast Dance Academy in Cape Town awarded R5 000 to dancer Paige McElligott, who scored the highest marks in a single classical variation.
Yesterday, a special gala event took place showcasing the winners, guest artists and the world premiere of Bengingazi, a fusion of ballet, pantsula and contemporary dance choreographed by Adele Blank and created to mark the SAIBC’s 10th anniversary.
The next SAIBC will be at the Artscape in 2020.