Leading Joburg Ballet into the light
● Elroy Fillis-Bell wants to meet at his local. The Gourmet Grocer is in Birdhaven, epicentre of the padel-playing, dog-walking, gym kit-bedecked crowd that gathers in this corner of Johannesburg in a kind of sporting efflorescence every morning.
By lunchtime this crowd has mostly moved on. Members of the Lycra squad appear sporadically, but the table next to us is cracking open a bottle of wine.
Lunch is a little more loosey-goosey, but I would like to state for the record that we order suitably carb-free dishes and quickly launch into Elroy’s marvellous path to his newly minted day job — Joburg Ballet CEO.
By the time lunch is over, I have decided I would actually quite like him to be the CEO of my life too — I don’t see why his talents should not be shared more widely.
He is overwhelmingly charming, young, dynamic, thoughtful and considered — absolutely the person you would want to lead your artistic institution into the bright future he has planned for it.
“I think this is such a beautiful moment for Joburg Ballet to become something new and cross the Rubicon to become a whole new type of ballet company that’s rooted in our geographical and social context. It needs to really create and engage with work that speaks to the people who are going to see it, so that it speaks to our context.
“I’m not interested in it being the Joburg Ballet it was 10 or 15 years ago as we move into our 25th anniversary in 2026. This is the moment to build a new identity for what ballet can be, so I’m excited. I’m excited about figuring that out with the team, the choreographers and our new artistic director. It’s exciting — it really is an exciting moment.”
In line with this vision, Joburg Ballet is kicking off with a programme celebrating 30 years of democracy that promises to use the medium of ballet, featuring original and groundbreaking choreography, to interrogate what this means for South Africa and celebrate this milestone. And it has scored a world-first coup — the exclusive rights to create and choreograph the first Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ballet, which will premiere later this year.
Born and raised in Athlone in Cape Town, Elroy won a bursary to spend two joyful years in Italy during high school as part of an exchange programme. It was an experience that gave him an abiding love of good food and art, as well as a different perspective on the world.
When he returned to study politics and human rights law at the University of Cape Town, he discovered a passion for drama and literature, and became more interested in music (he plays several instruments, including the violin). His sights were now set firmly on the arts.
I soon realise his vision for the Joburg Ballet has deep roots. In his first year at university, he was part of a group of students that formed the Bridgetown Theatre Company. “It was very much an artist development programme on the Cape Flats. It was based in the Bridgetown community centre and was an opportunity for us to use arts programming to address social issues. The arts should inspire a sense of self-worth, leadership and confidence, and also provide communities with a safe space to explore issues of identity and community.
“One’s childhood experiences are linked to success at an older age, but also successes along the way. I came in as a musical director, one of the founders, and ladies who are 65 years old and kids as young as seven started working together to produce these public performances in the squares in the Cape Flats. It was really a very rewarding experience. I learnt a lot.”
He has worked in almost every area of creative management — contemporary dance, visual arts and music licensing — and has developed a well-rounded approach to arts management. He was most recently based at the Javett Art Centre at the University of Pretoria. Why, then, did he decide to focus his abundant energies on ballet?
“I love a challenge. It was challenging coming into Javett during Covid-19, and it was challenging coming into each of the places I’ve worked at along the way.
“I really have a change-led strategy. That’s kind of what I’ve been doing. I really enjoy leaving a place in a far better position than the condition in which I found it.
“I looked at Joburg Ballet and saw they had an opportunity to impact the broader community and broader society. I think it was perceived to be stuck in some way, and also seen to be stuck-up in other ways, because it is a very classist discipline. I mean, we have to be honest that the barriers for entry into ballet are formidable.
“I’ve really been thinking how to democratise ballet and show the impact it can have, because it’s such an important art form from an educational perspective, but also in terms of ... performance and exhibition.
“We really need to be diversifying audiences and creating new partnerships. We’ve set up these different initiatives where we’re reintroducing the company to organisations and really exhibiting the various sorts of [corporate social investment] programmes that are available for them to partner with us. But it is really the Joburg Ballet School that operates in Soweto and in Alexandra that is most inspiring. Most people don’t know that we have these schools, and that the quality of the schooling there is exceptional.
“I had a colleague, a board member of Washington Ballet, accompany me on some site visits, and she was utterly impressed. We operate under the Cecchetti Society of Southern Africa, affiliated to the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, London, and the ballet exams are standardised in that society. Our students are consistently being awarded merits and distinctions.”