‘International Ballet Competition’ brings top dance talent to town
EXCITEMENT in dance circles is mounting as the fourth South African International Ballet Competition (SAIBC), draws closer. The event takes place at the Artscape Theatre from February 18-23.
Formerly known as the Cape Town International Ballet Competition, it is the only event of its kind in Africa and attracts top dancers from South Africa and abroad.
Dirk Badenhorst, the founder and chief executive of the competition, has assembled a distinguished panel of eight judges from around the world – including Argentinian superstar and former principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre, Julio Bocca.
He is lauded as being among the world’s leading ballet stars in the last two decades of the 20th century.
Today, Bocca is the artistic director of the Ballet Nacional Sodre in Uruguay.
The panel comprises Dawn Weller, former ballerina of Pact Ballet, artistic director of Pact Ballet/The State Theatre Ballet from 1983-2000, and now director of Australia’s Graduate College of Dance, Hae Shik Kim, founding dean of the Korean National University of Arts’ School of Dance, former ballerina and artistic director of the Korean National Ballet, now artistic director of the Seoul International Dance Competition, Xin Lili, former ballerina, now artistic director of the Shanghai Ballet, Ramona de Saá, former dancer and now director of the National Ballet School of Cuba and associate professor of Cuba’s Higher Institute of Art and Methodology at the National Centre for Schools of Art, Oliver Matz, former principal dancer of the Ballet of the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, now the director of dance studies and faculty member for classical male dance of the Zurich Dance Academy in Switzerland, Melanie Person, co-director of the Ailey School in New York, and Ernst Meisner, artistic director of the junior company of the Dutch National Ballet.
A third age division, Scholar, has now opened the competition to dancers aged 12-15. The other categories are Junior (16-20) and Senior (21-28).
This year, the 68 participants are from Switzerland, Cuba, South Korea, Japan, Brazil and China, and includes the biggest number of South African entrants to date.
The gala is on February 23 at 3pm and 7.30pm, billed as The Young Korean Ballet Stars of the World. It will showcase the competition winners, the Young Korean Ballet Stars from South Korea, and top dancers from the National Ballet School of Cuba.
See www.ctibc.com for the daily competition schedule.
Tickets are R60 for the elimination rounds and R150 to R350 for the final and awards and gala evenings. Gala tickets are R120 to R360. Call 0214217695.