International Ballet Competition for Cape Town, South Africa - January 14-19, 2008 - Artscape Opera House  In January 2008, the Artscape Opera House in Cape Town is to play host to a prestigious international ballet competition, to be known as the | South African International Ballet Competition (SAIBC). In addition to an impressive list of entrants from all over the country, this event has attracted dancers from the USA, Cuba, China, Sweden, Latvia, Korea, Argentina and Japan, all of whom will compete for more than ZAR400,000 during a week of intense elimination rounds culminating in the Finals and Gala performance. |
Providing an international showcase for local and foreign dancers, this competition, like its counterparts at Varna in Bulgaria, Jackson in the USA and the Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland, will typically enable directors of various dance companies in SA and abroad to seek out new and exciting talent. The alumni of the afore-mentioned international competitions include Sylvie Guillem and Mikhail Baryshnikov.
The impressive panel of judges will consist of high profile dance personalities from all over the world and South Africa, namely Cape Town- based Denise Schultze, former Assistant Artistic Director of Ballet West in Salt Lake City, Co -Director of PACT Ballet, and a guest teacher and producer of Classical Ballets with ballet companies and schools in RSA and around the world, and Phyllis Spira, former Prima Ballerina Assoluta with CAPAB Ballet and now the Assistant Artistic Director of the Dance for All Youth Company based in Athlone. Two of the panel are South Africans living abroad, and they are Laveen Naidu, formerly a dancer with the Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) and now the Executive Director of that company, and former dancer Charla Genn, previously the Artistic Director of Manhattan Ballet in New York, and an international guest teacher with companies such as the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and Les Ballets de Trockaderos.
The international contingent of judges further comprises of Virginia Johnson, former ballerina with the Dance Theatre of Harlem and the Editor of Pointe Magazine; Septime Webre, the Artistic Director of Washington Ballet; Simon Dow, formerly the Artistic Director of the Milwaukee Ballet and the West Australian Ballet, now a choreographer, guest master teacher and coach; Hae Shik Kim, the President of the World Dance Alliance in Korea and Artistic Director of the Seoul International Dance Competition and Mario Galizzi, a former principal dancer who has also directed several dance companies and who is currently a guest teacher in Brazil.
Says Mr. Badenhorst, "The SAIBC will enable all dance companies and training institutions in our country to benefit from working together and collectively having access to guests from the international ballet world, and it will ensure the continued success, growth and development of this art form that has a very important role to play in the cultural integration of South African society.”
This competition will be a boost to tourism and income in the Mother City, providing another showcase opportunity for the nation, and enhancing Cape Town's status as the cultural gateway to Africa. It will place the city and the country on the global Arts & Culture map, specifically with regard to classical and contemporary ballet and dance. The SAIBC will also serve as a platform to draw existing amateur and professional dance companies together to learn from each other through competitive engagement and grow audiences through event attendance. Additionally, the organisers of the SAIBC will arrange workshops by visiting and local professionals that will benefit young dancers from historically disadvantaged communities as they interact with contestants and visiting teachers. The SAIBC will specifically target the growing number of dance projects that are currently being run throughout the City and its surrounds.
Cape Town Tourism has therefore come onboard as official Visitor Services Partner to the event and will collaborate with Cape Town Routes Unlimited to welcome delegates to the destination, offering pre and post tour options to showcase the destination along with its regions and help promote the event through its network of Visitor Centres, website and collateral. Mariette du Toit-Helmbold, General Manager of Cape Town Tourism, commented that events like these contribute significantly in establishing Cape Town as a world-recognised cultural mecca. "Already in 2002, Newsweek proclaimed Cape Town to be one of the new creative and cultural world meccas. This event will further stimulate the local development of talent and continue to add to our cultural appeal and offering, whilst showcasing our beautiful City," she concluded.
The competition categories are divided into a Junior/Amateur Division (15-18 years) and a Senior/Professional Division (19- 28 years). The judging criteria for the two categories will differ and each will work on a point system per round. There will be cash prizes in all divisions, donated by the Guernsey-based Michel Tesson Performing Arts Trust. In the Senior category, the first prize is ZAR100, 000, second prize is ZAR65,000 and the third prize is ZAR45,000. In the Junior category, the first prize will be ZAR80,000, second prize is ZAR55,000 and the third prize is ZAR35,000. There will also be two awards made to the winning contemporary performances in each category, the prize being ZAR30,000 per dancer. The finals will be held on Friday 18th January and the Gala performance will take place on the Saturday 19th January 2008, when the winners will be announced. The SAIBC Gala will feature the winners, principals from South African ballet companies and the young dancers from Dance for All who will choreograph a new indigenous work for the occasion.
The SAIBC will be held from the 14-19 January 2008 at the Artcape Opera House in the City of Cape Town. For further enquiries concerning the competition, please visit www.saibc.co.za. Tickets for the Finals on Friday 18th January cost from R66 to R223 and for the Gala performance on Saturday 19th January cost from R191 to R403, through Computicket, 083 915 8000 or Artscape Dial-A-Seat on 021.421 7695.
The SAIBC is the initiative of Dirk Badenhorst, the former CEO of the South African Ballet Theatre in Johannesburg. Mr. Badenhorst, the Artistic Director and CEO of the SAIBC, has appointed the following members to his competition Board, namely Boniswa Peziswa, the Executive Director of an advertising agency; Andrew Gilder, an environmental lawyer and former dancer; Ann Wixley, a media and communications strategist and a former ballerina; Suzie Frankel, a ballet teacher and administrator; Rita van den Heever, the Head of the University of Johannesburg's Arts Centre and Academy and Allison Foat, a publicist and former ballerina.
|
 Add as favourites (90) |  Quote this article on your site
Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register. Powered by AkoComment Tweaked Special Edition v.1.4.6
AkoComment © Copyright 2004 by Arthur Konze - www.mamboportal.com
All right reserved |
Be first to comment this article
