On pointe — this accurately describes the Cape Town City Ballet’s (CTCB) performance at the 2022 Toyota US Woordfees.
The Cape Town City Ballet’s Woordfees performance took place at Bloemhof High School in Krigeville, Stellenbosch Central. PHOTO: Andrea de Lilly
MatieMedia attended the ballet’s final performance on 15 October at Bloemhof High School in Stellenbosch.
The CTCB brought excerpts of the dance forms’ best-known performances to Bloemhof’s (small) stage.
The hour-long performance gave the audience a taste of familiar favourites, such as The Sleeping Beauty, Carmen, Giselle, Romeo and Juliet and the Nutcracker’s Sugar Plum Fairy solo performance.
Energy and style
Despite being limited to a much smaller stage and audience than what CTCB are used to, the dancers were able to captivate the audience with their performance.
From the very first pirouette (twirl) to the final plié (bend), the CTCB’s dancers brought a magical and exciting performance that was characterised by their “inimitable energy and style” – something the ballet company is renowned for, according to their website.
Ballet is a dance form that requires the utmost precision and grace – both of which were present in this performance.
From The Sleeping Beauty, Carmen, Giselle, Romeo and Juliet and the Nutcracker, the dance form’s best-known pieces were brought to Bloemhof High School’s (much) smaller stage. Photo: Andrea de Lilly
Of love and tragedy
The ability to tell a story through dance is one of ballet’s most powerful attributes. The Romeo and Juliet performance by Mia Coomber and Gabriel Ravenscroft, illustrated just that.
The two dancers brought the well-known tragedy of star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, to life through their facial expressions and graceful movements — convincing the audience that they were truly in love.
Drawing out emotion
An interesting detail was seeing how each of the performances drew out the emotions of the audience.
“It’s so nice to watch their feet. Ballerinas’ feet are beautiful — especially when they are on pointe. It’s so amazing,” said Mimi Westdyk, an audience member and a retired ballet dancer.
The technicality and effort that goes into this dance form came to life beautifully on the Bloemhof’s stage, explained Westdyk. “They are professional dancers on a school stage.”
However, one need not be an expert on the technicalities of ballet to appreciate the dance form.
The Cape Town City Ballet dancers received a standing ovation for their beautiful performances of the dance form’s familiar favourites. VIDEO: Andrea de Lilly
As the performance approached its end, CTCB left their audience wanting more — wishing it could continue for at least another minute.