April 24, 2003
By Lucille Davie
IT may be further than what you are normally prepared to travel for a show but it's certainly worth the effort. Ballet Theatre Afrikan's (BTA's) new season began on Wednesday night in Johannesburg with a stunning performance at the Pro Musica Theatre in Roodepoort.
BTA was formed in 1996 and launched as a professional company in June 2002, and they have since proved that they know their stuff.
The 2003 season consists of three parts: the classical Paquita, choreographed after Marius Petipa, beautifully danced in wonderful costumes. The principal dancers, Yolandi Olckers and Thoriso Magongwa, are superb.
The second piece is Worlds Apart, by Warren Adams, a South African living and performing in New York. The stage backdrop is filled with smoke and the curtains have become brown drapes, some halfway across the stage. The dancers are dressed in baggy pants and long coat-robes, in shades of brown and beige. Their hair is long and flowing, and together with the haunting sounds and voices, with occasional strong bongo sounds and great lighting, the atmosphere is hypnotic and enchanting, the dancing captivating.
The third part is entitled Tarisiro, meaning "waiting for or looking forward to", created and choreographed by one of Zimbabwe's leading choreographers, Mathius Julius of the Tumbuka Dance Company. It's a jaunty, moody piece, with the dancers' shadows reflected on the blank backdrop, moving to unusual sounds that include dripping, clock ticking, knocking and other discordant noises and voices.
There's an eerie, magical feel to the silent, twisty movements of the dancers in their beautiful chiffon costumes in greens, oranges, blacks and blues, emphasised by the dancers' smileless faces. This is interrupted by a large ball bouncing across the stage, followed by two dancers in black overalls and white builders' helmets, plopping down a two-metre plank and dancing along it.
At the end of the run in Roodepoort, BTA is going to Harare for a short run at the Harare International Festival of Arts, where they will be performing Tarisiro with dancers from the Tumbuka Dance Company. "Tumbuka have nine strong male dancers - the difference between the two energies is something very special," says Paula Kelly, administrative director of BTA.
BTA is the only ballet school in the country producing black dancers of world-class standard. They achieve those standards by being thoroughly classically trained, but are also trained to dance contemporary, jazz, Spanish and Afrofusion, a mix of traditional African dance and other styles. This means that choreographers - both local and international - ask to work with the BTA dancers because they are so versatile.
The company actively recruits black dancers by offering classes in schools that are almost exclusively black. They have 80 pupils from suburban Johannesburg schools.
The company's principal dancers are Yolandi Olckers, Lorna Maseku, Thoriso Magongwa and Kitty Phetla, all with impressive records in winning competitions and scholarships, as well as dancing overseas. The season ends with a performance on 6 May at The Auditorium in Klerksdorp.
The 2003 show has already been seen in Bloemfontein, the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees in Oudtshoorn, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town. Its run at the Pro Musica Theatre in Roodepoort is until 26 April. Bookings are at Computicket
