March 14, 2006
By Ndaba Dlamini
IT'S a bright Saturday morning and at the Far East Bank Community Hall Penelope Thloloe, a professional ballet teacher and dancer, is waiting patiently for her young charges to arrive for their morning ballet lessons.
Already, a few determined-looking young boys and girls, some in "appropriate" ballet attire and others still dressed in their daily wear, are doing some dance routines on their own in the hall. With a mild remonstration, Thloloe urges some stragglers chatting idly to hurry up and change.
"Sorry, Miss, I woke up late today," says one chubby boy as he hurries into the hall clutching a bundle under his arm.
"Some of them live far and they come by foot. It's better they come late than not to come at all," says the energetic Thloloe. "I decided to establish my own ballet company late last year because I wanted to reach out and give township kids in Alexandra an opportunity to experience the fine art of ballet."
Before establishing Kasi Ballet, Thloloe was involved with the Ballet Theatre Afrikan as a director of one of the company's satellite academies teaching children ballet and other contemporary dances. But Thloloe felt she had to do things her "own way". "That is why I came up with the idea [of] my own company," she says.
She explains the name, Kasi Ballet Company, by saying "kasi" means "township". "It is the place where we source our talent and train some of the talented younger ones."
Kristin Wilson gets the class warmed up
With the help of Kristin Wilson and Margarita Naydenova, Thloloe, winner of the Amstel Salute to Success Award, has set up a vibrant dance institution with three different sections, the Kasi Ballet Academy, the Kasi Ballet Youth Dance Company and the Kasi Ballet Professional Company.
Developing talent
Thloloe says the Kasi Ballet Academy is her baby in Alex and Ennerdale. "Mainly we train and develop talent in these institutions. We concentrate on getting the kids' bodies ready for all forms of dance but our primary focus at this stage is ballet. After two years the children will be ready to do some other forms of contemporary dance."
In Alexandra, there are 23 girls and 12 boys aged between nine and 14 being taught by Thloloe. In Ennerdale, there are 20 girls - all "very talented" in their own right.
She says the establishment of the company is meant to fight perceptions that ballet is only for white people and "certain physical bodies".
"Ballet is a dance that can be done by all people. There is also a misconception that ballet is restricted to people with slender physiques. This is not true. It is how one is given the right training and how one dances at the end that counts."
Professional ballet teacher and dancer Penelope Thloloe puts the class through its paces
Thloloe says the ballet lessons are provided for free and she is busy getting sponsorship for her young dancers.
The Kasi Ballet Youth Dance Company is the next step, at which learners will take dance as a matric subject. This will be a "tool" that Thloloe says will be used to encourage youth to "see the other side of dance". She adds that the company will be an opportunity to change perceptions about dance being a hobby rather than a serious career.
"In this dance company we want to make dancing a skill for those young dancers aged 15 to 18 years, to give them experience in performance, choreography and teaching. In this company we have taken children who have a dancing background - be it kwaito or any other dance."
The Kasi Ballet Professional Company is meant for the dancer to create and perform in works that extend the boundaries of new dance, according to Thloloe. She is busy doing "corporate work" to get sponsorship to get the company off the ground.
Thloloe has an impressive resume as a professional ballet dancer and teacher. A founder member of Ballet Theatre Afrikan, she spent 10 years with the company. She attended the National School for the Arts and her extra-mural dance classes at the Ballet Theatre Afrikan Dance Academy consisted of daily ballet, modern and Spanish.
She performed in the highly successful production Cinderella and has presented choreographic works at two DanceCor Choreographic Workshops and has choreographed solo for her DanceCor Associate Exam.
Thloloe has strong roots in Alexandra. Both her parents have been teachers in the sprawling township for the past 20 years, and she has approached schools and has spread the word far and wide in her efforts to introduce dance to the township.
"There is so much untapped talent ready to learn in Alex. The children are so eager to learn and I want to take them through all the way to becoming professional dancers. Hopefully one day they will come back to Alex and do a better job than I am doing."
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