Gabriel Ravenscroft and Mia Labuschagne in Polarity. PICTURE: Paul Seaby
The Cape Town City Ballet (CTCB) winter season runs from Thursday August 4 to Sunday August 28 at the Artscape Opera House.
The programme features Romeo and Juliet, choreographed by South African ballet doyenne Veronica Paeper, alongside a new triple bill Ikigai, inspired by the Japanese concept of purpose, happiness and peace.
Depicted in those ideas, Ikigai consists of ballets by three generations of award-winning choreographers: Jiří Kylián’s Falling Angels, Sir Frederick Ashton’s Les Patineurs (The Skaters) and Kenneth Tindall’s Polarity, in collaboration with the artists of CTCB.
Set to a hypnotic Steve Reich score and inspired by the percussive musical rituals of West Africa, Falling Angels is one of Kylián’s masterworks for eight women.
Choreographed by iconic British choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton and performed to music composed by Giacomo Meyerbeer, Les Patineurs features a party of ice skaters on a frozen pond joyfully depicting Ashton’s virtuosic choreography.
Tindall’s Polarity is inspired by the suggestion that opposites are interconnected and everything is duel, a yin and a yang where harmony and balance emerges and where the outcome can only be peace. Tindall, who is resident choreographer and director of digital for Northern Ballet, created Polarity for Cape Town City Ballet in 2019, and returns to stage this new, extended version.
Select performances will star international guest artists, to be announced, and be accompanied by Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra.
Romeo and Juliet will be presented at Artscape from Thursday August 4 to Sunday August 28. Tickets cost from R175 to R750.
Ikigai will be presented at Artscape from Wednesday August 17 to Sunday August 28. Tickets cost from R175 to R475.
Book through Computicket or Artscape Dial-A-Seat at 021 421 7695.