Joburg Ballet launches the 2024 ballet year at the Joburg Theatre on Friday 15 March with SCARCITY, an exhilarating quartet of works featuring one South African premiere and three world premieres.
The impressive line-up of choreographers showcased in SCARCITY are South Africa’s Dada Masilo, Chinese-German choreographer Hannah Ma, Netherlands-based Spanish choreographer Jorge Pérez Martínez, and South African choreographer Craig Pedro.
For her first commission for Joburg Ballet, internationally acclaimed Dada Masilo is creating Salomé. Based on Oscar Wilde’s play, Salomé revolves around desire, power and the destructive nature of unbridled passion. Masilo says she loves to tell a story in works that are universally accessible and she sees Salomé as an opportunity to create a movement vocabulary which sits well on Joburg Ballet and that challenges herself and the dancers.
In a world set on fire, multi-award winning choreographer Hannah Ma takes a dive into the vastness of the human soul with The Void, creating a moment of stillness, joy, truth, deep connection and forgiveness. The Void is a powerful reminder of the beauty of human existence and the need to preserve humanity and all lives at all times. She describes The Void as “a ceremonial celebration of dance as a form of resistance that will tenderly caress the spectator’s heart”.
With Azul, Jorge Pérez Martínez has created a fresh, spirited piece distinguished by its expressive body language and beautiful pas de deux work. Danced to three classical Spanish guitar compositions, Azul captures an evocative Mediterranean and Spanish atmosphere. Azul, which is the Spanish word for blue, has a fluid dance language in its choreography reminiscent of flowing water.
In Ukukhanya Kwenyanga: A Moonlight Waltz to music by Johann Strauss and Pietro Mascagni, Craig Pedro merges the European style of dance with South Africa’s beautiful Xhosa designs by choreographing a waltz highlighting classical ballet technique with dancers in romantic tutus embellished with Xhosa print and bead motifs. “As a nation faced with many social ills and their impacts,” he says, “we have proven our resilience and tenacity. Our shortcomings and limited resources have never impeded us from finding that glimmer of hope amid dark times. We continue to make something out of nothing and dance in the moonlight!”
Commenting on SCARCITY, Joburg Ballet CEO Elroy Fillis-Bell said: “Joburg Ballet is proud to bring together these applauded choreographers for SCARCITY. As we begin our 30th year of democracy, Joburg Ballet’s work must engage with our current moment in society. Both the concept and reality of scarcity is something many South Africans have become accustomed to, whether through a lack of service delivery within the urban context or a loss of dignity. These works interrogate the social context of our lives and explore the absence of natural and material resources and the loss of memory, identity and self.”
Elroy Fillis-Bell expressed Joburg Ballet’s gratitude to the Embassies of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and Spain for generously supporting the production of Azul by Netherlands-based Spanish choregrapher Jorge Pérez Martínez; and to the Ministry of Culture Rhineland-Palatinate for supporting the production of The Void by Chinese-German choreographer Hannah Ma.
SCARCITY opens at the Joburg Theatre on Friday 15 March with seven further performances through to Sunday 24 March.
Dates and times
Friday 15 March at 19h00 (Half Price Opening Night)
Saturday 16 March at 14h00 (Standard Prices)
Sunday 17 March at 14h00 (Standard Prices)
Wednesday 20 March at 11h00 (Morning Price)
Thursday 21 March at 11h00 (Morning Price)
Friday 22 March at 19h00 (Standard Prices)
Saturday 23 March at 14h00 (Standard Prices)
Sunday 24 March at 14h00 (Standard Prices)
Ticket prices and discounts
Standard Prices: R525, R450, R410, R300, R220
Half Price Opening Night: R263, R225, R205, R150, R110
Morning Price: All R110
Discounts: Friends of the Ballet 35%; Pensioners 15%; Groups of 10+ 10%; Children 4-7 50%
Where: Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein (GPS -26.191316, 28.038519)
Book: At Joburg Theatre Box Office; or tel. 0861 670 670; or online at www.joburgtheatre.com
Patrons can also book and pay via the Nedbank app and at selected Pick n Pay stores (full list at www.webtickets.co.za/pnpoutlets.aspx)
