"Moira de Swardt" <moira.ds@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:cOadnVXBNdOO9RjeRVn-pA@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> The Christmas season ballet at The State Theatre in Pretoria is
> "Cinderella". I attended opening night. So did Mr Tito Mboweni, the
> South African Ballet Theatre's patron. He made an amusing speech
> about how he had brought his sons along to "imbibe some culture".
> He went on to complain about their dreadlocks and other teenage
> fa****on vices. For once Mark and I had excellent seats and we could
> turn our heads to watch the family in the VIP box. His sons look
> like pretty ordinary young men to me, despite the complaints of the
> Governor of the Reserve Bank. I hope they enjoyed the show. I
> certainly did.
>
> Several of the people that I spoke to were puzzled by the music. It
> was the standard Prokofiev, so I have no idea why it offended
> people. Yes, it was canned, but after Michael Dankinson's dank
> performance at The Sleeping Beauty that was probably a musical
> blessing for the poor dancers. The musicians, of course, need the
> money and half the audience can't tell the difference anyway, and
> many of those who can tell the difference still prefer the energy of
> a "real" (live) orchestra. It is true, however, that Prokofiev's
> score for Cinderella is not the most memorable of music scores. No
> catchy tunes to hum on the way home.
>
> The choreogrpahy was by Veronica Paeper. It tells the story
> perfectly adequately. I remember seeing the ballet in 2003, also at
> The State Theatre and finding it a trifle long and tedious. I didn't
> find it so this time, so my mind was obviously more receptive or the
> performance was better. Both are likely. With every new production
> of the South African Ballet Theatre I become a more loyal fan. I'm
> about as loyal to them now as I was to PACT as a teenager and CAPAB
> as a young woman. The dry years in between the CAPAB phase and the
> South African Ballet Theatre when we were forced to watch the corps
> de ballet's every Mexican Wave during such unlikely productions as
> Swan Lake and The Nutcracker (remember the balloon scene at the
> beginning which reminded one of just what one was in for) were not
> condusive to building loyal audiences. Mind you, there were some
> productions during those lean years that I enjoyed immensely.
>
> The dancing was every bit as pretty as could be expected. I saw the
> show again the next night with different dancers and enjoyed it
> again. Burnise Silvius danced the role of Cinderella on opening
> night with Michael Revie as the Prince. On the next night we had
> Sarah King (unknown up to now in big roles) and Andries Weidemann.
> The Fairy Godmother, resplendant in the Lilac Fairy's (The Sleeping
> Beauty) costume was danced by Karen Beukes and Chloe Grove
> respectively on the two nights. Admill Kuyler got the small role of
> a friend of the Prince both nights. Pity. I do like to watch him.
> Such a beautiful young man. The other person scheduled to make an
> appearance that I missed was Nigel Hannah in the role of one of the
> ugly sisters.
>
> As always, I enjoyed the grand feeling that attending the ballet in
> Pretoria conveys. I notice that only two of next year's five
> ballets will be in Johannesburg, The State Theatre playing host to
> the other three. Together with the fact that the Moscow Ballet's
> production of Swan Lake will be in Pretoria we will be in Pretoria a
> lot next year. The Nutcracker is back in Pretoria for Christmas
> next year. We can pray they don't do a March revival of it in
> Johannesburg in 2007.
>
> A thoroughly enjoyable evening. It's on until mid-December and I
> don't think it is completely sold out yet, so if you haven't yet got
> your tickets there's still an op****tunity.
>
> Moira de Swardt
>The most beautiful, most intelligent, most amusing, most charming,
>richest, most talented woman currently posting to
>soc.culture.south-africa
>
>
Sumo woman,. You forgot your usual signature. Don't leave it out
next time, as this present you as special kind of self established and
self educated expert in your field
Dr Anton
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