Theatre Review: Johannesburg Youth Ballet 40 Year Anniversary Celebrations
"Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind."
A Midsummer Night's Dream has always been my favourite play and to watch it being gracefully performed as a ballet, was absolutely amazing. The movements of this artistic dance were done with such precision, excellence and professionalism, one had to remind themselves that it was the youth performing on stage.
The Johannesburg Youth Ballet's (JYB) 40th anniversary celebratory show included the beautiful and colourful Garland Dance from Sleeping Beauty Act 1, which was followed by a look into the history of the JYB with The Ripple Maker, thereafter an insightful piece on the world we live in today with Look Up and the grand finale was A Midsummer Night's Dream.
The Garland Waltz is the first dance in Act One of Tchaikovsky's masterpiece ballet, Sleeping Beauty. It was very fitting to start the evening with the well choreographed performance by Kate Retief. The young cast showcased all their talent and were definitely on pointe.
The Ripple Maker is aptly named as the late Audrey King, founder of the Johannesburg Youth Ballet, believed in making small changes that would eventually cause a "ripple effect" in the world. The short documentary directed by Christiaan Kritzinger with original music by Nik Sakellarides gave us a snapshot of the foundation years of the JYB. Audrey brought communities together and made headlines in the 1970s when she "broke down racial barriers". Founding members of the JYB like Lynette Petersen shared her experience and how she felt to be part of the first South African youth ballet team to go overseas on tour to Aberdeen in 1977.
A combination of Hans Zimmer's music and choreography by Shanell Winlock-Pailman and Nicho Aphane is a recipe for success. Look Up is a mind-blowing interpretation of the socially disconnected world we live in. With technology, we might digitally connect people but we have lost the physical interactions, conversations, and simple eye contact. We do not look up anymore and while we may think that we know what is happening around us, do we actually experience it? The cast once again moved to the rhythm of the beat with ease and showed us the various techniques of dance that ballet has to offer.
The main and final performance of the evening was based on William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Mongiwekhaya Mthombeni, Marc Kay, and Hlengiwe Lushaba Madlala had the crowd in stitches with their skits throughout the performance. The Joburg Ballet had a few guest dancers on stage with the JYB. Alice Le Roux who played Titania, as well as Ruan Galdino who played Oberon. The cast gave an absolutely amazing performance to celebrate the 40th anniversary in style.
Overall a magnificent performance by the JYB of Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream which was superbly interpreted and choreography by Mark Hawkins.
Congratulation to the JYB on their milestone of 40 years and we wish them many more successful years ahead.
