The Artscape Theatre is home to the latest performance by the Cape Town City Ballet, Shades of Love, by internationally renowned choreographer Ashley Killar. This dance performance explores the variety of human emotions, from indifference to passionate interaction between couples, danced to composers as varied as Britten, Bartok, Glazunov and Ravel.
It aims to seduce the audience with performances that depict the evolution of love; the highs, the lows, the chances we take, the heart break, the heart ache and the happily ever after.
Killar’s choreography definitely extends the dancers and gives avid CTCB fans a chance to see their favourite dancers in unique roles, pushing the boundaries of classical ballet. Programme One consists of Towards Illusion, a stage full of ballerinas all dressed in magical light blue against a raw set showcasing an abundance of dance in high volume. The programme is followed by Beauty and the Beast. Meghan Henegan plays Beauty and her light, soft persona exuded this performance as you can feel the delicate love she gives. She was phenomenal and her depiction of compassion towards the Beast was breathtaking.
After interval The Miraculous Mandarin took to the stage, the subject matter caused this stage performance to be banned for several years. The story follows a girl who is forced by three thugs to stand in a window luring men inside to be robbed. Her first two victims are penniless but the third is a mysterious but wealthy Mandarin. The thugs attack him but he will not die, he cannot die until the girl shows him deep compassion. The performance was nothing short of dramatic and Kim Vieira who plays the girl was outstanding!
After another interval, Tritsch-Tratsch takes the stage with a comedic duo of sailors who vie for the attention of a young Victorian lady. Johann Strauss’s famous polka is guaranteed to get your feet tapping as this performance makes light of a love triangle in a hilarious way.
The show concludes with Sarabande, which is inspired by the extraordinary beauty of Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand with its glittering cascades of notes and its dark sensuousness. The dance centres around a love duet, where Tom Thorne and Laura Bosenberg are dressed in pure white against the dark open stage. They are joined by cloaked figures but love prevails. Laura glowed in this piece, her energy, beauty and passion for dance radiated throughout this piece. This was by far my favourite piece from the evening.
OF NOTE
When 18 – 22 May 2016
Where Artscape, DF Malan Street, Foreshore
Cost R120 – R220 at Computicket
Contact +27 21 650 2400, [email protected], www.capetowncityballet.org.za
Photography Cape Town City Ballet
