CAPE DANCE COMPANY PRESENTS GRACE

Cape Dance Company presents Grace
Dance Factory in Newtown, Artscape Theatre 7-15 December 2012
Artistic Director: Debbie Turner

Cape Dance Company (CDC) presents Grace, a dynamic new season featuring exquisite neo-classical ballets created by South African and International choreographers such as Bradley Shelver, Adele Blank and Christopher L. Huggins. Performances will take place in Johannesburg and Cape Town in December this year.

Dancers for this season include Megan Swart, former Senior Principal ballerina at Cape Town City Ballet; CDC Founding Member Louisa Talbot, with James Bradley, and Grant van Ster, Ipeleng Merafe, Angela Rebelo, Simone Muller, Mthuthuzeli November and Martin Harding amongst others.

Bradley Shelver defines his ballet Scenes as “the location of events that attract attention through a series of actions exhibited in their connection”. A modern, minimalist, architectural ballet in four parts written to the compositions of Gallasso, Bach, Beethoven & Riley, it was inspired by the process of creativity, the elements involved when displaying or manifesting art. The ballet subtly reveals the layers that emerge when creating emotional connections with the stage, framed by observers that demarcate the space – a scene within a scene, witnessed by both audience and performer. Costume design is by Dicky Longhurst.

In celebration of Adele Blank’s long association with the Cape Dance Company, a new ballet, Mnemenology, has been commissioned for CDC by Artistic Director Debbie Turner. Created to George Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blue, the ballet profiles Blank’s trademark jazzy yet classically based choreographic style.  While the work is not a narrative one, it suggests the evocation and creation of memories – as she says, “Everything we do, every instant, becomes a memory.”

American choreographer Christopher L. Huggins’ powerful works, Enemy Behind The Gates and When Dawn Comes was first staged on the Cape Dance Company in 2010 & 2011 respectively and will complement the new programme presented this year. CDC’s repertoire becomes more diverse each year and this season promises yet again to have wide audience appeal.

Cape Dance Company was founded in 1995 by Debbie Turner and is based in Westlake, Cape Town.  Turner is the Artistic Director of  the CDC and Director of the Cape Academy of Performing Arts (CAPA).  Her name has become synonymous with exceptional, polished productions danced by well-trained and highly disciplined artists, many of whom are CAPA graduates. The CDC performs a repertoire of neo-classical and neo-contemporary works with technical aplomb. The company performs regularly in local theatres and has travelled extensively overseas, presenting seasons at the Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater in New York City and at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland.  CDC dancers are renowned for their athleticism and grace, and the ballets presented this season provide the ideal platform for them to showcase their talent.

Grace will be performed at the Dance Factory in Newtown in Johannesburg on 3 December at 7.30pm and 4 December at 5:00pm & 7.30pm with tickets from R60 to R100 via Computicket or the Dance Factory on 011-8331347. The Artscape Theatre performances are from the 7 to 14 December at 8.00pm and on Saturday 15 December at 3.00pm and 8.00pm with tickets from R120-00 to R140-00 via Computicket or 021-4217695.