A ballet beyond compare
Last Thursday saw the Joburg theatre packed to the rafters for the opening of Sean Bovim's Queen at the Ballet, a show which surpassed every expectation I had when I arrived.
The ballet, which is set to 20 of Queen’s greatest numbers sung live by Cito of Wonderboom fame and Daniel Fisher with a special appearance by Angela Kilian is an exciting adventure through the life of the “Great Pretender” Freddy Mercury and the friends he held dear to his heart.
The lead parts for the opening night were danced by Henk Opperman as Freddie, Devon Marshbank as Jim Hutton, Elzanne Crause as Rosemary Pearson and Faye Dubinski as Barbara Valentin who all danced their parts to perfection.
The publicity press releases states: “This hit show uses the athleticism of rock ballet en-pointe in a high impact production that will entertain people of all ages.”
I can testify that people of all ages filled the theatre and every one of them – judging by the prolonged standing ovation the dancers received, was not only entertained by thoroughly impressed by the dancers’ energy and enthusiasm for the show, as well as the silky voices of the singers.
From the opening bars of the first number the 24 dancers’ work was high powered and energetic yet looked effortless as the sailed across the stage delighting the audience with fantastic choreography made only better by the perfect execution of their beautiful moves.
For the first time, in my experience, it was the men – especially Opperman – who completely stole the show from the female dancers with their athletic and acrobatic moves performed with attitude and grace.
Opperman has a stage presence which I have never experienced in a made ballet dancer which, along with a cheeky attitude, had my eyes glued to his every move.
He was well supported by the entire cast but his work with Devon was certainly the highlight of the various couplings on stage.
Bovim’s production offers a powerful fusion of fashion and dance, brought to life through collaborations with internationally recognized South African designers Malcolm Klûk & CGDT, Craig Port, Gavin Rajah and Ian West.
Says Bovim, “We felt there was no better way to celebrate Bovim Ballet’s 5th Anniversary than to bring this ever popular production to Johannesburg for the first time! As Cape Town audiences responded with such gusto to both seasons in 2012, I felt that it was time to take this show on the road.”
Photo by: Bill Zurich
Bovim continues, “We previously travelled up to Jozi in June 2009 with Tango Nights and received such an incredible response to our inaugural production, that I felt it was high time that we share another Bovim Ballet production. We felt there was no better show to tour with, knowing what Queen fundi’s Joburgers are!”
The show will run until April 13 and in my opinion you cannot afford to missing this stunning show.
