Ballet competition wraps up in Cape Town as Johannesburg Youth Ballet collaborates with NSA

After four exciting days of classical ballet and contemporary dance, the 11th South African International Ballet Competition (SAIBC) in Cape Town came to a thrilling close with a gala performance by the winners in Cape Town.

The competition ran from 14 to 17 July at the Artscape Opera House.

This year’s instalment saw 88 dancers competing in three age groups namely – 9 to 12 (scholar), 13 to 16 (junior), and 17 to 22 (senior) in the classical and contemporary solos and the recently introduced duets, trios, group and choreographic categories.

The majority of the competitors were South African, hailing from the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, Limpopo and Gauteng.

The dance competition was founded by Dirk Badenhorst in 2008. From 2021 the SAIBC was held annually.

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The winners

US ballet dancer Max Berg won gold in the senior category, with Portugal’s Isabella Godinho taking silver and Canada’s Jessey Yokoyama coming in at third.

Anica Scheepers and Matthys de Beer make up the top five in the seniors.

In the junior’s category, which has kids aged 13 to 16 years old South African dancers took all the medals. Shiloh Godefrey took gold, silver went to Mo’jiza Mosaval and the bronze medal was taken by Alix Mckay.

Alexei Moskalenko and former principal ballerina with the National Ballet of Canada Tanya Howard were the Chairpersons of the Jury.

“As the only country on the African continent and the only competition on the African continent that focuses purely on classical ballet as its mainstay competition, we’re very proud of what it’s achieved,” Badenhorst told The Citizen at the beginning of the competition.

The grand finale was danced by all 88 of the 2024 entrants and choreographed by Badenhorst.

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NSA and Joburg Youth Ballet collab

The Johannesburg Youth Ballet (JYB) and the National School of the Arts (NSA) will come together in SYMBIOSIS, a collaborative season of youth dance in the Lesedi at Joburg Theatre from 1 to 4 August.

“SYMBIOSIS not only showcases the talent of young dancers but also showcases the rich skills of young South African choreographers,” Artistic Director of the JYBMark Hawkins.

“We have a remarkable spectrum of dance in our season from Romantic Ballet in the adaptation of Les Sylphides, to Spanish from Gillian Bonegio, to contemporary dance with choreography from Laura Cameron, Yusuf Thomas and Tshepo Zasekhaya, to a special interpretation of hip hop from Thato Nkwe and a brand-new SA born and inspired amaballet from Bhungane Gabriel Mehlomakhulu – a novel choreographic exploration inspired by amapiano!”

“Having three young external choreographers who all possess extensive experience on both the local and international dance scene makes this season particularly exciting,” said NSA educator, choreographer and JYB alum, Yusuf Thomas.

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