7th South African International Ballet Competition to pivot online

The South African International Ballet Competition (SAIBC) scheduled to take place at the Artscape Opera House from July 13 to 18 has taken a leap into the online space and will now be held virtually.

A virtual ballet competition first, the SAIBC Online will now have a far broader reach as dancers, teachers and ballet fans from every corner of the globe are able to connect to it via the web.

“Being online,” says Dirk Badenhorst, founding CEO and director of Mzansi Ballet whose idea it was to switch to a virtual event, “has also taken the pressure off many who may have found it difficult during these trying times to raise the necessary funds for travel and accommodation expenses,” he said.

While the competition is still six weeks away, no-one knows which lockdown level the world will be under by mid-July and, even if mass gatherings will be allowed, social distancing will likely be the advised safety protocol for the foreseeable future.

Says Badenhorst, “Doing the SAIBC at the theatre is not an option since the safety of our team, participants, audiences and Artscape staff is of critical importance. Yet at the same time we don’t want to lose this highly anticipated event that dancers have been working towards and that audiences have been looking forward to since the last competition in 2018.”

The first SAIBC was held in the Mother City in 2008 and has grown into one of Cape Town’s most dynamic cultural events. It’s the only international ballet competition on the African continent, on a par with similar contests held annually throughout the world.

For the SAIBC Online, ages and categories for participants will remain the same: Scholars (12 to 15 years), Juniors (16 to 20 years) and Seniors (21 to 28 years) with men and women competing separately.

“In order to accommodate the impact the pandemic has had on the training routine of dancers around the world, the competition panel will award the top prize in each category by an evaluation process as opposed to the usual scoring system. During the competition week, the panelists will also be giving each entrant constructive feedback after their variation has been viewed,” said Badenhorst.

Each competitor will need to register for the SAIBC Online between June 15 and 17 and those accepted will be required to submit video clips of themselves dancing two variations – a classical repertoire solo and a contemporary solo.

The dances must be filmed one week prior to the start of the competition. Those without access to a formal dance studio will be permitted to enter in the contemporary division only. The pre-recorded videos of selected candidates will be screened daily to a paying audience and dancers will be assessed by a panel who will offer feedback after each session.

SAIBC Online subscribers will be able to access the daily online master classes, live panel discussions and feedback after the competition rounds and the virtual gala on July 18 where guest artists from around the world will perform.

Registration forms, guidelines and related info can be found on www.saibc.com and applicants should email their video submissions to saibconline@gmail.com.