‘Peter and the Wolf and other Ballets’ comes to Joburg Youth Ballet
ROOSEVELT PARK – The Johannesburg Youth Ballet’s annual season takes centre stage from 12 to 16 August.
The Johannesburg Youth Ballet or JYB as it is fondly known, will soon present a triple bill of family-friendly favourites, including choreography from a local resident. These include Peter and The Wolf, The Waltz of the Flowers from the Nutcracker Suite, and the premiere of Kate Martin’s lyrical Butterfly Lovers.
This enchanting line-up will touch the hearts of all ballet lovers while inspiring a new generation of ballet aficionados. Supported by the Department of Arts and Culture, the 2015 season is simply titled Peter and the Wolf and other Ballets.
It opens with Prokofiev’s evergreen favourite Peter and the Wolf. First performed in 1940, 2015 marks the 75th anniversary of this witty and inventive work. Fulfilling a 20-year dream of choreographing a work to the exquisite Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto, Roosevelt Park resident Kate Martin is thrilled that this work will premiere as her first choreographic offering for the Johannesburg Youth Ballet.
“My dad – Dan Retief – bought my first copy of Butterfly Lovers in 1995. Like butterflies, the choreography has been swirling around in my head for 20 years,” enthused Martin. The work takes its title from Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto, which was composed by He Zhanhao and Chen Gang in 1958.
It is considered a classic of traditional Chinese music. Martin has woven her own dramatic narrative of requited love into this work of breath-taking lyrical beauty. Peter and the Wolf and other Ballets also includes Here You Are, a touching work, also choreographed by Martin, which received critical acclaim at the recent Dance World Cup in Romania, and features Gabrielle Monty and Nicholas Lai.
The season opens on Wednesday 12 August and runs until Sunday 16 August at UJ Arts Centre. All bookings are through Computicket and are priced between R80 and R130. Recognising the appeal of family friendly matinees, the JYB management has scheduled four matinees on Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 at 11am and 3pm. The evening performances start at 7.30pm on 12, 13 and 14 August.
