Joburg Ballet’s satellite school auditions for 2017 will take place on Wednesday, October 26 at Uncle Tom’s in Soweto.
The age range is 6 – 12 years and no previous ballet experience is required; children can come in ballet clothes, in shorts or legging and a t-shirt, or in a swimming costume, with socks or bare feet. Long hair should be tied up. No skirts or jeans, please.
Joburg Ballet Satellite Schools_young dancers from the development progamme in performance. Pic courtesy of Joburg Ballet
Classes start in January 2017, there is a nominal fee of R100 per month, and children must commit to 2 – 4 classes per week, depending on age range and ability. Exceptionally talented children identified during these auditions may be invited to audition for Joburg Ballet School’s accelerated programme.
Below is a little bit of background information on Joburg Ballet’s development programmes:
Joburg Ballet offers a range of outreach and teaching work as part of its development programmes – nurturing the next generation of dance talent in SA is vital. The company does a wide range of schools visits every year in Gauteng and also has three development schools, based in Braamfontein, Soweto and Alex. Around 250 children attend these schools in total, aged from 6 to 16.
They are chosen via auditions, held annually in October and have two to four lessons each week. Particularly talented children who audition for the development programme are invited to also audition for Joburg Ballet School, which takes around 30 learners each year.
Joburg Ballet School is based in Braamfontein and is a training facility for young dancers headed by Keke Chele, a former dancer with the company. The school offers three levels of tuition and the hope is that it will produce dancers who then feed into the professional Joburg Ballet company. Joburg Ballet wants the School to be a centre of excellence in South Africa, preparing dancers for the professional stage.
Interested parents or caregivers must phone/SMS/Whatsapp to schedule an audition time with Fiona Brown, Head of Department, Joburg Ballet Satellite Schools, on 082 838 7146. Audition places are filled on a first come, first served basis and numbers are limited.
