From incredible tours by Russian ballet companies to the
fizz and energy of Lord
of the Dance, South African fans of world-class dance have had a
bumper year. And now the Baxter Theatre’s Annual Dance Festival is nearly upon
us once again, which will see the best of the Western Cape dance community take
to the stage. But the event
of the year, the dance piece that everyone has been talking about, is surely
the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s upcoming tour to Johannesburg and Cape
Town.
Much has been written about this company over the years:
how they transformed the landscape of American dance, that they have performed
for over 25 million people around the world, that they have visited 71
countries on six continents … but none of it conveys what it actually feels
like to see artists of this nature performing live. I think it’s fair to say
that dance lovers across South Africa may never be the same after seeing this
company in action.
A highlight of the tour will undoubtedly be their famous
piece called Revelations,
which was the performance that catapulted Alvin Ailey to fame. According to the
company, ‘When Mr Ailey began creating dances, he drew upon his “blood
memories” of Texas, the blues, spirituals, and gospel as inspiration, which
resulted in the creation of his most popular and critically acclaimed work,Revelations.’ But not all the work performed
by the company was created by Ailey; in fact, the company has performed dances
by more than 90 choreographers and was described by the United States Congress
as a ‘vital American cultural ambassador to the world’ in 2009.
The tour opens on 3 September at the Teatro at Montecasino
and continues until 13 September, with performances scheduled Wednesday to
Sunday. Cape Town has a far shorter run of only five days,
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