The Cape Town City Ballet brings you ballet in the park

by Karisa

Jane Fidler (Effie) & Mervyn Williams (Madge) in LA SYLPHIDE

If you’re a ballet lover, then listen up, because the Cape Town City Ballet are stepping things up by bringing you a magical ballet under the stars.

Yup, it’s time once again for their annual season at the Maynardville Open-Air Theatre and this year they’re bringing you 4 performances of the enchanting ballet La Sylphide.

It is important to note that La Sylphide should not be confused with Les Sylphides which was performed by CTCB during last year’s sold-out Maynardville season.

La Sylphide comes with quite a rich history.  It was one of the 1st major romantic ballets ever to be choreographed, and even though it had it’s premier in Copenhagen all the way back in 1836, it’s still regularly performed all across the world today.

Set in the Scottish Highlands it tells the tale of a young Scottish farmer named James who is set to get married to his fiancée, Effie.  But as we know, things are rarely that simple in the world of ballet, and this story ends up takes an interesting turn.

On the wedding day, a beautiful winged spirit (Sylph) appears in his dream, wakes him up with a kiss and he falls madly in love with her. An old witch, Madge, appears before him, predicting that he will betray his fiancée and that she will get married to his best friend, Gurn. James disagrees with the witch and sends her away.  All seems fine as the wedding begins, but as James prepares to put the ring on Effie`s finger, the jealous Sylph suddenly appears and snatches it away from him.  He abandons the wedding and follows the Sylph into the woods…

I don’t really want to tell you the rest of the story, because I don’t want to ruin the ending.  So you’ll just have to book your seats to see how this one turns out.

With music by Herman Lovenskjold and exquisite choreography by August Bournonville, you can catch La Sylphide every Sunday during February, starting this Sunday 1 Feb.

The role of the Sylph will be danced by ballerinas Laura Bösenberg, Angela Hansford and Frieda Mennen with Jane Fidler, Rosamund Ford and Mariëtte Opperman taking the role of Effie.  The young farmer, James, will be portrayed by Thomas Thorne, Daniel Szybkowski and Conrad Nusser, while Gurn will be danced by Ivan Boonzaaier, Milwhynne Williams and Germano Trovato.  Madge, the witch, will be performed by Mervyn Williams and Johnny Bovang.

Now because you’re enjoying this ballet in a park setting, you’re encouraged to pack a picnic basket and to come and enjoy the beautiful surroundings with friends and family before the performance starts.

Ready to book?  Then take note of the following:

  • Performance dates:  Sunday 1, 8, 15 and 22 February 2015
  • Performance times:  All performances start at 20h15
  • Address:  Maynardville Park, Wynberg
  • Tickets:  R120 to R140 & available via Computicket, Artscape Dial-a-Seat on 021 421 7695 or at the gates on the night of the performance

I think this also makes for the perfect date night outing… particularly with February being the month of luuuuurve. 😉

xxx

Leave a Comment

%d bloggers like this: