Ballet Bouquet brings balance to Harare culture

Harare has a burst of culture this weekend as the Dance Trust of Zimbabwe and the Cape Town City Ballet collaborate to bring together a dance spectacular.

Between the 28th and the 31st of July, 112 dancers from various Harare dance studios and four professional dancers from Cape Town City Ballet bring their skills to the REPS Theatre stage. Robin van Wyk, the CTCB’s artistic director is in charge of the performances.

Wednesday sees an invited audience of 450 orphans from children’s home, each of whom will see the show for free and receive a present, arranged by donations called in by the Dance Trust of Zimbabwe.

Ballet Bouquet then has a gala opening night tomorrow (Thurs) and then performances on Friday July 29 (6.30pm), Saturday July 30 (2.30pm and 6.30pm) and Sunday (11am). It features a condensed version of one of the world’s best-loved ballets, The Nutcracker, as well as a series of excerpts from other well-known classical ballet shows.

The exercise is a cultural exchange initiated by Harare dance teacher June Cloete and South African teacher and adjudicator Diane Cheeseman, which saw Mr van Wyk travel to Harare in April this year to get the 112 local dancers prepared for participation in the show.

Advance booking for all performances is available at The Spotlight, www.thespotlight.co.zw.