I am Spartacus of Africa!

Brooklyn Mack as Amari, a Spartacus in Africa

The advertisement promised "An epic production with 100 dancers including Washington Ballet’s Brooklyn Mack in the role of Spartacus, accompanied by a full symphony orchestra. The famous story of the Roman Empire slave uprising is re-configured into an African setting, complete with incredible costumes and lavish scenery." And it was just that!

Kristin Wilson as Nadira, the favorite of Nagash

A Spartacus of Africa takes the tale of Spartacus, the slave, and sets it firmly in Africa. It is the familiar story of one man`s battle against the indignity and cruelty of slavery and his determination to free himself and his fellow men and women.

A production of the South African National Dance Trust, A Spartacus of Africa was danced by international guest artists as well as a cast of over 100 South African dancers to the music of Aram Khachaturian, accompanied by the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra. What a difference live music makes!

The cast was excellent! Especially Brooklyn Mack. He was phenomenal. Brooklyn Mack was born in South Carolina. He studied with the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington DC and the American Ballet Theatre Studio Company. A veteran of the Orlando Ballet, he joined the Washington Ballet in 2009 as a principal dancer and in 2012 was recognized as one of Dance Magazine's '25 to Watch.'

Original choreography by Veronica Paeper; Inventive costume design by Dicky Longhurst; Creative set design by KMH Architects; and the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra was expertly conducted by Paul Hoskins. It was a great night at the ballet in Johannesburg.

Christmas Pantomime

Men in dresses. Slapstick comedy. Show tunes. Moonwalking and break-dancing. Audience participation. Brown paper packages tied up with strings. These are a few of my favorite things.

Saw my first South African Christmas Pantomime last night. Aladdin at the Jobug Theater. More accurately, I saw (not my first) British Christmas Pantomime in South Africa. Another example of  British influence in South Africa.

Pantomimes have been a British tradition since ... like forever. The first stage version of Aladdin was seen in London's Covent Garden in 1788. This was followed by a comedy musical version of the tale in 1813. The South African version was a variation of the original British stage version.





The setting for this Aladdin was Saudi Arabia China! When the Pantomime premiered in London in 1813, people in Britain were fascinated by China and the Orient. Willow pattern plates were introduced and ships such as the clipper Cutty Sark were doing a brisk trade importing tea and other merchandise. As a result, the story of Aladdin developed into a far more Chinese tale than the original and has remained that way ever since.

The first thing you notice are the children and families. Pantomimes are a family tradition at the holidays. The acting is large and the action is fast-paced. No chance for boredom or fidgeting with a Panto. One of the characters throws out candy for the kiddies as part of the story and balloons drop from the ceiling at the end.

Secondly, audience participation is encouraged and expected. We did the wave, were instructed on the proper way to boo the villain, and for the finale, the audience was divided into two groups. We were given the words to a song along with corresponding hand and feet gestures (stomping, clapping and high-fiving) and we competed for "most enthusiastic" (loud).



But Pantomimes are not just for children. Streaming over their little heads were lots of jokes about politics and current affairs, scandals, sexual innuendo and actual cursing. There was something for everyone.

Part Bollywood, part Gilbert and Sullivan, part Las Vegas floor show, the story in a Panto is advanced by a series of popular songs a la Mama Mia. No original score Tony Award for a Pantomime.

actors signing autographs in the lobby

There is usually a guest celebrity performing in the Christmas Pantomime. It is like an honor. I saw Henry Winkler play Captain Hook in a London Panto many years ago. (Peter Pan is another Pantomime favorite.) Makes perfect sense. PS You can see him reprise the role in Lost Boy playing right now on the London stage if you are there for Christmas.

Our celebrity for Aladdin was Jeremy Mansfield, the most acclaimed and award-winning radio personality in the country. He played the villain as the celebrities usually do. He was bad to the bone ... and claustrophobic.

The Panto formula reminded me of the creative philosophy of Walt Disney. I saw a display on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs  at the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco a couple of years ago. When asked why he included such scary images in his features for children, Walt said he did not make "children's movies." He made movies for "the child that exists" in all of us, adults included.

That Disney spirit lives on in the Pantomime. A good time was had by all!

The Joburg Ballet

We finally went to see the South African Mzansi Ballet or the Joburg Ballet as it is now called. Instead of seeing their brand new production of Cinderella, we opted instead for a program called Celebration 5.

Celebration 5 features seven (not 5) short ballets and excerpts from a couple of full-length ballets. Most were pretty modern ballets and there was also a pas de deux  from Le Corsaire with choreography after Marius Petipa and one called Flower Festival at Genzano Pas de Deux with choreography by the equally legendary Auguste Bournonville.

Most of the short ballets were choreographed by Joburg Ballet's own resident choreographers. A couple were by guest choreographer Alvaro Restrepo who is the Director and co-founder of Colombia's El Colegio del Cuerpo whose members also  performed with the company.

Most of the pieces were very enjoyable and were danced very well. We got to see a range of dancing styles and abilities danced in very classic and more modern ballet styles. The first thing you notice is that there is no pit orchestra. Come to think of it, there is no pit. We were spoiled in New York! The recorded music was actually pretty good though. One ballet had a DJ on stage who was also part of the scenery. That was very, very good. The second thing you notice is the dancers are much more athletic and acrobatic than the dancers we are used to at home. And ripped!

I have to say as the evening progressed we were thinking "this is ok, we could do this a couple of times a year. Maybe we should get tickets to The Nutcracker for Christmas." Then the curtain went up on the last ballet, God-by-the Sea.  "Concepcion and Choreography"  by Alvaro Restrepo. Concepcion? Uh oh. That did not bode well.  Somebody takes himself way too seriously. (PS he describes himself in the program as Colombian Dancer, Choreographer and Pedagogue. That should have been my first clue!)

That really bit!

As it turned out, it was worse than we thought. The music was disharmonious - and not in a good Stravinsky way - chants and cantigas and just noise. And the program included an except from a Pablo Neruda poem about death as a way to describe the ballet. Strike three.

I tried to figure out what was going on up on the stage but I soon gave up. I can't really comment about the actual choreography or how the dancers performed because I sort of curled up into a ball and fell asleep in self-defense. Apparently one of the female dancers gets completely naked on stage and Vince said even that could not save it! As Leonard Pinth-Garnell used to say on SNL's Bad Ballet, "That really bit!"

photographs for sale in the lobby

But on a good note, the Joburg Theater Complex is really nice! There are a number of theaters in the Complex showcasing most of the performing arts. Very nice and modern. There is free and secure parking underneath the complex and there is a restaurant with a full bar on the ground floor. These things are very important in the CBD. You do not have to worry about parking and if you get there too early, you do not have to roam the streets looking for a bar or a restaurant to have a pre-theater cocktail.

And speaking of getting there early, do not be late! This was the first time we have ever seen anything start on time since we got to South Africa. That curtain went up promptly at 7:30.

The Joburg Ballet is still a young company. Maybe they haven't found their voice yet. Maybe God-by-the-Sea was just an aberration. After all, the NYCB had its klinkers in my estimation. Can you say Bugaku?

We may still go to see the Nutcracker at Christmas.

South African Mzansi Ballet

inside the Mariinski Theatre

Ballet is my favorite of the performing arts! It has music (Ray Charles and Wynton Marsalis have accompanied the New York City Ballet on stage), theatre (John Lithgow and Patti Lupone have narrated too), art (Picasso and Chagall designed several sets for Balanchine's ballets), fashion (Chanel and Stella McCartney have designed costumes as well).

Besides the New York City Ballet (where we subscribed for 30+ years) and the American Ballet Theater (where we subscribed for 5), New York plays host to all of the American and indeed the world's greatest ballet companies and we saw them all on stage at Lincoln Center, the Joyce Theatre and the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

But just as there is nothing like seeing the New York City Ballet on its home turf at Lincoln Center, there is no substitute for seeing any ballet company in its home venue with its inspirations and muses in the seats and in the surrounding city and country. They just seem to dance better! So whenever we travel we try to do just that. The Kirov at the Mariinski Theatre, the Bolshoi in Moscow, the Stuttgart, the Melbourne Ballet, the Royal Danish Ballet, the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden, the Paris Opera Ballet, the Teatro Colon Ballet, even the La Scala Ballet at Milan's Opera House.

So I was THRILLED to the tip of my toe shoes to see that Joburg has a resident ballet company, the South African Mzansi Ballet!!!

It is a new ballet company having been only established in July 2012, following the merger between The South African Ballet Theatre (SABT) and Mzansi Productions but they have a relationship with the ballet diva Alicia Alonso and the Cuban National Ballet. They have adopted the Cuban method of ballet training in their dance school. Vince and I saw Alicia Alonso dance many years ago when she performed as a guest artist in New York. She has an amazing life story!

The SA Mzansi Ballet is in residence at the Johannesburg Theatre in September fresh from an international gala tour celebrating Alicia Alonso. Can't wait!