Betsy McBride from the American Ballet Theatre. Photo: Supplied Betsy McBride from the American Ballet Theatre. Photo: Supplied
Cape Town – In an all too short season, principal dancers from the prestigious New York City Ballet and American Ballet will grace the stage at Artscape Theatre tonight and tomorrow night.
A highlight is set to be the gala evening tomorrow.
In what is bound to be emotional, a tribute will be paid to Mignon Furman, leading light of the South African dance scene.
Gilbert Mayer, étoile (star dancer) at Paris Opera Ballet, who has coached many famous dancers, including Rudolph Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov, will make the tribute.
Furman was a legendary choreographer, teacher and educationalist. For many years she was the director of UCT Ballet School, and the founder of the American Academy of Ballet, one of the largest and most prestigious Summer Schools in New York.
Her husband and son, Simon and Laurence Kaplan, as part of Mignon Furman Ballet, invited the guest dancers to Cape Town. Both are determined to continue her vision.
Furman was also the benefactor responsible for bringing another étoile to the fore - Cecil Jacobs, who, during the apartheid era, was one of the first coloureds to have the opportunity to study ballet with white students at a time it was barred.
Today, Jacobs, 78, an equally legendary dancer and teacher still actively guides pupils.
Born in District Six in 1940, the sprightly Jacobs said he was the 13th child his mother gave birth to. As a young boy, weak and delicate, a doctor advised him, among other things, to do ballet.
At the age of 8, he says he became entranced by the “magic of the movement”, setting him on the path to his life on stage and mentoring others.
In 1970, he started studying under Furman and says he will never forget in 1972 having the “incredible privilege” of seeing Dame Margot Fonteyn dance Swan Lake.
He says he is always mindful of the start that Furman gave him.
During the performances of the New York City Ballet, principal dancers Ashley Bouder and Joaquin de Luz will perform Tchaikovsky’s Pas de Deux by Balanchine and the pas de deux from Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker and Don Quixote.
New York City Ballet’s Daniel Ulbricht will perform the pas de deux from Flames of Paris with Betsy McBride of American Ballet Theatre.
Kevin Durwael, director of the Royal Ballet School of Antwerp, Belgium, has choreographed a pas de deux in memory of Furman.
* Book at Computicket or Artscape-Dial-A-Seat 021 421 7695. Visit www.american-academy-of-ballet.com/