Joburg Ballet, Communion of Light Review 3*
Joburg Ballet’s Communion of Light introduced the South African company’s vibrant and eclectic style to the Linbury audiences
This article was first published on London Unattached
We had a tantalising glimpse of Joburg Ballet back in the Spring, when company dancer Tumelo Lekana brought his vibrant, colourful Mpho (Gift) to The Royal Ballet’s International Draft Works at the Linbury Theatre. Now, though, we are becoming acquainted with the company itself, as it makes its UK debut on the RBO second stage with an eclectic and revelatory programme under the title Communion of Light.
The Johannesburg-based, two-dozen-strong company is under the artistic direction of Dane Hurst, a South African dancer, who is well known to British ballet audiences, having danced for many years with several UK companies, among them Rambert, Phoenix, National Dance Company of Wales and Company Wayne McGregor. Hurst is also an in-demand choreographer.
He returned to his native South Africa full of ideas for how to develop Joburg Ballet and create a novel and original blend of classical ballet tradition and new African works. The wide range of Communion of Light, which celebrates 30 years of democracy in South Africa, gives notice of Hurst’s ambition.
Dada Masilo’s Salomé
The outstanding work in this quadruple bill was the final piece: Salomé, created for Joburg Ballet by the late Dada Masilo before her death, aged 39, in 2024 – a grievous loss for dance in Africa.
Masilo had a particular talent for distilling the essence of a story and, by couching it in visceral, vital movement based on traditional African dance, making us see it anew. She did it with her 2017 transposition of Giselle to an African village, in which its ancestral values and beliefs subvert the original story; this followed her Africanisation of such classics as Swan Lake, Carmen and Romeo and Juliet.
Masilo’s Salomé is based on Oscar Wilde’s play, and follows its narrative quite closely; but her movement imbues the story with visceral vitality, sexual obsession in a debauched court clashing with the anguished virtue of a simple man.
It features two exceptional performances: purple-clad Latoya Mokoena as a young woman determined to get the object of her obsession, her blood-chilling intent expressed in every look and movement; and white-clad Revil Yon as Jokanaan, equally determined to resist her, flinching at her touch.
Mokoena’s final dance with Jokanaan’s head is horrifying, yet you can’t take your eyes off it.
The eight-strong cast absolutely owned this piece – it was clear they understood it, and they showed the ease of performance that at times eluded them in previous works, most particularly the opener, Concerto for Charlie.
Veronica Paeper’s Concert for Charlie
Created by the veteran South African choreographer Veronica Paeper in 1979 as part of a programme sponsored by Revlon (‘Charlie’ refers to its signature perfume), it’s set to Dmitri Shostakovich’s ‘Piano Concerto No. 2’ and more than a little inspired by Balanchine’s neo-classicism.
It’s a light, playful piece for ensemble and soloists taking to the stage in flowing groupings – ensemble, duets, men, women – most steps delivered in a larky, “I’m having fun” kind of way, but no less difficult for that; and despite giving it their all, the precision demanded by this kind of work was a little beyond these dancers.
I was, however, hugely impressed with principal Monike Cristina, a truly lovely dancer whose movement denoted excellent classical training and whose easy smile was totally engaging.
A blink-and-you-missed-it solo by Tumelo Lekana, Prologue: Camagwini, performed to music by ‘Mama Africa’ herself, Miriam Makeba, was ambitious, aiming for a fusion of classical and African, male and female, ancestral and current, but was far too short to communicate much.
Dane Hurst’s Resonance
Dane Hurst’s own Resonance suffered from the very opposite. Its narrative, inspired by South Africa’s history and its hopes for the future, was clear and had excellent graphic sequences, but the piece went on far too long.
The opening was promising, depicting the repetitive, back-breaking toiling of a work gang in a factory or mine, overseen by two stern foremen; then, the release of tension in a nightclub with Kyle Shepherd’s jazzy music driving riveting dancing; but it wasn’t long before the violence that pervaded apartheid South Africa, and continues to this day, took over with the prolonged murder of one man.
With judicious editing, Resonance would become a good, powerful work, one that both South African and international audiences could easily take to. It ends on a note of light and hope for the future.
Jorge Pérez Martinez’s Azul
Azul, by the Spanish choreographer Jorge Pérez Martínez, showed us yet another facet of the company: contemporary dance, as fashioned in the Netherlands by Jiří Kylián and his followers, including Martínez.
Danced to classical guitar music by a cast of 15 in petrol blue/green or black body-hugging pants and tops (costume designer Sjaak Hullekes), the choreography responded to the guitar chords in ways that offered particularly interesting ensemble work.
However, that, too, went on far too long, its appeal diminishing with every extra minute of increasingly aimless dance.
In conclusion, I would say Joburg Ballet has a promising future if it works on developing its own unique identity as a company and employs a good, exacting repetiteur and a ruthless editor.
© Teresa Guerreiro
(Banner image credit: Salomé, Dada Masilo. Joburg Ballet 2024; Photo Lauge Sorensen)
Joburg Ballet: Communion of Light was at the RBO Linbury from 30/10 to 2/11