Debbie Turner, Artistic Director, Cape Ballet Africa. Photo credit: Oscar O’Ryan.

A visionary, new and all-South African ballet company has been launched, seeking to reimagine how ballet can look in Africa.

Cape Ballet Africa celebrates cultural values imbued through dance, instilling the discipline of classical ballet while blending in the exciting heritage of South African culture. The Company identity will strongly align with the global dance landscape while building a proudly African organisation.

Established by highly respected dance figure Debbie Turner, Cape Ballet Africa will, through performance excellence and ongoing professional development of artists, inspire new generations to appreciate an artform that demands much of the human spirit, gives much back to the human spirit and fosters a broad appreciation and following within the African diaspora.

Education and upskilling of young apprentice professional artists working with more experienced artists will also be a focus for the new company.

“Cape Ballet Africa seeks to reimagine how ballet can look in Africa, using the interplay of identity and culture, the diversity in all elements of the artform; the people and the repertory. ” says Debbie Turner, Founder and Artistic Director of Cape Ballet Africa. “This creates a catalyst for a cultural legacy for future generations.”

“We will produce performances that are bold and strongly rooted in the classical ballet technique, with exceptional quality front-and-centre as an inherent part of the artistic identity. Our work will be grounded in discipline and self-expression, individuality in teamwork, and with a distinctive elegance, refinement and audacious grace,” says Turner.

She adds that innovation and collaboration are already prominent focuses within the operation of the Company.

The creative team includes many luminaries from the ballet, dance and theatre world such as international classical ballet pedagogue Diane Van Schoor; international classical producer and choreographer, Maina Gielgud; renowned set designer Michael Mitchell and award-winning lighting designer Wilhelm Disbergen, to name just a few.

“A core team of founding dancers have been working for a month now, and I am thrilled to be on this new dance journey with them, launching in Cape Town, our beautiful city in the Western Cape,” says Turner.

Some of the thrilling projects in the pipeline include an inaugural season at The Baxter in September 2024 featuring a triple bill of ballets by celebrated South African choreographers Kirsten Isenberg, Mthuthuzeli November and Michelle Reid, as well as international guest appearances celebrating the inaugural season with us.

Cape Ballet Africa is honoured to include Dr Connie September, Diane Van Schoor and Thoriso Magongwa as the company’s Patrons, to serve as sounding boards and guidance for what will be a constantly evolving endeavour.

“We are also extremely proud to be associated with Food Lovers’ Market, with their commitment to innovation, and, synergistically, their values commit to ….have faith, lead with love, be the miracle,” says Turner.

“Ballet, in its many guises, will be the focus of this new company presenting work that inspires artists to dance and dance lovers to share in the magic of viewing ballet and dance. It will provide an additional employment opportunity for current and upcoming artists, prioritising talent from South Africa and the African diaspora. We are also looking forward to welcoming many artists and guest artists from further afield,” concludes Turner.

Cape Ballet Africa is now accepting applications from interested artists. For further information, e-mail: audition@capeballetafrica.com Join the conversation and keep in touch with updates from Cape Ballet Africa:

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Notes to Editors

Debbie Turner, Artistic Director

Debbie Turner is a highly respected figure in the South African dance industry, having been an active part of it for almost 40 years. She is passionate about ballet and dance, and its function in the cultural life of a city, province and country.

Debbie is now the energy behind the birth of Cape Ballet Africa, a new ballet company operating from Cape Town. She primarily fills the position of Artistic Director and other associated roles.

Prior to this, Debbie held the position of Chief Executive Officer and Artistic Director of Cape Town City Ballet for almost five years from September 2018 through March 2023, staging works of both South African and international choreographers including Maina Gielgud, Veronica Paeper, Mthuthuzeli November, Kirsten Isenberg, Marlin Zoutman, Michelle Reid, Lindy Raizenberg, Jiri Kylian, George Balanchine, Sir Frederick Ashton, Kenneth Tindall, Gregory Maqoma and many others.

Retrospectively, she founded the Cape Dance Company in 1995 that performed nationally and internationally for 24 years, including in the UK many times, New York and South Korea. The company’s associated vocational dance school, the Cape Academy of Performing Arts operated from 1985 until 2021 in its own custom-designed building specifically for dance, with more than 100 students emerging from the vocational training programme over 17 years, many of whom are working across the performing arts industry and multiple other disciplines both nationally and internationally.

Debbie is an active member of local and international dance communities and is frequently called on to offer her expertise in various capacities in the field, including as a guest speaker. She travels widely and regularly to stay abreast of global dance trends and attend meetings of dance leaders to stay informed and inspired by ballet and dance internationally.

Commencing her dance training in Durban at the age of three with classical ballet under the tutelage of Joy Shearer, South African-born Debbie went on to study and work with world renowned-teachers and choreographers across multiple dance forms with a strong focus on ballet and Spanish dance. The study of Latin American dance was included in her studies as a young adult, becoming the Latin American Western Province Champion in a short period of time. She also enjoyed a professional performance career in Spanish dance for many years under the direction of Dame Mavis Becker in her company Danza Lorca, performing extensively around the country and abroad. This varied and rich experience in her early years has largely influenced her management style and artistic curation, her teaching methodology and choreographic style. Debbie also has a Bachelor Degree of Music in Dance from the University of Cape Town. She sat on the prestigious panel of judges for the inaugural 2018 season of M-Net’s; Dancing With The Stars SA season produced by Rapid Blue (Pty) Ltd.

She has won many awards for her choreography including the FNB Vita Award in 1995, and a Standard Bank Ovation Award at the National Arts Festival for the Cape Dance Company’s production of Blue in 2014. The Cape Dance Company appeared as a featured dance company on the National Arts Festival Main Programme in 2016 & 2018.

Artists of the Cape Dance Company and graduates of the Cape Academy of Performing Arts have gone on to illustrious dance careers with global companies and productions, as well as various local and international accolades, including Londiwe Khoza, who was awarded the 2016 – 2018 Rolex International Mentee for Dance under the mentorship of Ohad Naharin, and Mthuthuzeli November winner of 2016 Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees (KKNK) Best Newcomer Award, and the prestigious Olivier Award for Best New Dance choreography for Ingoma commissioned by Ballet Black. Alice Godfrey spent eight years in the world-renowned Nederlands DansTeater company in Den Haag, Netherlands.

Turner is committed to aligning South African dance with the 21st Century global trends of performance through diversity, inclusivity, and a sustainable, multi-pronged approach to performance excellence, diverse repertory relevant to current times, dance education, and professional development of dancers while preserving the traditions of classical ballet and academic dance in general.

Christine Skinner
christinemskinner@gmail.com
082 855 7277
Cape Ballet Africa
https://capeballetafrica.com/