South African choreographer, Veronica Paeper, reinvents her 1980s ballet production, Spartacus of Africa with a cast of over 100, writes Hilary Prendini Toffoli.
It’s not difficult to see why, for her upcoming production Spartacus of Africa, Veronica Paeper chose Andile Ndlovu, now with the Washington Ballet, as one of her three principals for the tricky lead role of the defiant gladiator. “I felt it was necessary for South African audiences to be able to see this extraordinary talent” is how Paeper puts it.
Certainly during his six years in Washington the 26-year-old Sowetan has proved fully capable of rising to the technical challenges involved in mastering ballet’s physical pyrotechnics.
“My greatest assets are my artistry and my jumps” is how he modestly describes the jaw-dropping scissored jetés that in his earlier acrobatic days once landed him on the floor. “I was the lead in Don Quixote,” he says. “I totally used too much energy and hit the floor hard. But I had to keep going. That solo was my moment to shine.”
A muscular good-looker who says he would have been a football player if he hadn’t taken up dancing, Ndlovu got into ballet at the age of 15, in spite of being relentlessly mocked. “Not many people in my community know much about ballet,” he says. “Many believe if you dance you’re gay.”
He won a scholarship to study at Ballet Theatre Afrikan and was offered the Washington position after winning an international ballet contest.
A recent highlight was his role in Petite Mort, the provocative ballet by avant-garde Czech choreographer Jiri Kylian that uses fencing foils as phallic symbols and has the French idiom for orgasm (“little death”) as its title. Ndlovu says this sensuous piece offered the freedom of dancing in a contemporary style very different to what he’s used to.
The other two equally athletic Spartacuses are Washington Ballet’s Brooklyn Mack and Durban dazzler Casey Swales, who was chosen out of over 200 nationally auditioned professional dancers.
The whole undertaking is a bold milestone for the South African National Dance Trust, the nonprofit organisation Paeper founded with Robyn Taylor and Mike Bosazzo in 2009 to promote dance through performance, education and job opportunities.
Spartacus of Africa runs at the Joburg Theatre until June 14 (with the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra) and at Artscape from June 27 to July 12 (with the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra).
For full report by Hilary Prendini Toffuli, see Mail & Guardian
