Fiona Gordon: The week-long feast of dance that was the Cape Town International Ballet Competition ended on Saturday with a gala event befitting the occasion.

The fifth and final evening of the competition saw performances by five competitors from each age category, and the six finalists of the contemporary section, interspersed with guest performances by Camille Bracher – the 2008 Junior Contemporary Winner, and a number of local dance companies.

In his pre-announcement-of-the-winners speech, elected head of the judging panel, South African dance expert Dr Eduard Greyling spoke of the ephemeral nature of performance. With competitors pitted this closely against one another, the influence of tiny details can make an enormous difference in the end, and it was clear that the standard of individual’s performances differed from night to night, according to the choice of repertoire, or level of control of their nerves. With the scores discarded after the initial elimination rounds, and the dancers therefore competing from the neutrality of a ‘clean slate’ each succeeding night, each subsequent performance carried increasing importance as the competition progressed.

Some dancers whose performances had been solid, but not necessarily spectacular, suddenly showed their mettle in the finals, where others made their best impression on the first night. It was interesting to note and compare the different national trends- in training, style and costume preference. The finals night saw a reference to the first classical round, with nerves triggering untidiness that would normally not feature, but the heightened sense of occasion of the gala was felt by competitors and spectators alike, and produced an utterly magnificent series of performances – including the unfumbled completion of hitherto-elusive sets of fouetté turns. 16 year old Canadian Alys Shee not only interspersed the traditional 32 with multiple individual turns, but managed flicks of her Kitri-fan in various arm-positions, at the same time!

Judging complete, the contestants returned to the stage in a high-spirited Waka Waka finalé, choreographed by Lindy Raizenberg. A pleasure to see the world’s top young talent enjoying the opportunity to perform, together, without the pressure of having to ‘perform’, in a fitting salute to their talent, and experiences of the week.

The gala was a high profile affair, with Western Cape Premier Helen Zille taking to the stage for the awards ceremony, with the judging panel, consisting of dance luminaries Eduard Greyling (SA), Mario Galizzi (Argentina), Hae Shik Kim (Republic of Korea), Ismael Albelo (Cuba), Septime Webre (USA), Xin Lili (China), Christopher Kindo (SA) and Lisa Pavane (Australia).

Based on their choices, sharing the R375 000 in prize money (donated primarily by the Michel Tesson and Chiappini Trusts) are the following winners:

Senior Classical
Gold: Oscar A. Valdez Carmenates (19 yrs, Cuba)
Silver: Hyo-Seon Park (20 yrs, Republic of Korea)
Bronze: Aaron Smyth (19 yrs, Australia)

Junior Classical:
Gold: Nathan Chaney (18 yrs, USA)
Silver: Alys Shee (16 yrs, Canada)
Bronze: Jeon Yeo Jin (16 yrs, Republic of Korea)

Contemporary:
Senior: Thoriso Magongwa (27 yrs, RSA)
Junior: Nathan Chaney (18yrs, USA)

A Special Jury Award was awarded to South African Andile Ndlovu (22yrs) in recognition of his talent, artistry and versatility.

Fiona Gordon
fiona@artslink.co.za

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