Review: Cape Ballet Africa’s Breathwords

Nacho Duato's Remanso in Cape Ballet Africa's triple bill Breathwords. Photo credit: Paul Seaby

Interactions with people like Nacho Duato, the Spanish choreographer, and Remanso's set and costume designer do that for me.

Chatting with me at the opening night interval of Cape Ballet Africa's Breathwords at Artscape Opera House in Cape Town, he described himself as an artisan of movement rather than an artist, an approach that is evident in his meticulous curation of every aspect of this all-male piece.

Each dancer must convey the symmetry of the action on time and in sync with the Poetic Waltzes of Enrique Granados, acting out Duato's "little messages" for the audience to interpret as they wished.

At times playful, loving in a friendly way (without being sexual), quirky, and competitive, the trio of Jan Kotzé, Joshua Williams, and Thomas Giugovaz nailed the brief.

Duato said the difficulty in executing the choreography was the perceived simplicity. "It's very clean."

Gabriel Ravenscroft, Mia Coomber and Jan Kotze´ in Kirsten Isenberg’s Reverie, in Cape Ballet Africa's triple bill Breathwrods. Photo credit: Paul Seaby

The poetic style of Federico García Lorca, a renowned Spanish poet and playwright, inspires Remanso (a still pool in a running stream). The use of "remanso" as a recurring motif, combined with nature-inspired metaphors and sensual language, is very characteristic of Lorca's Surrealist and Symbolist poetry.

"My life is a search for beauty and struggle for truth. I don't have big things to say to the public – I just caress them with my vision. " I always say I'm not an artist; I'm an artisan of movement," said Duato.

Upon closer examination of his CV, I better understand my response to his work. Training at Maurice Béjart's Mudra School in Brussels and The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre in New York led to a place at Nederlands Dans Theater under Jiří Kylián.

Duato signed his first professional contract in 1980. His upward trajectory as a dancer continued into choreography, awards for both disciplines and senior positions at esteemed dance companies.

In 2023, he founded the Nacho Duato Academy for dance education, serving students and dancers worldwide.

While audiences will be disappointed that a foot injury kept principal artist of the National Ballet of Canada Siphe November offstage for this one (plans are afoot to bring him back to Cape Town soon), nobody can complain about his accomplished replacement.

At short notice, Giugovaz came to the rescue, courtesy of his National Ballet of Spain director, Muriel Romero. The soloist was well-versed in the role and was an absolute pleasure to watch.

The piece, originally created for American Ballet Theatre, is set to equally delightful music by Spanish composer Enrique Granados. Warm appreciation goes to the Embassy of Spain in Pretoria and the Spanish Consulate in Cape Town for enabling the inclusion of this piece in the programme.

Meanwhile, Kotzé and Williams can be relied on to pour heart and soul into every casting. Drawing on well-established dance techniques, they certainly lived up to the challenge.

Joshua Williams in Nacho Duato's Remanso in Cape Ballet Africa's triple bill Breathwrods. Photo credit: Paul Seaby

The Breathwords triple bill opened with whispers from within, performed by the entire company to choreography by Dutch choreographer Wubkje Kuindersma and set to Max Richter's recomposition of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons.

Kuindersma's programme note reflects on the music that "echoes the unstoppable force of life and the profound interconnectedness that we all share… It is not merely an expression of nature; it is an intimate dialogue with it… Dance, as a universal language, transcends borders and speaks to souls no matter where they are in the world."

It is a beautiful piece that should improve as the young company develops, achieving the desired synchronicity in execution.

The second act was devoted to Kirsten Isenberg's Reverie, accompanied by the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra and Gerhard Joubert on piano.

Cape Ballet Africa's resident choreographer worked with Sergei Rachmaninov's familiar Piano Concerto No 2 to extend the work in progress seen previously in last year's Salt season. The audience loved the result.

The orchestra's presence under Brandon Phillips's baton proved a box office hit, prompting the extension of their contract from opening night to the entire season. What a privilege it is to be part of an audience witnessing this level of excellence.

The Cape Ballet Africa dancers are Gabriel Ravenscroft, Gemma Trehearn, Jan Kotzé, Joshua Williams, Julia O'Keeffe, Kayla Schultze, Leanè Theunissen, Mia Coomber, Nicolas Laubscher, Nina Simpson and Tayla de Bie, many of whom have come through the Cape Academy of Performing Arts, a previous training programme initiative run by Cape Ballet Africa director Debbie Turner.

I was very impressed by apprentices Aphiwe November, Erin Padoa, Gia Lipschitz, and Thomas Larché, and I am confident they have a promising future ahead of them.

November and Larché caught my eye regularly, and I was reminded of that expression – "dancing out of one's skin". That's one way to describe their commitment and interpretation of every movement.

Ballet fans can look forward to seeing Salt and Breathwords at the Teatro Montecasino in June 2025. Cape Ballet Africa will perform Intermezzo at The Drama Factory in May, and extracts from Salt at the Hermanus FynArts Festival from 6-9 June 2025.

Maina Gielgud's Giselle is scheduled to take place at The Baxter this November. The company will return to Teatro Montecasino in December to perform The Nutcracker.