AUDITIONS FOR CAPE TOWN PRODUCTION

Audition notice for “Spartacus of Africa” 2011

Cape Town auditions for independent dancers (not part of companies) for Spartacus of Africa will be held at the Artscape on September 4 and 5.

The South African National Dance Trust (SANDT) has been formed to promote, preserve and support the art form of classical ballet and contemporary dance throughout South Africa. The first project of the SANDT is Veronica Paeper’s Spartacus, which will be re-choreographed and staged as a grand scale national production, The Spartacus of Africa, in 2011.

Cape Town auditions for independent dancers (who are not part of companies) for this production will be held at the Artscape. The production requires classical as well as contemporary dancers. Audition dates for other cities will be announced shortly. Dancers contracted with companies must please note that their audition dates will also be announced at a later stage.

This exciting production, involving in excess of 100 dancers drawn from all dance and dance training companies in South Africa, will open in 2011. It will be performed in Johannesburg, Durban, Bloemfontein, The National Arts Festival and Cape Town. Suitable township venues are being sought to broaden the South African dance audience.

The orchestras which will play for the production are the Johannesburg, KwaZulu-Natal and Cape Philharmonic Orchestras.

“A grand scale Spartacus seemed an impossible dream until I wondered if it would be feasible to mount a production using dancers from as many companies across the country as I could link together,” said Paeper. “From this idea grew the concept of the South African National Dance Trust, which aims to educate the general public nationally on the wonderful of art forms of ballet and dance. To achieve the aims of the Trust the trustees needed to embark on a project and so, after many discussions with all sorts of people, the concept of The Spartacus of Africa evolved,” she added. “The music is that of Aram Khachaturian, and the story has been adapted slightly for an African setting,” said Paeper.

Auditions will be held at Studio 301, Artscape, in Cape Town on September 4 and 5. Registration is from 11h00 with class at 12h00. Ladies to please bring point shoes. (All dancers to hand in a basic CV). Please note required availability: Phase 1 dates of Spartacus are from May to September, 2011. Independent dancers interested in auditioning need to email robyntaylor@iafrica.com to reserve a place for either the Saturday or Sunday audition. More information from Robyn Taylor on 021 797 0593.