(Above: Jane Cross and Val Adamson who were unable
to attend the gala awards evening in Cape Town in July 2024, are seen receiving
their SAIBC Recognition Awards from SAIBC Co-Chair Andrew Gilder)
On Mandela Day July 18, 2020, the 7th South African Ballet International Ballet Competition (SAIBC) came to a close with a spectacular Gala featuring dancers from across the globe and presented virtually through an app in a ground breaking move hailed as a world first. The finale event paid tribute to the dancer, creative and LGBTQI+ activist Kirvan Fortuin who was tragically murdered in Cape Town last month.
Gala performers included this year’s double gold medallists Xinyue Zhao, 20 (Junior category) and Chongzheng Guan, 21 (Senior category) from the National Ballet of China and several SAIBC alumni such as Swiss-based South African dancers Leroy Mokgatle and Joshua Williams, Antonio Casalinho and Margarita Fernandes from Portugal, Aaron Smyth from Australia, and Annija Kopstale and Elza Leimane from Latvia.
The 2020 Jury was led by Chair Ted Brandsen, Artistic Director of Dutch National Ballet in The Netherlands. Joining him was an illustrious panel that included Runqiao Du, Artistic Director of the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, USA; Roberta Martins from the Zürich Dance Academy in Switzerland; South African Thoriso Magongwa from the National Theatre of Brno in the Czech Republic; Charlene Campbell Carey, President of Ballet Without Borders and Artistic Director of Rocky Mountain Ballet Theatre; Professor Geung Soo Kim, the President of the Ballet Society in South Korea; Madame Feng Ying the Director from the National Ballet of China in Beijing; Martha Iris Fernandez Aguero Deputy Director from National Ballet School in Havana, Cuba; Annarella Sánchez, head of the Annarella Institute of Ballet & Dance in Portugal and Christoph Böhm from the Berlin State Ballet School in Germany.
Pictured above receiving their awards from Andrew Gilder, SAIBC Co-Chair, at the foot of the grand staircase in The Playhouse (Durban) are:
-Jane Cross (blue shirt) for being a leading exponent of the highest quality ballet stage production, rivalling if not the best in South Africa.
-Val Adamson for her work as one of the country's leading ballet and dance photographers.
The SAIBC thanks Jane and Val and the other Recognition Award winners for their enduring legacy in the history of South African ballet.
155 competitors were adjudicated this year, the largest number of entries received since the SAIBC’s inception in 2008. Male and female dancers competed separately in three categories: Scholars (age 12-15), Juniors (age 16-20) and Seniors (age 21-28). Medals, bursaries and scholarships to ballet schools and summer intensive programmes at some of the finest dance training institutions in the world were awarded and also entry into other ballet competitions. Because of the challenges faced during the global COVID19 Lockdown there were no elimination rounds this year.
The top scoring country was China with 17 medals followed by South Korea with seven winners.
For more information visit the SAIBC website at www.saibc.com