Cape Town City Ballet


The Cape Town City Ballet Company, formerly known as the CAPAB Ballet Company, is based in Cape Town, South Africa.

History

The Cape Town City Ballet originated from the UCT Ballet Company, which was established by Dulcie Howes in 1934. Notably, it was involved in the founding of Maynardville Open-Air Theatre on 1 December 1950, with its opening performance of Les Sylphides. It later took over management of that theatre's ballet performances, in 1963.
The company became the CAPAB Ballet Company under the directorship of David Poole. The company benefitted from government spending on the arts and its 60-strong company staged lavish productions at the Artscape Theatre Centre previously known as the Nico Malan in Cape Town and toured to the 1820 Settlers National Monument Theatre in Grahamstown, the Civic Theatre in Johannesburg, and the Port Elizabeth Opera House. However, funding stopped in 1994 and in 1997 the company became a non-profit organisation with the name Cape Town City Ballet under the leadership of Elizabeth Triegaardt, who is both the executive director of the company and the director of the UCT School of Dance.

Notable members

These have included the following dancers:
Cape Town City Ballet mainly performs versions of traditional classics reworked by resident choreographer, Veronica Paeper.

2003