[WATCH] Dancers wow Mullies
CuDanSA hosted a workshop at a local primary school with their top Cuban dancers.
Cuban Dance South Africa (CuDanSA) hosted a ballet workshop at Laerskool Muldersdrif on Monday, 12 September.
CuDanSA was brought to South Africa for the purpose of establishing the Cuban ballet methodology in this country. The programme stems from the Training Teachers in the Townships Programme, and is under the auspices of the South African International Ballet Competition.
A number of children who have been undergoing training in the Cuban dance methodology for the past few months demonstrated their newly learned skills to their school.
Maria de los Angeles Torguet Quintanilla, who has been based in South Africa for 20 months, has already taught students in townships and suburbs in Soweto, Randfontein, Ennerdale and Ekurhuleni. Maria qualified at the National Ballet School of Cuba and specialises in the training of young children and teachers.
Dancers Dayana Hardy and Juan Carlos Hern’andez Osma, both of whom have made a name for themselves in South Africa, having danced with the Joburg Ballet, also performed for the pupils.
Following their tenure in South Africa, they will be dancing in Russia. Juan Carlos also performed to acclaim earlier this year in the Ballet Gala at the fifth South African International Ballet Competition. At the end of the workshop, they will treat the children taking part to a performance of the well-loved pas de deux from Le Corsaire.
Dirk Badenhorst, CEO of the South African International Ballet Competition, officially launched a cultural interchange with dance institutions in Cuba with the support of the Cuban Ministry of Culture and the South African Departments of Arts and Culture and International Cooperation, because the Cuban training method is particularly suited to our multi-cultural society, which is very similar to that of Cuba. The two countries have worked together for the past 20 years, under the 20/20 agreement, and ballet is now part of this ongoing cooperative arrangement.
It takes years of specialised coaching to prepare a dancer to meet the demands of the professional arena. The Cuban method not only ensures the continuous fitness levels required from a professional ballet dancer (said to be on par with that of Olympic athletes) but is also aimed at injury prevention and recovery. The Cuban training methodology has produced ballet super-stars who dance in ballet companies all over the world. These dancers include Juan Carlos (mentioned earlier), Carlos Acosta (Royal Ballet, UK), Jose Manuel Carena (American Ballet Theatre), Osiel Gouneo (Norwegian National Ballet), and the legendary Alicia Alonso, who is the head of the Cuban National Ballet.
Classes take place on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at LS Muldersdrif from 2pm until 5.30pm for children between the ages of six and eighteen.
For more information, contact Dirk Badenhorst on 083 324 0949 or email badenhorstdirk.db@gmail.com.
