Competitors arrive for the Genée International Ballet Competition

Dancers are already going through their paces at the UCT School of Dance, where they are working with Genée coaches Lynn Wallis, Christopher Hampson and choreographer Kirsten Isenberg. They are fine-tuning their classical and neoclassical variations before the semi-finals on Thursday, 6 and Friday, 7 October (10.30am to 3.30pm), and culminating in the final on Sunday, 9 October at 6.30pm at Artscape.

This year there are 36 entrants (30 female and six male) participating this year from SA, the US, Canada, Wales, Scotland, Israel, Malaysia, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Cyprus and Spain. Several South Africans have entered: Capetonians Cleo Ames and Cindy Okkers; Caitlin Smith from East London; Mlindi Kulashe and Ashley Scott both from the Mother City, but who are currently studying at the English National Ballet School; and Gabrielle Fairhead, who is based in Switzerland.

Audience vote

For this competition, candidates must be trained in the RAD method. All entrants have the chance to work with and learn from distinguished dance professionals and choreographers over the five intensive days of the competition. Those selected as finalists will compete for a Gold, Silver or Bronze medal in the final, as well as significant prize money: R50 000, R30 000 and R20 000, respectively. The male and female entrants are judged separately, and during the second interval at the final, the audience will be given the opportunity to vote for its favourite dancer, by means of a voting form which will be contained in the event programme. Votes will be counted, and the "audience favourite" announced from stage at the end of the event.

This year the judges are David Nixon, OBE, the artistic director of Northern Ballet, Professor Elizabeth Triegaardt, the CEO of Cape Town City Ballet and Iain MacDonald, the artistic director of the South African Ballet Theatre in Johannesburg. Nixon will chair the panel of judges. Luke Rittner, the chief executive of the RAD since 1999, will hand out the awards at the final.

Three solos

Competitors perform three solos, a 19th-century classical repertoire variation and a 20th-century variation by Kenneth MacMillan or Frederick Ashton. The coach for the 20th-century variations is Lynn Wallis, the artistic director of the RAD and for the 19th-century variations is UK choreographer and teacher Christopher Hampson. Kirsten Isenberg from Cape Town, and formerly a dancer with Cape Town City Ballet and Bovim Ballet, has been commissioned to create the two neoclassical variations for the male and female entrants. These will be notated by former CAPAB Ballet principal dancer, Eduard Greyling, using the Benesh Movement Notation method to ensure the solos are saved for artistic and educational purposes.

The Genée experience is enhanced with the inclusion of two wraparound events - the Genée Dance Challenge, a national dance challenge for young dancers, and Sizodanisa-Let's Dance!, a community dance project managed by Cape Town City Ballet. Sizodanisa will give established community dance projects the chance to broaden their students' experience through workshops and classes, culminating in a free performance at Arstcape on 5 October at 3pm. The Genée Dance Challenge is on Saturday, 8 October at 5pm and at this event, Cape Town City Ballet dancers will present excerpts from their forthcoming seasons of Solitaire and Graduation Ball.

Tickets for the semi-finals and Genée Dance Challenge cost R120 per person and from R200 to R350 for the final, all via Computicket or Artscape Dial-A-Seat on +27 (0)21 421 7695 with group booking discounts available. Cape Town City Ballet will perform a new piece at the final called Celebration.

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