SOUTH AFRICA: PROFESSIONAL DANCER PHILLIP BOYD TEACHES BALLET TO YOUNGSTERS FROM DEPRIVED AREAS OF CAPE TOWN.

Record ID: 392794

  • Title: SOUTH AFRICA: PROFESSIONAL DANCER PHILLIP BOYD TEACHES BALLET TO YOUNGSTERS FROM DEPRIVED AREAS OF CAPE TOWN.
  • Date: 1st May 2002
  • Summary: SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) CAPE TOWN BALLET ARTISTIC DIRECTOR VERONICA PAEPER SAYING "I don't think the company members expected what they are seeing now. And yesterday they came to rehearse with the company for the first time and they were absolutely bowled over. I was too." (4.19)
  • Embargoed: 16th May 2002 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: SOUTH AFRICA: GUGELETHU, KAYALITSHA, AND CAPE TOWN
  • Country: South Africa
  • Topics: Arts,General
  • Reuters ID: LVA4GBHI37NPI65BY4GC2IGYMATH
  • Story Text: Ballet, leotards and classical music would not normally be associated with tough township life in South Africa. Yet one professional dancer, Phillip Boyd, has been inspired to introduce youngsters from the deprived areas to 18th century dance steps.
    Zandile is totally immersed in the music. While practising such difficult steps, she and her fellow dancers must shut out any distractions.
    Phillip Boyd is the director of
    "Dance for All". It's a programme that brings ballet to the townships of South Africa.
    Nine years ago, Phillip a former professional ballet dancer, was watching a traditional dance event in one of the townships. It opened his eyes to the children's natural abilities.
    "There is an incredible talent that is right at our doorstep. We don't want to lose this talent to other countries. We need to keep, we need to nurture it. We need to look after it. We need to attain what we have. We need to develop further what we have. Which is really special," said said.
    Leotards and classical music are a very different world from the one Zandile lives in.
    After dance class, Zandile goes home to Gugelethu township where she lives with her grandparents.
    Although her grandfather, Ben Ngonyane, has never seen her dance, and knows nothing about ballet, he believes that Zandile will soon improve the family's living standards.
    "I am waiting for the money, I told her. I waiting for lot of money. You got to make it and bring it here when you get it," he said.
    High expectations from a family struggling to get by. His son, Zandile's father, is unemployed and only comes to visit occasionally. He also doesn't know what ballet is, but hopes it will give his daughter a better start to life.
    "Just moving into the kitchen and coming back doing like that, I don't know this kind of a dance, it's nice," said Ndandazo Ngonyane.
    Ballet has never been a part of traditional African culture. And it's even more unlikely that boys growing up in such tough neighbourhoods would take to it. But for the hundreds of teenagers participating in this programme it's more than just dancing, it offers them a new way of life.
    "It has helped me a lot, with my school work and everything," said Zandile Constable.
    Nceba Jonas, a male ballet dancer agrees.
    "If I didn't start my dancing may be I could end up in jail, maybe I am not sure. Because there is a lot of things happening there in the township that we are not doing now because of the ballet. It keeps us safe from the streets, house breaking, everything, hijacking," said Nceba.
    He is not exaggerating. He's lived in his grandmother's shack ever since escaping from the abuse of alcoholic parents six years ago.
    All the black members of Dance for All come from South Africa's townships. The slum dwellings are home to over 1.5 million people. Unemployment and crime is high and children often drift into gang life, drugs and alcohol.
    But these children have adapted quickly to their new environment, and even gone beyond the initial dance routines.
    But not everyone has been as enthusiastic as Boyd and his students.
    "There has been lots of criticism with us teaching classical ballet in the black community because lot of people say blacks have got big feet, they've got big bums, you know... nonsense!" Boyd said.
    "They have an immense sense of rhythm which none of us have, it is an inbred thing," he added.
    For the kids the benefits are increasingly clear - over a dozen have earned scholarships to top Cape Town schools through Dance for All.
    And when they aren't hitting the books, they are hard at work on the dance floor. This time they are rehearsing alongside English and South African professional dancers. The upcoming production is 'Romeo and Juliet'.
    Veronica Paeper is the artistic director of Cape Town Ballet Company.
    "I don't think the company members expected what they are seeing now. And yesterday they came to rehearse with the company for the first time and they were absolutely bowled over. I was too," she said.
    Praise straight from the top, and also valuable words of encouragement for teenagers dancing their way to a brighter and better future.
    -ENDS-
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