If you watched Rambert dance company during the 2000s or 2010s, you’ll have seen the brilliant dancer Dane Hurst. And if you were wondering what he’s up to now, in 2022 he returned to his native South Africa to lead first Jazzart Dance Theatre and now Joburg Ballet. Founded in 2001, Joburg Ballet has an eclectic rep ranging across styles, subjects and continents. Case in point, this showcase begins with cheesy grins and pointe-shoe petit allegro and ends duetting with the severed head of John the Baptist.
The cheesy smiles are for Concerto for Charlie, by South African choreographer Veronica Paeper. Made in 1979, it’s named after Revlon’s Charlie perfume (Revlon was the sponsor). The twee neo-classicism looks dated, but I think there’s an element of knowingness going on in the twinkly dancers, who perform well. It grows on you. Hurst’s own piece Resonance feels a little old fashioned too, with its smooth, easy-on-the-eye, jazzy ballet, nice frocks and saxophone soundtrack, but then it shifts into something more unsettling, tilting between between racial antagonism and the harmony of dancing together; an interesting conjunction of prettiness and ugliness in consideration of South Africa’s history.
