BAXTER THEATRE, 8TH AUGUST 2012

Sean Bovim knows a good thing when he sees one—and in this case he knows that he has a winning formula:

Take one vibrant young dance company, sprinkle liberally with distinctive choreography and season with the music of Queen. Pour over this mix the voices of Cito, Daniel Fisher and Magdalene Minnaar, turn up the heat and voila—you have a crowd pleasing product that has been feeding appreciative audiences since 2004.

Though this ballet is not new, we can relish all the characteristics of Bovim’s dance company and enjoy them all once more. It is a happy thought to know that our talented dancers have an option to perform innovative choreography and not have to join the traditional ballet companies or leave the country to showcase their profession, training and talent.

It was such fun seeing certain key elements combining to enhance each other in this production: Sean himself who left the mainstream to forge his own company, Cito who is the front man of the legendary rock band WONDERboom and well known for his role as Jesus in JC Superstar, Devon Marshbank whose first forays into movement were in the world of aerobics, Henk Opperman who burst into our consciousness when he won Dans Dans Dans and who hails from Bloemfontein and of course our own Cape Town trained dancers such as James Bradley, Louisa Talbot, Faye Dubinski, Steven Van Wyk et al. We have watched these people hone their craft and take on the stature and confidence of professional performers and we salute them and take great pleasure in their achievements.

Devon and Henk were convincing and sincere in their portrayals and provided a perfect counterfoil for each other with elements of both playfulness and passion.

That said, we have to confess that there were some shaky moments from some of the dancers on opening night and the words of Dame Margot Fonteyn popped into our minds. She said that if a dancer misses one day of class, they notice it, if they miss two days of class, the other dancers notice it and if they miss three days of class, the audience notices it!

And at this level, it was somewhat alarming to note a ballet shoe with ribbons coming undone—a calamity much frowned upon by ballet teachers the world over and one which we do not expect to find on a professional stage.

But these are small qualms: Above all, the Bovim Ballet Company provides an evening of guaranteed entertainment and pleasure with a satisfying mix of intensity and whimsy. These people do not take themselves seriously but a serious about pleasing their audience.

So if you have seen this production before—go and enjoy it like meeting up with a good old friend and if you haven’t yet seen it, brave the winter chill and make a new friend!

And bonus—be sure to buy a program as this very cleverly is incorporated in a calendar so will be useful and will remind you of these gorgeous dancers till the end of 2013.