……BILLY SUTER…...
MORE than 100 dancers of all ages will take to Durban’s Playhouse Opera stage this weekend – September 11 to 13 – for five performances of this year’s Shall We Dance, the shimmering showcase for various dance styles that has been a hugely popular Durban drawcard for more than three decades.
Presented by the South African Dance Teachers’ Association in association with The Playhouse Company, the show is, once again, put together by dancers Caryl Cusens and Neville Letard.
The colourful celebration of dance combines 10 dance styles and sees professional dancers share the stage with Durban dance studios, and students from Durban’s International School of Performing Arts. The array of dance includes ballroom, ballet, Bollywood, Irish, hip-hop and Latin.
Returning for their second appearance at Shall We Dance are international Latin American dance stars Egor Kondratenko and Mie Lincke Funch – hot off their European and Asian competition floor. Representing Denmark, the duo have a busy calendar, having just finished fifth in Denmark, third in Vietnam. They will soon compete in the Grand Slam and German Opens.
Durban singer-actress Lisa Bobbert returns as MC of the show, while professional ballroom dancers, Mark and Edlena Leslie-Smith, will be making their debut as a featured couple in this year’s extravaganza. The husband-and-wife team has been dancing for a quarter of a century, but only a couple of years in the professional realm. They recently danced in Belgium, Canada and Spain, and most recently in Japan at the World Professional Ballroom Dance Championships.
Tickets for Shall We Dance, for which booking is via Webtickets, range in price from R150 to R200 (R150 throughout for the 11am Sunday performance). Show times are: Friday, September 11, at 7pm; Saturday, September 12, at 1pm and 5pm; and Sunday, September 13, at 11am and 3pm.
.....SoSuterBill..... 