UPCOMING EVENTS & WHAT'S NEW

Launched as an initiative of Dirk Badenhorst in 2008, the first South African International Ballet Competition (SAIBC) was held in the city that year, the second in 2010, the third in 2012 and the fourth in 2014. The fifth SAIBC takes place from 22 to 28 February 2016 at the Artscape Opera House, Cape Town, South Africa.

Dirk Badenhorst is a major player in the South African ballet and dance, having served as a founding member and the first CEO of the South African Ballet Theatre, subsequently as founder and director of the Johannesburg-based ballet and dance company, Mzansi Productions and, following the merger of the South African Ballet Theatre and Mzansi Production, CEO of the new company, Joburg Ballet.

Since the founding of the SAIBC, Dirk Badenhorst has continued to strengthen his ties with the ballet world at an international level, with exchange projects with various countries, most notably Cuba, China and South Korea, as the Africa representative for the Royal Academy of Dance, and as a judge at various international ballet competitions.

The SAIBC is the only international ballet competition on the African continent, attracting talented dancers from many countries to one of the most beautiful cities in the world to compete in the city’s opera house for gold, silver and bronze medals as well as substantial monetary prizes on a par with other major international ballet competitions.