The Dance Trust of Zimbabwe (DTZ) will on Saturday present a locally-produced ballet titled “Pocahontas” featuring dancers from its various arms at Reps Theatre. The ballet has been choreographed and devised by Gail Boardman and directed by Clare Hingeston, who are both well-known local dance teachers.
Dancers from the National Ballet, Tumbuka and Dance Foundation Course star in the show, along with a guest performer from The Repertory Players, Stephane Thomas while the lead role is danced by Timikha Fisher, a soloist of the National Ballet and member of the June Cloete Academy of Dance.
After the opening night performance on Wednesday, the DTZ honoured Cloete as one of its longest serving teacher-choreographer-examiners after having served the National Ballet for 35 years.
“Here’s to the past 35 years and to many more years of Miss June’s participation in the world of dance in Zimbabwe,” she said.
Addressing guests at a special ceremony, DTZ board member Alyson Vigoriti paid tribute to Cloete, who has become popularly known by the name “Miss June”, saying she had brought into the world of dance a great many talented Zimbabweans, many of whom have achieved international success in either performance or teaching.
Vigoriti commended the dance community for rebuilding the Ballet Centre, which last year suffered a roof collapse and required a major fundraising exercise, which is still underway, to collect money to pay for rebuilding.
Pocahontas tells the story of the young native American woman who famously fell in love with English explorer John Smith, and the ballet features music from the 1994 Disney film Pocahontas, as well as from several classical music pieces.
Each year the Dance Trust presents either a dance variety show or a full-length ballet mid-year, following on its Hifa show and ahead of its Starlight Dancing extravaganza, always held in late September.
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“This year’s event is ambitious in that it is not an adaptation of a ballet produced by a well-known international choreographer and director, and shows that local talent extends beyond dancing and teaching into the field of advanced choreography,” said Reps Chairman of marketing and publicity, Stan Higgins.
