CAPE TOWN'S.

DANCE FOR ALL

Theo Ndindwa and Nozuko Damane share more than their passion for ballet. Besides being cousins, both grew up in the township of Gugulethu near Cape Town in South Africa. But, most important, they share a dream of becoming principal ballet dancers in South Africa. Making their dream a reality will mean plenty of hard work. But they simply shrug their shoulders, smile, and say, "Ballet is my life."

Tchaikovsky and arabesques are a far cry from the dusty, barren township streets that were their childhood playground and where their friends hang out after school. But for Theo and Nozuko, finding ballet has enriched their lives--it has taken them out of the aimlessness and frustration experienced by many township teenagers, channeling their energy and talent into something they love. It gives them a strong sense of achievement.

Theo's and Nozuko's lives are different because of a new, inclusive program in South Africa: Dance For All. This unusual educational program is run by the Cape Town City Ballet with the help of Philip Boyd, a former principal dancer with the Cape Performing Arts Board Ballet. According to Boyd, "These children have so little to look forward to. Their reality is not pleasant--there's crime, violence, and unemployment. We can't change the injustice and deprivation of the past, but we can give them the chance to experience something beautiful."

After school, when many other children have nothing constructive to do, the Dance For All students crowd into one of the classrooms at Yomelela Primary School in Gugulethu. A poster of ballerinas in silver-white tutus dancing Swan Lake is the only indication that the room is used for dance. Their teacher arrives to a cacophony of noise and movement until the music for their exercises starts.

When barre begins, some students hold on to shelves, some to the blackboard chalk holder, and one young boy even rests his hand on a floor polisher. On almost every face there's effort and concentration, the occasional shy smile to excuse a mistake. There's also a chance at the end of the class to let rip with some jazz and African dance. Dance is so much a part of African culture that it's not unusual for at least half the class to be made up of boys.

The teachers have impressive backgrounds. Fiona Sutton danced with the London City Ballet and jazz dancer Edmund Thwaites hails from Mannenberg. They're assisted by Nadia Krylova, a soloist with the Bolshoi Ballet for twenty years, who also coached the renowned ice-skating duo Torville and Dean. "It's a wonderful experience for me," she says. "I want to share my knowledge, and in return I learn so much. Though it's hard to communicate with the pupils in words, it doesn't matter because everyone understands dance and body language." Assistants Lorraine Ndindwa and Hope Nongqongqo, experienced dancers themselves, are always there to guide and to translate into isiXhosa.

The students are not just having fun--their teachers are making sure that their talent is being nurtured. That's one of the aims of the Dance For All program: to give talented children the opportunity to develop and perhaps even to dance professionally. Theo and Nozuko are among the first students offered the chance to attend schools that teach ballet, allowing them to spend more time dancing. They also attend dance classes at the University of Cape Town's ballet school; Theo had a minor role in their recent production of Coppelia.

Neither of them sees anything strange about Africans dancing ballet. "It's like anyone who's not Spanish doing Spanish dancing--why shouldn't they?" Nozuko says.

Theo admits he's been teased for dancing. It was hard for him to miss soccer matches as a penalty for missing practices that clashed with ballet classes. But it doesn't bother him anymore. "I don't really care what others think. If they can't accept that I do ballet, they might as well not accept me. I'm so glad I found ballet this early on in my life because I have a real sense of focus and direction, unlike mast other people my age," he says. "Through everything, I've matured and I realize I have to make the best of what I have--and I feel really lucky to have ballet and a future to work toward. Though I want to put something back into dance in South Africa, my dream is to perform all over the world."

Since he started ballet six years ago, Theo has progressed quickly, awing to the demand of absolute perfection which he places on himself. "I don't see myself at a certain level and then feel happy with that. I push myself all the time. If I do a pirouette, I turn as many times as I can; if I leap, I leap as high and as far as I can. Seeing myself improve has given me confidence and now l can't wait to get lead roles. I just believe that if someone else can do it, so can I."

Nozuko is similarly self-motivated. She decided at the age of ten that she wanted to be a ballerina. She knew it was her calling the first time she saw a ballet at the main theater in Cape Town. "Philip [Boyd] took a group of us along and when I saw the ballerina dancing the main role, I thought, `That's what I want to do.'" Nozuko's dream hasn't changed and she is closer to making it a reality. "The people in my community are so proud of me and they always encourage me to keep it up and to become the first black solo ballerina in South Africa." Along the way, she's had to deal with some difficulties. The first time Nozuko performed onstage, she wore a false bun because her hair is short. "My friends laughed at me and I cried because I was so embarrassed. Now I wear my hair as it is." Nozuko has also had to leave home to attend boarding school, so that she can attend regular ballet classes.

The dancers, including Theo and Nozuko, rehearse at the Masakhane Center in Gugulethu, where Boyd offers advice and guidance. Boyd insists that "the magic has to come from inside them." When they're onstage, be it on a mobile truck with a fold-dawn floor set up on a field in Nyanga township, in a school quadrangle, or on the stage of the Nico Opera House in Cape Town, one thing is clear--they love what they're doing.

Gillian Warren-Brown is the assistant editor of Leadership Magazine in Cape Town, South Africa.