National Ballet of Cuba forced to cancel South Africa tour at the eleventh hour
Dirk Badenhorst, director of Mzansi Productions, announced in Johannesburg yesterday that the National Ballet of Cuba has cancelled its planned South African tour which was due to open in Johannesburg tomorrow, Thursday August 30. The SA government funded tour was being produced and facilitated by Mzansi Productions.
In announcing the cancellation of the National Ballet of Cuba‘s highly anticipated first SA tour, Dirk Badenhorst said the National Ballet of Cuba took the decision last night to cancel the tour after the SA government’s ongoing delays in the payment of the funding required to secure and arrange the tour and in providing assistance with the logistical details required for the tour.
Plans for this year’s National Ballet of Cuba tour to South Africa, in which the SA government requested to play a central role in line with South Africa’s long standing close historical ties with Cuba during the years of South Africa’s struggle for democracy, started between the National Ballet of Cuba and South Africa in 2010.
Dirk Badenhorst, who has piloted and propelled South Africa’s growing cultural ties with Cuba since 2008, expressed deep disappointment at the cancellation of the tour.
via The Citizen Online
Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Carla Fracci.
Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.
He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.
