It’s always something special to go to the ballet, more so during the month of love when you can treat (or be treated by) your significant other. This year at Maynardville, watch one of the first romantic ballets ever written under a star-lit sky. Picnic in the park on a balmy summer’s evening, before taking your seats for the evening’s performance and seeing the gossamer-light sylphs will come out to play.
Composed by Herman Lǿvenskjold, originally choreographed by August Bournonville and performed for your viewing pleasure by the exceptional cast of Cape Town City Ballet, La Sylphide is a two-act ballet set in the Scottish Highlands. It tells the tale of a young Scottish farmer named James, who falls in love with a magical and beautiful woodland spirit, or ‘sylph’.
Through a series of events, James abandons his human bride-to-be and follows the sylph into the woods, binding her wings so that he can keep her for himself. However, when he wraps the fabric given to him by an old witch around the sylph‘s shoulders, her wings fall off and she dies, leaving him heartbroken and alone.
Although it may sound a little tragic for a romantic evening, the music, magical sylphs, exquisite dancing and unrivalled setting makes this night at the ballet something extra-special.
The season runs every Sunday evening until 22 February, beginning at 8:15 pm. But arrive early to enjoy your own magical picnic on the sprawling lawns.
OF NOTE
Where Maynardville Park, Piers Road, Wynberg
Cost Tickets are R120–R140 and available from Computicket or at the door on the night of the performance.
Contact +27 21 410 9800, www.artscape.co.za
Photography Courtesy
&Troy Ashton Futter Melanie Löser