Chloé Blair Reworking Table For Two For Meraki Dance Festival

Joburg Ballet Dancer Chloé Blair Is Back In Cape Town

Chloé Blair of Joburg Ballet returns to Cape Town to adapt her Naledi Award-winning work Table for Two for Jazzart Dance Theatre’s inaugural ‘Meraki Dance Festival’, an innovative platform that celebrates all dance forms in South Africa, from 27 February to 1 March 2025 at the Artscape Theatre, Cape Town.

Last in Cape Town for Joburg Ballet’s Scarcity in the company’s first-ever visit to the Mother City in October 2024, the young Joburg Ballet dancer/choreographer was invited back by Averil Barry-Hughes, Managing Director of Jazzart, to adapt and stage Table for Two for Jazzart’s Meraki Dance Festival.

Table for Two, set to Ezio Bosso’s ‘Clouds, The Mind on the (Re)wind’ and Max Richter’s ‘She Remembers’, tells a deeply personal story of a shifting connection between two individuals through moments of ordinary life, offering a portrayal that is both intimate and universal and is a story that artists of all disciplines, environments and backgrounds will recognise.

Blair originally choreographed Table for Two in response to an invitation from Joburg Ballet to any aspiring choreographers amongst the company dancers to produce a new work for the company. Following the success of the original work, she was invited to expand the piece for Dialogues, a three-part season at the Joburg Theatre in 2023, which earned her the 2024 ‘Best Choreography in a Dance, Physical Theatre and Ballet Production’ Naledi Theatre Award.

Blair explains:

“Averil and I discussed the preconceived ideas and segmentation that exists in the dance world between classical and contemporary forms. As we are both intensely interested in human connection and experience, as are the companies we represent, we saw the amazing potential for opportunities for collaboration, not only between the companies, but also the different environments and disciplines.”

“‘Meraki’ means “to do something with soul, creativity or love; to leave a piece…an essence of yourself in your work”, which encapsulates Jazzart’s desire to showcase local, national and international choreographers, to restage repertoire performances, to create a platform where new works can be shared and it’s mission is to celebrate the uniqueness of our bodies as creative instruments, giving voice to our African stories through contemporary dance – and Table for Two is, I think, a perfect fit!”

Blair has a passion for storytelling –

“The idea for this work came to me as I was drinking tea with one of my friends, when it occurred to me how much of our lives happen around a table – we eat, we drink, we share meals, we work, we celebrate, we fight and cry – often around a table. I imagined putting a camera in front of the table on a time lapse – what would I see? Some of the most profound things we say to each other, both spoken and unspoken, happen within the setting of our everyday activities. As a choreographer, I thought it would be fascinating to explore the complexities of feeling between two people at a table, at a very particular point of change in their relationship. I specifically didn’t want to dictate the nature of the relationship, but rather leave space for the audience to imagine, think, reflect and hopefully feel something that resonates with their own relationship experience – whether platonic, romantic, family or their relationship with themselves. Each person’s story is different, but we all end up grappling with the same emotions that come with those changes —nostalgia, frustration, anger, doubt, anguish, vulnerability and hope.”

According to the Meraki Festival Producer, Nwabisa Plaatjie, the inaugural festival programme will present diverse dance styles from contemporary to ballet, will feature the works of established and emerging choreographers and will include workshops and masterclasses. Companies participating in the festival include Cape Ballet Africa, Figure of Eight Dance Theatre and the dancers from Baba Yaya who join Jazzart’s trainees on stage. The festival will spark conversations around different choreographic styles and be the centre stage for the talented professionals to share their skills with emerging choreographers.

Blair is currently rehearsing the dancers at the Jazzart Dance Theatre studio until 23 January.

Show Information:
Meraki Dance Festival

Venue:
Artscape Theatre
27 February to 1 March 2025

Dates & Times:
27 & 28 Feb at 19h30
01 Mar at 14h00 & 19h30

Ticket Prices:
From R150

Bookings:
Through Webtickets and at selected Pick n Pay stores

For more information you can visit Jazzart Dance Theatre’s social media platforms and website.

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