Cape Town Ballet Classes - Ballet for Adults at the Cape Academy of Performing Arts - South Africa

Former British Ballet Dancer, Andrew Warth

Ballet for Adults at CAPA in Westlake, Cape Town

If you have always wanted to learn ballet or have a basic training in ballet and want to get back into it to keep fit, Ballet for Adults is the programme for you. Devised by Cape Academy of Performing Arts (CAPA) resident ballet master Andrew Warth, Ballet for Adults is ideal for students in their late teens and adults who are keen to enjoy the benefits − and the environment − of the ballet class.

Ballet is more than pure exercise. It develops poise and body awareness while promoting better posture, balance and coordination. It improves muscle flexibility, helps relieve stress and, because it's taught in a group setting, provides the opportunity for dancers to interact with each other and have fun.

For dancers of all ages and experience

Ballet for Adults is pitched at the level of fitness, age and experience of the dancers in the class. The Wednesday class is geared for beginners (but does not exclude the more advanced dancer) while the Monday class follows a faster pace for those with a more solid grounding.

Classes are taught by Mervyn Williams of Cape Town City Ballet and are accompanied by a pianist whenever possible. CAPA is in the heart of Westlake Business Park and offers secure off-street parking.

Classes are on Monday and Wednesday from 7pm−8.15pm and cost R70. If you’d like to join Ballet for Adults, please contact Andrew on 083 261 9599 or email warth@telkomsa.net.

About Andrew Warth

Andrew trained at The Legat School of Russian Ballet in the south of England before taking up his first professional engagement with the Essener Ballet Company in Germany.

Four years later, he joined the German Opera on Rhein in Düsseldorf under the direction of former Bejart principal dancer Paolo Bortoluzzi. He worked with some of the classical dance world’s best known choreographers such as Hans van Manen, Uwe Scholtz, Peter Breuer, Heinz Spoerli and Tom Schilling.

In 1991, Andrew moved to Cape Town, South Africa, to dance with CAPAB Ballet Company (now Cape Town City Ballet) under the direction of Veronica Paeper. In 1998, he toured South Africa twice with the musical Queen at the Opera and was cast as Phaedra, the lead Cagelle, in Janice Honeymoon's production of La Cage aux Folles at The Civic Theatre, Johannesburg.

Following a tour to Taiwan with the Durban-based Fantastic Flying Fish Dance Company, Andrew returned to Cape Town and successfully graduated from the UCT School of Dance with a professional dance teacher's diploma. He then rejoined Cape Town City Ballet as part of the small management team. In 2003, Andrew took himself and Cape Town City Ballet into the Guinness Book of World Records with the world's biggest ballet class 530 professional and student dancers participated in the class in front of thousands of people at Cape Town's Canal Walk Shopping Centre. In August 2008, he bettered this record with a class of 989 dancers.

Andrew has served as ballet master at the Cape Academy of Performing Arts since 2002. He currently teaches ballet for the Zama Dance School Trust in Gugulethu under the direction of artistic director Arlene Westergaard.

Wondering what to wear?

If you already have tights, leotard and ballet shoes, you're ready to go. If not, snug-fitting tracksuit pants and a loose fitting T-shirt or sweat shirt will be perfect. Old socks make good ballet shoes and if you have long hair, remember to tie it up. A tight-fitting waist elastic will help keep your pants up during stretch exercises and a small sweat towel will complete your look!

Directions

Classes are held at the Cape Academy of Performing Arts (CAPA) in Westlake Business Park. Take the M3 from town towards Tokai. At the top of that off ramp, turn right at the T-junction; cross over the highway and take the next right turn into Westlake Business Park. At the roundabout, drive straight through to the security boom. Tell the guard you're going to CAPA. Go straight along that road and take the first left. The studios are next to the Charlotte Rhys factory shop.