Local Profile

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Established in 2001 after the closure of The State Theatre Ballet in 2000, The South African Ballet Theatre (SABT) has forged a central niche in the local dance sector.

The South African Ballet Theatre is a non-profit, Section 21 Company and in June 2008, was awarded the 2007 PetroSA Proudly South African HomeGrown Award for the Nation Builder of the Year.

The South African Ballet Theatre is the country’s largest professional ballet company and has established itself as a major player in the performing arts with impressive productions of classical ballets, new works by South African choreographers and collaborators across international boundaries. International stars such as Mara Galeazzi (Royal Ballet), Guillaume Côté (National Ballet of Canada) and Maina Gielgud (English National Ballet) have worked and performed with SABT.

In addition to the professional company, and under the auspices of The South African Ballet Theatre, the following programmes are managed:

• SABT Company: Two to four major professional productions per year of international standard by SABT as well as annual local tours plus international tours when funding permits. SABT performs annually at local and international arts festivals which include Arts Alive (Johannesburg), Macufe (Bloemfontein), Aardklop (Potchefstroom) and The National Arts Festival (Grahamstown). In 2006 SABT performed at the 6th Moscow International Contemporary Dance Festival.
• Outreach Programmes in Alexandra, Soweto and Katlehong
• An extra-curricular Ballet Academy for high school students and
• A Graduate (apprenticeship) Programme

The SABT is one of the few arts organisations in the country able to offer staff and dancers full – time contracts. This makes for a homogenous feel in the Company’s two to four annual productions on the Opera stage at The SA State Theatre, Pretoria as well as on The Mandela stage at the Joburg Theatre (formerly The Johannesburg Civic Theatre).