As the last strains of music from Swan Lake faded, ballerina Yu Chuanya returned to stage in Joburg Theater from the wings to take a bow. She was joined by other dancers from China, South Africa, Cuba and the United States. It was April 17, the opening night of the current season, and the first joint performance was greeted with rapturous applause.

The collaboration between the Liaoning Ballet and Joburg Ballet companies in a new production of the classic Swan Lake was the first of its kind. Their 21 performances in South Africa gave audiences the first opportunity to watch such an eclectic group of dancers on stage in a single production.

During the almost one-month tour, art directors, dancers and the crew from the two companies along with guest stars from Cuba and the United States worked together as one large ballet family. They practiced, rehearsed and performed together. They also exchanged cultures. 

Fast learners

The 21 Chinese dancers had only four days to learn the new ballet version and became known as fast learners in the family.

In Liaoning Ballet, ballerina Yu Chuanya plays both Odette, the White Swan Princess, and Odile, the Black Swan, in Swan Lake, as well as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet. Though she retained her roles of the white and black swans in the joint performances, Yu still needed to become familiar with the new version.

She said she had learned a lot from the tour. "They are very professional, expressive and dedicated. I have learned much [that] I was not able to learn elsewhere," she said.

After each performance Yu was swamped by audience members bearing flowers and cards and scrambling for her autograph.

"They greeted us like old friends," she said. "Many would [request] us to pose for pictures after we had signed autographs for them."

On the opening night, Chinese dancer Ma Ming played the Prince who danced with Yu in Act II. A group dancer in Swan Lake in the Liaoning Ballet, it was his big moment. He made his debut as the Prince and Evil Sorcerer in the new production.

Ma said the joint performance gave him the opportunity to learn more, "Playing different roles in a different version means you have to learn from scratch."

Every night, before going to bed, he would go over the whole play in his mind, memorizing his entries, expressions and the angles from where he would have to face the audience.

For Lu Meng, who played the Prince in the Liaoning Ballet version, but was given the roles of the Jester, Evil Sorcerer as well as group dance leader in the new version, it was a tough challenge. To perform so many new roles, Lu had to internalize a lot of information within a short period of time.

But he was up to the challenge. "I wish we have more joint performances like this," Lu said. "A ballet dancer can dance on stage for only a limited period of time. To try out different roles in different versions during that limited time is an experience many dancers wish to have but it is beyond their reach."

Debuting dancers

Many African dancers debuted in the joint performance.

Keke Chele had been portraying Pasha in Le Corsaire, the tale of a swashbuckling pirate, Gamache, the rich nobleman, in Don Quixote, and other roles in contemporary ballets with Joburg Ballet.

He played the Master of Ceremonies in Act III and other roles in the collaborative Swan Lake on the opening night.

"It was my first Swan Lake and it was such a huge production," he said proudly. Like all the other male dancers, Chele also hopes to play the Prince one day.

Brooklyn Mack, a guest star from the United States, played the Prince in Act III in the opening performance. It was the first time he had played the role in Joburg Ballet's Swan Lake version.

"I think it was pretty cool with dancers from Liaoning Ballet and Joburg Ballet, guest stars from Cuba, and me from the United States coming together to do such a huge collaboration," Mack said.

Qu Zijiao, director of Liaoning Ballet, said it was the first time she had taken so many dancers to perform overseas for such a long time. Both she and her troupe felt the warmth of a family while working with their peers at Joburg Ballet.

When Joburg Ballet CEO Dirk Badenhorst found some of the Chinese dancers were not used to Western food, he organized Chinese food and snacks for them.

Initially, Qu was worried about the workload on her dancers. She was pleased to find their techniques and strength improving remarkably during the tour.

She noticed that Joburg Ballet members would invite their fans to tea and hand out souvenirs before each performance. "They treat their fans as family and friends," she remarked. "This helps bring dancers and audiences closer."

Qu said she was impressed with Joburg Ballet's strong technique and team spirit and hoped to have more cooperation with them in future.

Rewarding experience

Badenhorst said Joburg Ballet has learned precision from their Chinese counterparts and the Chinese had also learned something from their classes and experiences in South Africa. He hoped the cooperation would continue. "We have a very good relationship with Cuba [Ballet] and we would love to have something similar with Liaoning Ballet," he said.

According to him, Swan Lake has broken all box-office records with the combined effects of Cuban, American and Chinese dancers plus good marketing making a big impact on ticket sales.

Next year, ballet fans in China are in for a treat. Liaoning Ballet and Joburg Ballet will jointly perform the latter's version of Swan Lake in China. Qu believes the collaboration will find a more receptive market than performances by a single troupe. In addition, the two companies will also exchange teachers, in keeping with the spirit of collaboration and spreading the influence of the ballet. 

(Reporting for South Africa)