When the world starts coming apart at the seams, the arts always steps in to mend hearts and minds or, for that matter, to protest. Artists like U2 use their massive reach to create protest music and tackle politicians head-on while the performing arts, like ballet, can take audiences through an escape hatch for a while, and still make a powerful social statement.
The Mzansi Ballet Company is doing just that, using Michael Jackson’s music to entertain, unpack and frame the burdens that we carry, and the weight of the world. But with it, a measure of lightness. It’s a message that forms the undertone of Heal the World, the company’s latest production opening at the Pieter Toerien Theatre at Montecasino from 13 May to 7 June.
While the soundtrack draws from some of the most recognisable music ever produced, the intention runs deeper than a reworking of familiar hits. The production takes those songs and threads them through a story of memory, survival and, ultimately, something resembling acceptance. Company managing director Dirk Badenhorst said the idea behind the ballet had less to do with spectacle and more to do with what the arts can offer when people feel worn down. “Even before I knew who the choreographers were, I wanted to talk about the healing and the value of healing that can be achieved through the arts and through ballet,” he said.
The arts can heal
The show’s narrative sees a prima ballerina revisiting a childhood shaped by neglect, bullying and loss. It is not presented as a neat, linear narrative but instead the story pulls from lived experiences within the company, drawing on the dancers’ own histories as much as the scripted character on stage. “We’ve taken these very personal stories from the people performing in the company, from the children we’re teaching,” Badenhorst said. “Nothing can be more true than being vulnerable and exposing what you feel, on stage.”
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Badenhorst said that the dancers were given space to shape how those moments are expressed. “There are many moments on stage where the dancers get to tell their own story. They get to expose their own truth,” he said. The staging, he said, feels like a dreamlike world, with sequences that feel deliberately unsettled. “There are many moments where it’s quite strange and not real life. We have creatures and things like that,” Badenhorst said, adding that lighting will play a key role in bringing those scenes to life once the production moves into the theatre.
Michael Jackson’s music anchors it all. Songs like Smooth Criminal, Thriller, Black or White and Heal the World are not simply layered over choreography, but used to guide it. “His music tells its own stories,” said Badenhorst. “Before you hear the words, you get the whole sense within the music.”
Before you hear the words you sense the music
Badenhorst was also somewhat blunt about using pop instead of classical ballet to attract new audiences. He said that ballet still carries a perception of being out of reach for many, something the company has been working to address for some time. “Often we have audience members who didn’t want to come to the ballet, then did, and they thoroughly enjoyed it,” he said. “The Michael Jackson Heal The World show is a ballet for all, young and old, and it’s going to be beautiful for everybody,” he said.
Tickets are available through Webtickets.
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