Dancing the tutu dream

30 June 2016 - 08:47 By LEONIE WAGNER

As a child, Kirstel Jensen dreamt of an epic love story involving a dagger and a tutu. Now 28, the ballet dancer will make her lead debut as Juliet in Joburg Ballet's version of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet next month.Jensen will perform as one of the alternating leads, in a cast made up of local and international dancers. Jensen, who still remembers watching the play as a child, said the role was "an absolute dream". Also making his lead debut, as Romeo, is Australia-born dancer Aaron Smyth.Joburg Ballet's artistic director Iain MacDonald said Smyth was one of the company's most popular guest artists because of his "technical brilliance, strong dramatic flair and engaging stage presence".Smyth, 25, said: "It's a dream role for any dancer because it takes you on such an emotional roller coaster. It's also challenging in that you have to be a great actor and a great dancer."Preparing for the role has come with embarrassing moments: Jensen fell on stage and Smyth was prone to costume malfunctions.He said: "Awkward moments are part of a dancer's life. I actually have this curse of getting stuck in my partner's costume. It always happens, with every dance partner."Their real challenge, the duo said, was dealing with the idea that ballet offered very little in terms of a career. Smyth said though there were more ballet companies in Australia he found that there were more job opportunities in other parts of the world and described the Joburg Ballet Company as "a second home".But Jensen cautioned that ballet was physically arduous - the trick was to make the job look easy on stage.Smyth said: "Our job is to make it look effortless, but it's not. In places like London, New York and Russia ballet dancers are celebrities."'Romeo and Juliet' opens on July 15 at the Joburg Theatre in Braamfontein. Tickets are available from R90..

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