Artists pay tribute to rags to riches ballet legend Johaar Mosaval
From District Six to Covent Garden — the life and achievements of ballet legend Johaar Mosaval were celebrated at the recent Suidooster Festival in Cape Town. Born during apartheid into a religious community that rejected ballet, and far too short to be a principal dancer, Mosaval nonetheless became the first Muslim principal dancer of colour to join The Royal Ballet company in England. Performed in honour of his 90th birthday, which was celebrated in January, The Johaar Mosaval Journey was presented by Cape Town City Ballet at Artscape, the theatre complex (then named Nico Malan) where Mosaval made history in 1976 by being the first black dancer to perform there. Grant van Ster, a young choreographer who has built up a solid reputation through his Figure of Eight Dance Collective, produced and choreographed the tribute. He has recently put his creative stamp on big-budget stage productions such as West Side Story and Aunty Merle, The Musical. "People often compare Johaar to Nijinsk...
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