By BRUCE DENNILL
Mzansi Ballet: Heal The World / Choreography: Angela Revie / Pieter Toerien’s Montecasino Theatre, Fourways, Johannesburg
Michael Jackson, thanks to the high-profile biopic of the singer currently on circuit, has rarely been more in the news since the singer’s passing in 2009. As such, the timing of launching a new, original dance production set to his music could scarcely be better.
This production, however, faces a couple of challenges upfront, in terms of the expectations it creates for audiences. The poster declares, “MICHAEL JACKSON” above the title, which is, of course, the title of a well-known Michael Jackson hit song. And the image on the poster is of Michael Jackson in one of his iconic poses.
All of this means, for the show’s first act, that the narrative created to showcase Angela Revie’s choreography and the company’s talent and training, is ambiguous at best and confusing at worst, with Jackson-related music, costumes and, in parts, movement. The story follows, to begin with, an unnamed girl (Mikayla van Heerde) struggling with bad dreams, loneliness and melancholy, using songs such as Thriller and Childhood to give structure to the child’s feelings and to provide the score for the dancers’ steps. In the second act there is, as you’d expect, some redemption (using the same raw materials, but with a change in tone and mood). Understanding that the show is the story of the young girl, not Jackson himself, changes how the onstage action is received, though in that scenario, making a child the focus of a Jackson-informed plot still feels somewhat uncomfortable, given the many controversies that the singer’s lifestyle inspired in his latter years.
Beyond all of that, the most striking parts of Michael Jackson’s output are his music and his distinctive dancing. For Heal The World, the sound design is excellent. Rather than simply creating a playlist of hits – appealing but safe – Mzansi Ballet have edited together a score that combines hooks and large segments of a wide range of songs from Jackson’s back catalogue in slick and enjoyably unpredictable ways that help to keep the pace of the story ticking over well and to keep the dancers on their toes (pun intended) as the choreography switches from slow, smooth and lyrical to more energetic and aggressive, both fresh and original and knowingly redolent of well-known moves from Jackson’s stage shows and music videos.
The execution of some of the choreography suggests a slightly distracted focus on the specifics of rehearsed moves rather than a total confidence in preparation and personal talent, which may be a function of the company, in general, being relatively inexperienced. There are highlights, though: Revie’s personal interludes are elegant, precise and expressive; Ariel Mejica’s muscular build translates to impressive height on leaps; Kiana Prinsloo does well as the child character’s mother; and Van Heerde – just 14 years old – makes a case for many more lead roles with an assured, animated performance. And the mirror surrounds in the The Way You Make Me Feel sequence make the cast feel much bigger; almost like a scene from A Chorus Line.
David Hutt’s costumes are lavish and varied, with a whole set dedicated to just the segment after the curtain call, in which the company enthusiastically interacts with the audience and communicates a joy in the movement and music that the more tightly arranged parts of the production haven’t necessarily allowed to the same extent.
This, then, is a piece with a touch of schizophrenia – plenty to like visually and aurally even as you perhaps struggle to satisfy a desire for a clear-cut feel and focus.