On Monday 16 May, Andile Ndlovu, who hails from Johannesburg, South Africa, was awarded the silver medal in the prestigious Boston International Ballet Competition (BIBC).

Ndlovu will be performing in the upcoming International Ballet Gala at the GrandWest Arena in Cape Town on 29 June and at the Teatro at Montecasino in Fourways, Johannesburg from 7 to 10 July.

Andile Ndlovu was last seen onstage in South Africa in the 2010 Cape Town International Ballet Competition (CTIBC) where he was awarded the Special Jury Prize in recognition of his outstanding talent. He was also the joint gold medalist in the senior contemporary section of the inaugural South African International Ballet Competition in 2008. In 2009 he joined The Washington Ballet, dancing in ballets by such celebrated choreographers such as George Balanchine, Twyla Tharp and Christopher Bruce. In October last year he was awarded the Metro DC Dance Award for Outstanding Emerging Performer.

Ndlovu’s dance career began at age 10 with classes in Latin American and ballroom dancing. At age 15 he began his ballet training with Martin Schonberg and in 2007, he performed with the South African Ballet Theatre in various roles including Basilio in Don Quixote and the Jester in Swan Lake, and was a guest artist with Cape Town City Ballet. He joined Mzansi Productions in 2009 for their first season of Somebody To Love: A Dance Celebration to the Music of Queen, choreographed by Debbie Rakusin and Timothy Le Roux. This production, together with the ballet Sproetjies, will be presented at Artscape next month, from 8 to 12 June.

Joining Ndlovu in the International Ballet Gala line up will be fellow Washington Ballet company member Brooklyn Mack who was the joint winner of the bronze medal at the same competition in Boston this week. Originally from South Carolina, Mack is in his second season with The Washington Ballet. He began his dance training at the age of 12 and later studied ballet at the Kirov Academy of Ballet, apprenticed with the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, and then joined American Ballet Theatre's Studio Company. Mack received the Kirsti Paakenen Encouragement Prize at the International Ballet Competition in Helsinki in 2005, the Silver Medal at the 2006 Jackson International Ballet Competition in Mississippi and a Princess Grace Fellowship Award in 2007. He has performed internationally as a guest artist and in galas in Venezuela, Latvia, Japan and many other countries. In 2009, Mack won the silver prize at the 2009 Helsinki International Ballet competition, and was a finalist in the 2010 International Ballet Competition in Varna.

Don’t miss Andile Ndlovu and Brooklyn Mack when they light up the stages of the Grand Arena and the Teatro in June and July at the highly anticipated International Ballet Gala. They will be joined by top dancers from Cuba, the USA, Latvia, Australia, Japan, Canada, South Korea and Switzerland in pas de deux and showpieces from such legendary ballets as Swan Lake, Le Corsaire, Don Quixote and The Nutcracker, blazing with all the passion, intensity and show-stopping brilliance for which ballet is admired and applauded the world over.

The International Ballet Gala will be presented in Cape Town at the GrandWest Arena on Wednesday 29 June at 20:00 and at the Teatro at Montecasino in Fourways in Johannesburg from 7 to 10 July with evening performances at 20:00 and matinees on Saturday, 9 July at 15:00 and on Sunday, 10 July at 14:00. Tickets cost from R80 to R350 and booking is via Computicket or 083 915 8000.

Mzansi Productions’ Somebody To Love: A Dance Celebration to the Music of Queen and Sproetjies, will be presented at the Artscape Theatre from 8 to 12 June with booking via Computicket and Artscape Dial-a-Seat on 021 421 7695.