Prior to the red-carpet opening at Artscape on Saturday, 27 June 2015, some 1300 Cape Town school pupils will have the golden opportunity to experience a performance of this grand-scale, world-class production for free during the final dress rehearsal on Thursday, 25 June 2015.

The school pupils, drawn from various districts and previously disadvantaged areas, will also take part in an up-close-and-personal workshop with the cast of some 100 dancers – including international guest artists, South Africa’s dancing elite and senior dance students.

They will be shown an eight-minute clip of the production’s origins and evolution, made by City Varsity film students, and will have the chance to find out about the various professional avenues that they can pursue in the arts and production industries.

“As a bank for all, Nedbank is committed to providing current and future stars the resources they required to make things that really matter happen," said Nkosinathi Msiza, senior manager for Brand Communications at Nedbank. “One of my favourite parts of this production is its ability to provide income to Masiphumelo women who plaited thousands of recycled green plastic bags to be used as vines on the set."

The South African National Dance Trust’s A Spartacus of Africa has been re-choreographed from leading South African choreographer Veronica Paeper’s seminal 1980s original.

It boasts a stellar multinational company of dancers, including Brooklyn Mack and Andile Ndlovu of the Washington Ballet – the latter being one of South Africa’s most successful dance exports.

Through stirring music and dance, it tells the story of the Thracian gladiator who led a slave uprising against the mighty Roman Empire in 73BC, imbuing it with a modern, African relevance.

The new production combines Paeper’s classical ballet choreography with more contemporary elements, courtesy of David Krugel, to the accompaniment of an Aram Khachaturian score majestically performed by the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra.

The 37 professional dancers (plus international guest artists) are complemented by 60 senior student dancers, who were selected after nationwide auditions – exposing South Africa’s performers of the future to the excitement, nerves and rough-and-tumble of a professional production.

A Spartacus of Africa is sponsored by the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund, with educational elements of the production supported by Nedbank Arts Affinity/the Arts and Culture Trust and the National Arts Council. Bookings for the Artscape season, from Saturday, 27 June to Sunday, 12 July 2015, may be made through Computicket.

For more information, connect with Nedbank Arts Affinity via Facebook and Twitter.