With a costume designed by Peter Cazalet, Bovang enters the stage carrying a huge treasure trunk, containing a magical egg that contains Kostchei's flawed and damaged sole. Highly protective over it, Kostchei guards the contents with all his evil powers and casts a spell on anyone that tresspasses his domain. And so, with every superb performance, Bovang holds the key to unlocking an evergreen tale of good versus bad, with good triumphing over evil in the end.

It is not the first time that Bovang is playing the bad guy. As former principle dancer at CTCB, he moved on to dancing character roles a couple of years ago - many of these being some of the most delicious villains around. “I love being bad on stage as this require a much larger scale of acting than that of a noble prince,” he confessed during an interview. "For Carabosse, I also worked very intensely on the costume and head dress, which turned out to be very glamorous - so you end up feeling beautiful and wicked at the same time." He also loves the comic roles and rates playing an Ugly Sister in Cinderella as a firm favourite. “Hearing the audience laugh makes you feel like you've done a good job.”

Originally from Norway and trained at the Royal Ballet School in London, Bovang came to South Africa in 1983 to dance with the PACT Ballet Company (which later became the State Theatre Ballet). He joined CTCB in 1997, danced all the major roles and received many awards for his performances. He now enjoys being a répétiteur and teacher for the CTCB, passing on his extensive technical knowledge of a vast repertoire on to younger dancers.

Among his colleagues however, he is known as a soft-spoken man with a wonderful sense of humour. His creativity knows no bounds – be it on or off the stage. Apart from dancing and coaching in the ballet company, he also designs costumes and makes tiaras (those worn by the ballerinas). This is a time-consuming labour of love that he takes pleasure in and for which he does a lot of research. “You have to get the style right, depending on the period the ballet is set in,” he says.

Away from the world of ballet, Bovang is an avid collector of antiques. “I started collecting stuff from the Victorian period and worked backwards. Today, I generally go for the Louis V era. I love Madame de Pompadour and all she stood for and nurtured. In my estimation, French antiques are far superior to anything else around.” He also spends a lot of time painting replicas of the old masters, particularly the Louis V period.

He is a wonderful cook, as all his colleagues know, and also bakes scrumptious wedding and birthday cakes. When asked what he enjoys eating, he answers with true Bovang humour, “Anything that moves”, then after a couple of seconds he said, “just no salmon please – that was our staple diet in the Norwegian army.”

Watch Bovang as the evil baddie, Kostchei, in Cape Town City Ballet production of The Firebird, which is presented as a double bill with Les Sylphides at Maynardville Open-Air Theatre every Sunday at 20:15.

Tickets, which can be purchased via Computicket, cost R110, R120 or R130. Alternatively, phone Artscape Dial-a-Seat on 021 421 7695.