Publications
Partners
When Russian dancer Vadim Muntagirov came to South Africa for the first time, he saw it as a very remote place. "For my first visit, I thought Cape Town is quite far. Do I need to go there? But when I came here, it became one of my favourite places."
He found himself invigorated and inspired by the beauty of the landscape. "I would be rehearsing all day, my legs would be so tired, my back would hurt, but then I would wake up in the morning, open the curtain and see blue skies and mountain." Suddenly the pain would disappear, and he would be happy to continue working.
Muntagirov is a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet in London and is in South Africa to dance the lead role of Basilio in the Cape Town City Ballet's production of Don Quixote. With thrilling leaps and turns aplenty and spectacular lifts in the duets, the role makes great technical demands. But it's a welcome change for him, says Muntagirov. "In the ballet world, my image is as a prince of ballet, a lyrical prince. Don Quixote is almost like a character role.
