Ballet is dancer Kiana Prinsloo's happy place, and she is passionate about spreading the beauty and joy of the art form.
News flash: there's a new star in town, and she's on a mission to make ballet accessible to a wider audience and cultivate a younger fanbase. Kiana Prinsloo is young, sexy, and leading the charge to take ballet beyond the classical realm and into the forefront and center of contemporary dance. For her, ballet is oxygen, and she wants to share it.
Prinsloo is currently starring in Mzansi Ballet's Neil Diamond Show at the Teatro Montecasino. The company, which she joined a year ago, is known for boldly incorporating ballet with more contemporary music and other genres such as flamenco, jazz and hip hop. The Neil Diamond Show is directed by Angela Levy. “What Angela really tried to do was take ballet and remake it into something new and exciting – a variety show. The more people come, the more you see that it's beautiful and that it's art.”
The beauty of ballet art
“It's not just for ballet lovers,” Prinsloo said. “Wives want to bring their husbands, and the husbands actually are like, 'Oh, this is good. This is really fun. It's not what I expected.'”
This excites Prinsloo. “I really love the diversity of the company,” she says. “Especially with the dancers, because there's not just one type of dancer. We don't all look the same. We don't all dance the same. We have our own way of doing things,” she says. Mzansi Ballet's mix of contemporary and classical reflects its internal diversity, something Prinsloo is particularly excited about, and which she says is a reflection of wider South African culture: “It's vibrant, it's diverse, it's full of life.”
It's also helped to shatter preconceived notions of ballet, attracting new audiences and, in the process, establishing itself in the 21st century. “I think ballet has a lot of life left,” she says.
Prinsloo's love of ballet began with her formal training at the National School of the Arts in Johannesburg, where she found her passion and, more importantly, a sense of belonging. “I love it. Ballet is my lifeblood. It's my everything,” she says. For Prinsloo, ballet is more than just a career: it's a lifeline, a way to express herself when words fall short. “It's where I feel I belong,” she explained.
Ballet is where Prinsloo feels at home
Of course, ballet is hard work; it looks easy, but it takes litres of sweat to make it work. “It takes patience and discipline,” she says, “but it's the basis of everything in life.” For Prinsloo, ballet is more than just an art form: it's a way of life, teaching her the value of grace, perseverance and hard work.
Her daily routine reflects that, with a diet and exercise plan designed to withstand the physical demands of her job. “I eat a lot of pasta, I love sushi… I love it,” she said. “I don't really restrict my diet because I need a lot of carbs to get me through the day and get through the performance.” She's not the type of ballet dancer to eat lettuce leaves and tomatoes.
Prinsloo is the kind of personality and dancer who can preserve the integrity of ballet while at the same time reaching a new generation, a new audience – with a twist, of course.
For now, she plans to stay with the company and appear in more shows. “I'm so happy to be living in the moment. I'm having so much fun,” she says. “It's like I'm achieving everything I've ever wanted.”
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