South African choreographer and dancer (born 1944)
Veronica Paeper (born 9 April 1944) is a South African choreographer and dancer.
Career
Paeper was born on 9 April 1944 in Port Shepstone but trained with Dulcie Howes at the University of Cape Town Ballet School after her family moved to Cape Town.[1][2] Although noted as South Africa's most prolific choreographer,[3] Paeper was also a principal dancer with CAPAB, the PACT Ballet and the Orange Free State Ballet.[1]
Paeper choreographed her first ballet, John the Baptist to music by Ernest Bloch for CAPAB in 1972, leading to her appointment as the company's resident choreographer.[1] In 1991, she became the company director of CAPAB and led the company on the first international tour of a South African ballet company, in 1994.[1] She choreographed over 40 works for the company, including a number of full-length works such as Orpheus in the Underwold, A Christmas Carol, Hamlet and Sylvia in Hollywood. She retired from CAPAB (now Cape Town City Ballet) in 2005.[1] She was awarded a Molteno Gold Medal in 2005 'in recognition of her lifetime achievements in the performing arts' by The Cape Tercentenary Foundation.[4] In 2009 she founded the South African National Dance Trust with Robyn Taylor and Mike Bosazzo, a nonprofit organisation to promote dance through performance, education and job opportunities.[5]
Personal life
Paeper married fellow dancer and choreographer Frank Staff in 1966.[6] She and Staff had a son together before his death in 1971. She is now married to Ken Kearns.[7]
Choreographed works
1970s
- John the Baptist (music by Ernest Bloch) (1972)
- Herrie-Hulle (music by Prokofiev) (1973)
- Romeo and Juliet (music by Prokofiev) (1974)
- Cinderella (music by Prokofiev) (1975)
- Funtastique (music by Shostakovich) (1975)
- Woman of Autumn (music by Saint Saëns) (1978)
- Whodunnit? (music by Dohnanyi) (1978)
- Concerto for Charlie (music by Shostakovich) (1979)
- Don Quixote (music by Ludwig Minkus) (1979)
1980s
- Drie Diere (Three Beasts) (music by Peter Klatzow) (1980)
- Still-Life with Moonbeams (music by Peter Klatzow) (1981)
- A Christmas Carol (various, arranged by David Tidboald) (1982)
- Orpheus in the Underwold (music by Jacques Offenbach, arranged by Michael Tuffin) (1982)
- The Return of the Soldier (music by David Earl) (1982)
- Mix 'n Match (music by Tchaikovsky) (1983)
- Undine (music by Debussy) (1983)
- Spartacus (music by Aram Khachaturian) (1984)
- Nell Gwynne (music by Rossini, arranged by Michael Tuffin) (1984)
- Abelard and Heloise (music by David Earl) (1985)
- The Tales of Hoffmann (music by Jacques Offenbach, arranged by Allan Stephenson) (1985)
- Vespers (music by Peter Klatzow) (1985)
- Sparante (music by Haydn (1986)
- Carmen (music by Bizet, arranged by Michael Tuffin) (1987)
- The Entertainer (music by Scott Joplin) (1987)
- The Merry Widow (music by Lehar, arranged by John Lanchbery) (1988)
- Elastokovitch (music by Shostakovich) (1989)
- The Last Dance (music by Ravel) (1989)
1990s
- Camille (music by Verdi, arranged by Allan Stephenson) (1990)
- Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (music by Mozart) (1990)
- The Nutcracker (music by Tchaikovsky) (1991)
- Hamlet (music by Peter Klatzow]) (1992)
- A Midsummer Night's Dream (music by Mendelssohn) (1993)
- Sylvia in Hollywood (music by Allan Stephenson) (1993)
- Walpurgisnacht (music by Gounod) (1993)
- The Rain Queen (music by Gustav Mahler) (1995)
- The Story of Manon Lescaut (music by Massenet) (1997)
- Daphnis & Chloe (music by Ravel) (1998)
- Work in Progress (music by Tchaikovsky) (1998)
- Cleopatra (music by Charl-Johan Lingenfelder) (1999)
References