The Artscape Opera House hosts what its organisers bill as the largest ballet competition in Africa from 4 to 6 August 2026: The 13th South African International Ballet Competition.1,2
What happens on stage is a contest, not a show. Dancers compete in classical and contemporary categories, in duets, trios, and group performances, with a choreographic division.1 A panel of judges is drawn from South Korea, the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, Belarus, and beyond.1 They are split into three age groups, the youngest from nine, the oldest to twenty-two.1
For a viewer, the appeal is range and stakes. You watch the same kind of work danced back to back by different competitors, which makes small differences legible in a way a single performance never is, and you see dancers near the start of their careers, dancing under real pressure.
If you are weighing whether to go: This is a chance to watch the next generation up close, across three days. Tickets run from R150 to R285.1
