Dear Member,

Do you have an email address or have you got a friend, who would allow you to receive your Newsletter on his/he address? Postage and stationery have increased way beyond what anyone would have imagined so e-mail is now the best way to communicate. Please give our Secretary, Monica, your address Telephone: 336776 or e-mail: nationalballet@mango.zw. If you do not receive your Newsletter or have changed your address, please e-mail the change or phone in any morning and tell us. We will send you another or you can collect one.

"Nutcracker Sweeties and "Tarisiro": This production, which featured both our Classical and Contemporary companies, was very successful artistically. In the present economic climate, it was difficult and expensive to stage but WE DID IT! Very many thanks to the producers, June Cloete and Mathias Julius for their hard work, enthusiasm and expertise. Our gratitude also goes to the dancers and to everyone who helped to make this Season a success. At the Last Night party Mathias Julius was awarded the Daphne Levy Trophy for Artistic Achievement, Christie Clayton won the Renee Collocott Trophy, which is awarded to the dancer with the most professional approach, and Kelly Hopley was promoted to Soloist. Kelly is now teaching in Portugal and we wish her every success in her career. We are finding it exceedingly difficult to provide our senior dancers with pointe shoes as they are extremely expensive and forex is hard to find. We need a Fairy Godmother (or Father) to wave a magic wand – any ideas?

"Starlight Dancing", our outdoor production, will run 1 – 5 October 2003 nightly at 7pm at the National Ballet Centre. Entrance will be $2000 for Adults and $1000 for Children and Pensioners. Please help us to publicize this production. Word of mouth works wonders. Posters and fliers have been printed. If you can distribute any, please let us know as soon as possible. It would be GREAT if you all would put one up in the back window of your car.

"Stars of Tomorrow", which showcases the younger dancers, will run at REPS Theatre 7 – 15 November nightly at 6.30pm. There will be no show on Monday 10 November. There will be matinees on 8,9 and 15 November at 2.30 pm. Booking at Spotlight. Please support both these seasons and tell your friends about them too.

Ballet Centre: The new Outreach office is nearing completion and we hope to extend the existing office (funds permitting). We hired a skip to take away a lot of the rubbish that has been cluttering up the grounds for some time. We desperately need a book-keeper as a replacement has not been found for Barbara Gass as yet. Please help us to find someone.

Tumbuka: The 20^th of September was World Campus AIDS day and Tumbuka were invited to perform an AIDS piece, which was choreographed by Rikardo Mawere, at the Chinhoyi Teachers’ Training College. HUMANA People to People have invited Tumbuka to perform at their Regional Conference in Shamva on 11 October. Tumbuka and the dancers from the National Ballet’s Classical Company will perform "Tarisiro" at this Conference. Rikardo Mawere has been working in Maputo for 3 weeks with the Mozambique Song and Dance Company and conducted successful workshops with both the Junior and Senior Companies.

Outreach: Our sincere condolences to Chipo Lee who has lost both her mother and sister in the last two months. Chipo is in Korea as she is on Sabbatical for a year. Jonathan Kamupando and Leah Matereke will complete their period of study with Moving Into Dance Mophathong, Johannesburg at the end of September. They have gained a tremendous amount in the short time they have been there and we look forward to their return. Brighton Chinyama has been appointed as Assistant Co-Ordinator and Tawanda Njanja and Jackson Tick are on Probation as teachers. Anna Mayta Kuhe from America has been working with the Outreach team on Creative Dance, Improvisation and a choreography to be performed at Starlight Dancing and the Outreach Festival to be held on 15 November at 1430 hours at the Dutch Reform Hall, Samora Machel Avenue. Your attendance at this performance will enhance it for the children who will be performing.

Dance Training Course: One student did not return after the August break, so the course is down to fourteen students. New courses have been introduced into their syllabus. The students are also gaining from the classes being given by Anna Mayta Ruhe. These classes have built on those given by Jill Pribyl, a Fulbright scholar, who gave classes to both the Dance Foundation Course and Outreach teachers in June. Willson Phiri, who graduated from the Oslo National College of Ballet and Dance in June 2002, is here for a few months and is teaching on the Dance Foundation Course. He will also perform a solo at Starlight Dancing.