{"id":9267,"date":"2026-03-12T13:24:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T11:24:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/?p=9267"},"modified":"2026-05-29T14:07:01","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T12:07:01","slug":"flash-34-the-world-needs-a-touch-of-magic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/flash-34-the-world-needs-a-touch-of-magic\/","title":{"rendered":"FLASH #34 – THE WORLD NEEDS A TOUCH OF MAGIC!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

FLASH #34 – THE WORLD NEEDS A TOUCH OF MAGIC!<\/strong><\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

In 2023, Junior Ballet Antwerp launched its first full-length classical ballet onto the Antwerp stage. Three years on, this highly successful production is embarking on a national tour, playing to full-capacity houses. JBA artistic director, Alain Honorez<\/strong>, explains the reason for the success of a form that many felt was perhaps irrelevant, even redundant, in today\u2019s world.
<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"Dancers<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

J.D. When JBA was launched, its success was based on ballet-based productions with a contemporary edge. How then did a full-length ballet fit into this context?<\/strong>
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A.H<\/strong> \u201cWhen we created JBA, one of the reasons behind its formation was to fill a need here in Belgium. There was a lack of home-grown classical productions and in particular ballets which would appeal to a broad range of audiences of every age.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I knew, looking at my own artistic background, that in order for dancers to mature as artists, narrative ballets have a significant role to play. What two important Ballet of Flanders\u2019 directors had to say about this remained etched in my mind. According to Kathryn Bennetts<\/strong>, her dancers were always on top form technically after they had completed a run of classical works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dame Jeanne Brabants<\/strong> simply said \u201cDancers, all dancers, are actors!\u201d In whatever style they perform, be it modern, classical or contemporary. But dancers need to understand this. They must learn the how and why of a character and how to bring this over to an audience. Performing roles in a narrative ballet provides this important experience.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Dancer<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n
\"Scene<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Dancers<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Three<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

J.D. What made you decide on a fairytale like CINDERELLA?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A.H. <\/strong>\u201cAfter emerging from the difficult Covid period in 2021\/2022, we were performing among other works, David Dawson\u2019s<\/strong> atmospheric METAMORPHOSIS<\/strong> in the Antwerp Handelsbeurs.\u00a0I was intensely moved by the architectural beauty and it struck me, in particular the lovely Italianate arches, how perfect a background decor they would make for a story ballet. Altea Nu\u00f1ez<\/strong> (co-director and co-choreographer of CINDERELLA<\/strong>) and I delved into what we thought would suit our dancers and CINDERELLA<\/strong> struck us as ideal with its Prokofiev<\/strong> score and a story, familiar to everyone. On top of that, it offers so many character roles such as the sisters, the prince and his entourage and others – it\u2019s perfect for young artists! We worked on the storyline, giving it a contemporary edge and bringing in elements of our own such as the mother figure and her ghostly helpers or the \u2018dream section\u2019 with all the myriad Cinderellas<\/em> who fascinate the prince.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

J.D. How then did your dancers adapt to this, accustomed as they are to the contemporary ballets?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A.H.<\/strong> \u201cForemost is the fact that directors of any dance company are drawn to versatile, creative, intelligent and smart dancers. So it\u2019s our task to teach them to think about a role, to delve into it using their own creative sense. At JBA this is a priority and we give them the time and space to do it. They must personalize their technique so that it becomes an evolution of the character. This is not easy, particularly today, because the importance of slow development and craftsmanship, is largely forgotten in a world where instantaneous success is paramount.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\"Group<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Male<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Dancers<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

J.D. How do you see the future of this type of production in particular here in Belgium? Have you any plans in that direction?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A.H.<\/strong> \u201cWhat has always defined JBA is the variety of genres and works we perform: modern, theatrical, narrative and classical. Since the very start, we have brought into our repertoire all these dance styles, from the hands of very different choreographers; this year in June, FLOW<\/strong> will be our 10th original production! So we are ready now to look into another full-scale ballet creation. In fact I can reveal that it is already in preparation with a premiere date in December 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\"Dancers<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Group<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"Dancer<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

But first, both our dancers and the public can enjoy a scintillating, amusing and colorful balletic fairy tale CINDERELLA! The spring tour of this magical JBA production will commence on March 14 in Knokke-Heist before touring across the country!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a9 Alain Honorez & Nicha Rodboon<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FLASH #34 – THE WORLD NEEDS A TOUCH OF MAGIC! In 2023, Junior Ballet Antwerp launched its first full-length classical ballet onto the Antwerp stage. Three years on, this highly successful production is embarking on a national tour, playing to full-capacity houses. JBA artistic director, Alain Honorez, explains the reason for the success of a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9273,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-flash-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFLASH #34 - THE WORLD NEEDS A TOUCH OF MAGIC!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Junior Ballet Antwerp presents CINDERELLA, a captivating fairy-tale ballet in which young dancers bring a magical world to life.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/flash-34-the-world-needs-a-touch-of-magic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"FLASH #34 - THE WORLD NEEDS A TOUCH OF MAGIC!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Junior Ballet Antwerp presents CINDERELLA, a captivating fairy-tale ballet in which young dancers bring a magical world to life.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/flash-34-the-world-needs-a-touch-of-magic\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Junior Ballet Antwerp\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-12T11:24:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-29T12:07:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/CINDERELLA-2025-JBA-\u00a9Nicha-Rodboon-DSCF0428-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1365\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Media Architect\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Media Architect\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juniorballetantwerp.be\\\/en\\\/flash-34-the-world-needs-a-touch-of-magic\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juniorballetantwerp.be\\\/en\\\/flash-34-the-world-needs-a-touch-of-magic\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Media Architect\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juniorballetantwerp.be\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a51cdd85bcaa09dd83c6ac3839b00c93\"},\"headline\":\"FLASH #34 – THE WORLD NEEDS A TOUCH OF MAGIC!\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-12T11:24:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-29T12:07:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juniorballetantwerp.be\\\/en\\\/flash-34-the-world-needs-a-touch-of-magic\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":701,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juniorballetantwerp.be\\\/en\\\/flash-34-the-world-needs-a-touch-of-magic\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juniorballetantwerp.be\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/CINDERELLA-2025-JBA-\u00a9Nicha-Rodboon-DSCF0428-2.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Flash\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juniorballetantwerp.be\\\/en\\\/flash-34-the-world-needs-a-touch-of-magic\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juniorballetantwerp.be\\\/en\\\/flash-34-the-world-needs-a-touch-of-magic\\\/\",\"name\":\"FLASH #34 - THE WORLD NEEDS A TOUCH OF MAGIC!\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juniorballetantwerp.be\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juniorballetantwerp.be\\\/en\\\/flash-34-the-world-needs-a-touch-of-magic\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juniorballetantwerp.be\\\/en\\\/flash-34-the-world-needs-a-touch-of-magic\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juniorballetantwerp.be\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/CINDERELLA-2025-JBA-\u00a9Nicha-Rodboon-DSCF0428-2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-12T11:24:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-29T12:07:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juniorballetantwerp.be\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a51cdd85bcaa09dd83c6ac3839b00c93\"},\"description\":\"Junior Ballet Antwerp presents CINDERELLA, a captivating fairy-tale ballet in which young dancers bring a magical world to life.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/juniorballetantwerp.be\\\/en\\\/flash-34-the-world-needs-a-touch-of-magic\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juniorballetantwerp.be\\\/en\\\/flash-34-the-world-needs-a-touch-of-magic\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juniorballetantwerp.be\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/CINDERELLA-2025-JBA-\u00a9Nicha-Rodboon-DSCF0428-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juniorballetantwerp.be\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/CINDERELLA-2025-JBA-\u00a9Nicha-Rodboon-DSCF0428-2.jpg\",\"width\":2048,\"height\":1365},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juniorballetantwerp.be\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juniorballetantwerp.be\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Junior Ballet Antwerp\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juniorballetantwerp.be\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juniorballetantwerp.be\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a51cdd85bcaa09dd83c6ac3839b00c93\",\"name\":\"Media Architect\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/juniorballetantwerp.be\\\/en\\\/author\\\/media-architect\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"FLASH #34 - THE WORLD NEEDS A TOUCH OF MAGIC!","description":"Junior Ballet Antwerp presents CINDERELLA, a captivating fairy-tale ballet in which young dancers bring a magical world to life.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/flash-34-the-world-needs-a-touch-of-magic\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"FLASH #34 - THE WORLD NEEDS A TOUCH OF MAGIC!","og_description":"Junior Ballet Antwerp presents CINDERELLA, a captivating fairy-tale ballet in which young dancers bring a magical world to life.","og_url":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/flash-34-the-world-needs-a-touch-of-magic\/","og_site_name":"Junior Ballet Antwerp","article_published_time":"2026-03-12T11:24:25+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-29T12:07:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2048,"height":1365,"url":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/CINDERELLA-2025-JBA-\u00a9Nicha-Rodboon-DSCF0428-2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Media Architect","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Media Architect","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/flash-34-the-world-needs-a-touch-of-magic\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/flash-34-the-world-needs-a-touch-of-magic\/"},"author":{"name":"Media Architect","@id":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/a51cdd85bcaa09dd83c6ac3839b00c93"},"headline":"FLASH #34 – THE WORLD NEEDS A TOUCH OF MAGIC!","datePublished":"2026-03-12T11:24:25+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-29T12:07:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/flash-34-the-world-needs-a-touch-of-magic\/"},"wordCount":701,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/flash-34-the-world-needs-a-touch-of-magic\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/CINDERELLA-2025-JBA-\u00a9Nicha-Rodboon-DSCF0428-2.jpg","articleSection":["Flash"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/flash-34-the-world-needs-a-touch-of-magic\/","url":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/flash-34-the-world-needs-a-touch-of-magic\/","name":"FLASH #34 - THE WORLD NEEDS A TOUCH OF MAGIC!","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/flash-34-the-world-needs-a-touch-of-magic\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/flash-34-the-world-needs-a-touch-of-magic\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/CINDERELLA-2025-JBA-\u00a9Nicha-Rodboon-DSCF0428-2.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-12T11:24:25+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-29T12:07:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/a51cdd85bcaa09dd83c6ac3839b00c93"},"description":"Junior Ballet Antwerp presents CINDERELLA, a captivating fairy-tale ballet in which young dancers bring a magical world to life.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/flash-34-the-world-needs-a-touch-of-magic\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/flash-34-the-world-needs-a-touch-of-magic\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/CINDERELLA-2025-JBA-\u00a9Nicha-Rodboon-DSCF0428-2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/CINDERELLA-2025-JBA-\u00a9Nicha-Rodboon-DSCF0428-2.jpg","width":2048,"height":1365},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/","name":"Junior Ballet Antwerp","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/a51cdd85bcaa09dd83c6ac3839b00c93","name":"Media Architect","url":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/author\/media-architect\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9267"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9267\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9309,"href":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9267\/revisions\/9309"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorballetantwerp.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}