Ballet dancer leaps onto international stage
KIMBERLEY-born professional ballet dancer Kyle Baird, 26, will be taking to the international stage in the United States after signing a contract with the Ballet Frontier of Texas.
Audiences will be able to watch his performances in upcoming productions such as a Midsummer Night's Dream, The Nutcracker and Romeo and Juliet
Baird said that the ballet bug bit early, when he started ballet training at the age of nine.
"I remember having to choose between cricket, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and ballet. I chose ballet. I trained in the Royal Academy of Dance methodology under Christine Compton at the Kimberley Dance Academy. I was the only boy in the entire city who did ballet," said Baird.
After matriculating in 2014, he began his professional career as a male ballet dancer at Joburg Ballet in Johannesburg.
"I moved to Cape Town in 2021 and joined the Cape Town City Ballet.
“During my career, I danced principal roles such as the prince in The Nutcracker, Don José in Carmen and the lead role in Violin in Concerto Barocco. I have also danced numerous soloist roles such as Espada and Matadors in Don Quixote, Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet, Peasant pas de deux in Giselle and Pas de Quatre in Raymonda.
Baird said that he remains a proud Kimberlite.
"My message to those in Kimberley is: You can do anything if you put your mind to it. As a South African boy from Kimberley who wishes to follow ballet as a career, as unlikely as it seems, it is possible. It does not matter where you are from. If you are willing to work for your goals, anything is possible."
