CLASSICAL dance fans and enthusiasts are celebrating after the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund donated funds to the South African Ballet Theatre.

This development has enabled the company to stage shows this season.

As part of The South African Ballet Theatre's ongoing 10th anniversary celebrations, the company the popular Romeo and Juliet on the Mandela stage at the Joburg Theatre. The show will run from May 27 to June 19.

All performances are accompanied by the SABT Sinfonia.

The tragic love story was last staged in 2007 to critical acclaim and returns by popular demand with several new cast members. These include well-known dancer Kimbrian Bergh, a founding member of SABT who returns from New Zealand for this season.

Ballet lovers will remember Kim's athletic style and magnetic, dangerous stage presence.

Also returning to SABT is guest artist Juan Ledo who performed in The Nutcracker in 2010. This elegant Argentine is perfectly cast as Romeo and is sure to bring his trademark grandeur to the role.

Principal dancer Burnise Silvius is cast to perform the role of Juliet alongside the company's up-and-coming SABT soloists dancers Thomas Thorne, Robin van Wyk and Celeste George, and Laura Bosenberg from Cape Town City Ballet.

Other new members who make their debut this season include Michael Braun and Emma Corbett.

Also joining the cast are regular guest artists Manuel Noram, André de Beer (who will perform the role of the Friar), Fiona Budd (as Juliet's nurse) and Reegan Visagie.

In an exciting move, artistic director Iain MacDonald has invited special guest artists Thulani Chauke, Thabo Kopeli, Shaun Mothupi, Phumlani Nyanga and Charlie van Rooyen from Vuyani Dance Theatre to take part in the season.

This will be the first time that SABT and Vuyani Dance Theater collaborate.

"I have long been an admirer of the strength and vitality of the Vuyani Dance Theatre Project dancers and I am thrilled to have them share our stage this season," MacDonald said.

Based on William Shakespeare's heart-rending saga of Romeo and Juliet, the show unfolds against a passionate vendetta between two families in Renaissance Italy.

The choreography vividly brings to life the story of Shakespeare's star-crossed lovers set in the grand vista of Verona, where joyous gatherings and carnivals could turn in an instant to violence.