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SPOTLIGHT: Mia Coomber, living ballet dreams with Cape Ballet Africa
- Beverley Brommert
- Jun 7
- 4 min read
Beverley Brommert
Willowy Mia Coomber, currently one of Cape Ballet Africa's leading ballerinas, has achieved what for many an aspiring young dancer is the stuff of dreams.
From the age of four, like many of her contemporaries, she was enchanted by the glamour of ballet, revelling in its seductive combination of music and movement. This initial attraction was enhanced when the little girl's family moved to Cape Town from Pretoria, where she was born; by this time she was seven, and discovered the delight of classes with Dianne Cheesman at the UCT School of Dance.
A further stimulant to her growing passion for dance was Cape Town City Ballet's production of The Nutcracker: "The costumes, the lights, that wonderful music...it was magic!" she recalls.
Enraptured though she was, she soon lost any illusions about the effort and discipline requisite for achieving that wondrous spectacle of unforced grace. "I quickly realised when it came to my first exam en pointe that pain is all a part of it, but I was not deterred."
At school, her athletic ability in high jump was to stand her in excellent stead when it came to ballet, and by the time as a sub-teen she came to consider a potential career, there was no room for doubt: she chose dance. Thereafter her plans came rapidly to fruition, with a sponsorship to train at the Central School of Ballet (CSB) in London as soon as she completed Matric.
"I started in January the year after I left school, almost halfway through the first year of study at the CSB, and was lucky to be promoted immediately to second year (I was a little older than my peers). I learned so much there in the two years of my course - not just ballet, but also contemporary and neo-classical dance, as well as choreography." She has no hesitation in identifying neo-classical dance as her favourite style: "It has everything. Like Kirsten Isenberg's lovely work REVERIE commissioned for Cape Ballet Africa (CBA) is so rich, so multilayered, it never palls."
After her studies at the CSB, she applied (like all her fellow graduates) for a place in a company, and was accepted at the Budapest Dance Theatre (BDT)
"That complemented my London training, because although we had ballet class every day, I had greater exposure to contemporary dance during the year of my apprenticeship with the BDT company."
Since she believes that versatility is essential to a dancer's training, she welcomed this expansion of her prowess: "Challenges, both artistic and technical, are so useful for promoting one's growth."
She herself has proved repeatedly that versatility is one of her strengths as a performer. On her return to this country in 2017, after her stint at the BDT, she joined the Cape Dance Company, where proficiency in contemporary dance is required as much as classical ballet; thereafter she was accepted by Cape Town City Ballet (CBT), where despite some contemporary works, the repertoire favours ballet; and her present position in CBA since 2024 also requires the ability to shine in all dance forms.
While dancing for CTCB, Coomber was entrusted with some of the most covetable roles in the repertoire, and remarks that the one dearest to her heart was Juliet in Romeo and Juliet: "That was my first principal role, so it was a dream come true. But every ballet, whether in a role one enjoys or not, teaches you something and promotes your artistic ability."
If she were to choose between performing an established classical role or creating a new one from scratch, she admits a preference for the opportunity to put her stamp on something no one else has done before: "it gives one a chance to express one's personality as well as challenging creativity."
Challenges, far from daunting her, are welcome. The current one is working with the revered Diana White, who has undertaken the staging of Balanchine's ALLEGRO BRILLANTE for CBA; this interview was conducted on the first day of training, and Coomber happily describes the new piece as "very athletic and demanding".
A busy time is ahead for CBA, with performances in Hermanus for the Fynarts Festival, a run of the acclaimed collage SALT at the National Arts Festival, and Giselle in Cape Town and thereafter Johannesburg, the evergreen classical ballet being part of a season at Montecasino in which CBA also offers performances of SALT and BREATHWORDS. Coomber plays a significant part in it all.
The dynamic company she serves is basking in the glory of three nominations for SALT from Benois de la Danse, but amid all this activity and excitement, Coomber remains commendably humble, attributing her success as much to a supportive husband and God-given talent as to her own commitment.