Veronica Paeper

Paeper, Veronica (b Port Shepstone, Natal, 9 Apr. 1944). South African dancer, choreographer, and company director. She studied with Dulcie Howes at the University of Cape Town Ballet School. She was a principal dancer with three S. African companies, including CAPAB, the PACT Ballet, and the Orange Free State Ballet. She began choreographing in 1972 with John the Baptist (mus. Ernest Bloch) for CAPAB Ballet; shortly thereafter she was appointed resident choreographer. In 1991 she became director of CAPAB (later Cape Town City Ballet). In 1994 she led her company on an international tour, the first time a S. African ballet company had toured abroad. She has created more than 40 ballets, including more than a dozen full-length works, among them Orpheus in the Underworld (mus. Offenbach, 1982), A Christmas Carol (mus. various, 1982), Hamlet (mus. Peter Klatzow, 1992) and Sylvia in Hollywood (mus. Allan Stephenson, 1993).