Herbert adds: "It was a very aspirational product for them and the biggest issue was one around transport and whether or not they'll be able to get here. So it was not so much that they weren't interested, it was just that they didn't necessarily know of the way to come to the performances or know when the performances were on."

One way of combating these issues, Herbert says, is by taking the ballet to the people.

Badenhorst certainly agrees. "It's also time that we move out of our comfort zones in the big theaters and that we actually start touring again," he says. "That we take the ballet to the army, to farmers to the plants of big big companies and businesses, to the real man on the street and to get them to appreciate the beauty and wonder of ballet."

Business advice given, lessons learned, this collaboration between Harvard's best and SAMB may just be what the South African ballet company needs to keep its dancers on stage.