Performance - News and events

Events | Featured projects | Call for entries | Announcements

Events

Crossing Roper Bar - Northern Territory, Western Australia

14 August - 7 September 2008

After a chance meeting in 2006, Paul Grabowsky and Tos Mahoney committed to producing a tour of crossing Roper Bar across northern Australia, visiting regional centres and remote communities for public concerts as well as schools presentations and workshops. Two years later the idea has become a reality. The journey, as the tour travels across northern Australia and down to Perth, will further evolve the collaboration, giving new colours and new perspectives. Various locations.

The Red Shoe - Canberra

28 August - 9 September 2008

Jigsaw Theatre Company presents The Red Shoe, an adaptation of Ursula Dubosarsky's award-winning novel. Engaging local and national artists, The Red Shoe explores the story of three sisters growing up on Sydney's Palm Beach in 1954 set against the backdrop of the Cold War. Hans Christian Anderson's fairytale, the Petrov affair, and the continuing aftershocks of a world war intermingle in this richly layered exploration of a family's secrets and ultimate redemption. The Street Theatre.

Drums and Lions - National

3 August - 13 September 2008

Drums and Lions is a musical collaboration between Australian reggae artist Nicky Bomba and Ethiopian born Azmari musician Dereb Desalegn. In Drums and Lions, Dereb and Nicky have stayed true to the Azmari tradition of improvisation and nonconformism, even further evolving the music into a new African-Australian sound. The tour will include percussion workshops on Ethiopian traditions. This production will tour to 11 locations, including Brisbane, Darwin, Katherine, Minyeri, Tennant Creek and Ali Curung (NT) and Lismore (NSW) as well as Melbourne and Adelaide.

What we've learned about dance - Canberra

17 September 2008

Invitation is being extended to the public to attend a research feedback forum which will present and discuss highlights from the collaborative research that QL2 Centre for Youth Dance (and previously The Australian Choreographic Centre) has been involved with since 2002. Research teams led by Professor Shirley McKechnie and Robin Grove have completed a number of different projects on choreographic cognition, audience response, improvisation, and memory for dance. The subjects of the research have been dance works, dancers, choreographers and audiences including those in projects of the Centre. Gorman House Arts Centre, Braddon, Canberra.

The Wishing Well - Brisbane

3 - 20 September 2008

La Boite Theatre Company presents The Wishing Well, a story of Londoner Edith Middleton who arrives in Sydney in the grip of the Depression and watches her last penny roll down the drain of that great wishing well, Australia. As her life pitches into abject poverty, she bears an illegitimate child on a sweatshop floor, a gifted boy who drags his reluctant mother through the hole in his heart to discover love that is at once fragile and cruel. Roundhouse theatre, Kelvin Grove.

New World - Adelaide

27 September 2008

The Adelaide Youth Orchestra, with guest conductor Joanna Drimatis of Klemzig, will present New World, featuring three works with Antarctic, Belgian and American themes. Elder Hall.

A Midsummer Night's Dream - Sydney

13-27 September 2008

Damien Ryan and Terry Karabelas' new production takes us on a journey through a fractured landscape of art and classical myth towards renewal, a celebration of love, accord and family. Zenith Theatre Chatswood.

Raw Honey Youth Dance Festival - Byron Bay, New South Wales

1-4 October 2008

Part of the Wild Honey Festival, Raw Honey offers an exclusive youth program of dance workshops aimed at all skill levels, including hip hop, break, physical theatre, cabaret hula hoop, poi, body percussion, contemporary and more. Various locations.

Juke Joint at Queens - A Celebration of the Blues - Adelaide

4 October 2008

For one night only, the Queens Theatre will be transformed to recreate the juke joints of 1930s Mississippi and will feature the finest blues talent this city and this country has to offer. What's more, the South Australian Blues and Roots Society's 2008 Blues Awards will be presented on the night, and one local act will open the bill as winner of the Killing Floor Blues Challenge. Queens Theatre.

Wild Honey Dance Festival - Byron Bay, New South Wales

3-5 October 2008

October 2008 sees the launch of the inaugural community dance festival, Wild Honey, with 30 workshops in a range of 15 dance styles, markets, all day dance showcase and free kids activities. Special guests include members of Legs on the Wall, Sydney and Raw Dance Company from Brisbane. The festival also aims to highlight the delicate balance between our land use and the food chain through the 'honey' and 'bee' themes. Bangalow Hall.

Paul Kelly, Paul Grabowsky & The Australian Art Orchestra - Sydney

17 October 2008

Australian singer/songwriter Paul Kelly teams up with internationally renowned jazz musician Paul Grabowsky to create Meet Me In The Middle of the Air. Sydney Opera House.

Xavier Rudd Tour - National

October - November 2008

Xavier Rudd will tour in October and November in support of his latest album Dark Shades of Blue, released on 16 August. Loud and psychedelic, Dark Shades of Blue highlights a side of Xavier Rudd merely hinted at on earlier releases. The guitar-driven songs, mixed by Joe Barresi (Tool, Queens of the Stone Age), are more complex and rocking than what audiences perhaps expect from the lifelong surfer and Dave Matthews tour mate. Various locations.

Patch Theatre, Emily loves to bounce - National

2 June - 26 November 2008

Inspired by the illustrated books of Sydney writer, Stephen Michael King, Emily Loves to Bounce is a whimsical blend of physical theatre, illusion, light, music and song. Amazing ideas are expressed as a display of Chinese lanterns. Multi-coloured balls fall to the strains of Beethoven's Song of Joy. Various locations.

Rolf Harris - Sydney

9-21 December 2008

Rolf Harris returns to Australia to perform live. The 78 year old, iconic Australian artist will present a performance of stories and songs, spanning his recording, stage and television career. Sydney Opera House.

Opera Australia's Christmas at the House - Sydney

19 - 23 December 2008

Stars of Opera Australia return to the Sydney Opera House to celebrate the spirit of Christmas with a series of concerts to be held in the Concert Hall. Starring tenor David Hobson and internationally renowned soprano Yvonne Kenny, Christmas at the House also features Australia's rising opera stars and the Opera Australia Christmas Orchestra and Choir, and will be under the spirited leadership of Conductor Andrew Greene. Sydney Opera House, Sydney

Featured projects

9 Ways To Ride The Digital Music Wave

August 2008

9 Ways To Ride The Digital Music Wave is a free online resource which outlines the nine ways to make the most of music online. The e-book covers a bundle of information including questions to ask distributors, ways to promote your music, useful online marketing and promotion tools, blogs and MySpace, and the importance of being a music professional.

Anticipating change in the major performing arts

July 2008

This report commissioned by the Australia Council uncovers some significant trends likely to affect the future health of Australia's major performing arts companies. It looks at trends such as rapid development in the Asia region and shifts in the demographics and leisure time of Australians.

Call for entries

Playing the world grants, theatre - National

Entries by 1 October, 3 December 2008

Playing the world aims to assist Australian theatre artists to develop international markets and reach new audiences overseas. It does this by supporting international tours of highly innovative Australian theatre productions as well as other international market development opportunities. Playing the world is an initiative of the theatre board and the international market development division of the Australia Council. Playing the world applications are assessed bi-monthly. It aims to provide a flexible funding process to assist theatre artists and companies with exportable work to develop sustainable international markets and audiences.

Short + Sweet Sydney 2009 - National

Entries by 13 October 2008

Entries are now open for Short + Sweet Sydney 2009 which will be held from January 13 to February 28, 2009 at the Seymour Centre and Newtown Theatre in Sydney. Short + Sweet is a ten minute theatre festival which currently runs in Sydney, Melbourne, Singapore and Malaysia and will launch in Brisbane in August 2009. Artists participating in Short + Sweet Sydney 2009 are competing for a share of $20,000 in prizes and professional development opportunities plus a chance to have their work recorded to be broadcast on Movie Extra.

Announcements

Appointments to Australia council art form boards

27 August 2008

The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, Peter Garrett, today announced appointments to the Australia Council's Theatre, Literature and Dance Boards. Mr Fraser Corfield is appointed to the Australia Council's Theatre Board and has worked as a director, actor, writer, workshop facilitator and artistic director in Queensland. Mr Jeff Khan is appointed to the Australia Council's Dance Board. Mr Khan is an experienced curator, writer and arts administrator who has developed many exhibitions, performance events and special projects. All of these appointments are for a three-year term. Ms Frances Rings, an award-winning dancer and choreographer, has been reappointed to the Dance Board for a further one-year term.

Gurrumul gets six Indigenous music nominations

August 2008

Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu has dominated the major award categories in this year's Northern Territory Indigenous Music Awards. The former member of the Yothu Yindi Band and current member with the Saltwater Band has six nominations this year, including Act of the Year and Album of the Year. Darwin artist Leah Flanagan, who won the Emerging Act Award last year, has also been nominated for the Act of the Year Award.

Launch of Dance Plan 2012

August 2008

The Australia Council for the Arts and Ausdance have launched the Dance Plan 2012, a four-year action plan for the Australian dance sector. The plan lays out the ambitions of the Australia Council and Ausdance for a more vibrant, diverse and dynamic dance sector by 2012.

Winners of the 2008 Helpmann Awards

July 2008

This year's Helpmann Best Actor in a Musical Award is shared by four young actors who share the role of Billy Elliot in the musical of the same name. The late Tanja Liedtke was given a posthumous honour: Best Choreography in a Dance Work for Construct, part of the 2008 Sydney Festival. The annual Helpmann Awards recognise distinguished artistic achievement and excellence in the many disciplines of Australia's live performance sectors, including musical theatre, contemporary music, comedy, opera, classical music, dance and physical theatre. Full list of the 2008 winners.

Winners of the 2008 Classical Music Awards announced

July 2008

The 2008 Classical Music Awards were presented by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and the Australian Music Centre, at The Playhouse, Sydney Opera House. Australian jazz pioneer, Judy Bailey, received the award for Distinguished Services to Australian Music, to recognise her contribution to Australian new music through her role as a mentor, composer and educator. Dick Letts' career as an arts manager and advocate of Australian music was recognised with the presentation of the Long-Term Contribution to the Advancement of Australian Music. Colin Bright picked up the award for Best Composition by an Australian Composer for his work The Last Whale; a topical piece that connects recorded whale sounds with live instrumental and vocal sextet. Clarinetist Catherine McCorkill and the Australia Ensemble took out the award for Best Performance of an Australian Composition for a performance of Nigel Westlake's Rare Sugar. APRA media release.

2008 Australian Dance Awards announced

June 2008

Honour Bound, portraying the world of David Hicks at Guantanamo Bay, continued its award-winning way. The work created by Nigel Jamieson and Garry Stewart scored two awards at the 2008 Australian Dance Awards in Melbourne, with Stewart winning for outstanding achievement in choreography and Paul White for outstanding performance by a male dancer. Lucy Guerin, whose Structure And Sadness was nominated in four of the nine categories for the Australian Dance Awards, won the award for outstanding performance by a company. The award for outstanding performance by a female dancer went to Lucinda Dunn, a principal with the Australian Ballet, for her portrayal of Kitri in Don Quixote.

The Brian Stacey Award

June 2008

The Brian Stacey Award launched in 2002 targets Australian emerging conductors of music, theatre, ballet, opera and classical music genres worthy of further assistance and to enable them to gain opportunity to broaden their musical knowledge and further valuable experience. The winner will be chosen from entries submitted to the Musical Advisory Committee, who will make their recommendations for nominees/winner and the Brian Stacey Memorial Trustees will then choose the winner. The winner will be announced on 30 June 2008 and will be presented with a $5,000 prize, plus appear at the Helpmann Awards Ceremony in Sydney on 28 July, 2008.