Performance - News and events

Events | Featured projects | Call for entries | Announcements

Events

Veritas - Melbourne

23–31 March 2010

A cast of eighteen 3rd Year Bachelor of Circus Arts students from the National Institute of Circus Arts present Veritas, in which high-energy circus acts combine with video projection to portray the interior landscape of archetypal characters on a journey through a kaleidoscope of aerial adventure. The journey explores our longing to be loved, through the physical and poetic language unique to the circus as an art form. NICA National Circus Centre.

Performance Space 2010 Season, You Are Here - Newtown, Sydney

February–April 2010

You Are Here is the title of Performance Space's first two seasons for 2010.  The seasons of performance, dance and installation explore our place in the world, the landscapes in which we live and the times of our lives. You Are Here is a concept-led season which brings together works, across art forms, that share common themes. The works in You Are Here respond to questions about where we are located in place and time.  The title refers to both physical location but also how the world around us changes over time. Performance Space.

Stories from the 428 - Sydney

24 March – 3 April 2010

Stories from the 428 is a community based Sydney writers project. Sixteen writers rode the Sydney 428 bus route searching for the extraordinary within the very ordinary. This route, which winds its way from Circular Quay to Canterbury via the Inner West, was chosen because it stops right outside the venue—Marrickville's Sidetrack Theatre. They are a multi-generational and interconnected group who took inspiration from overheard conversations, overseen text messages and scenes outside the bus window. The writers were free to create microdramas, monologues or vignettes, or silent pieces. A collaboration of eight writers, four directors and as many actors as required will feature in a full-length theatre production. Sidetrack Theatre.

Four Winds Festival - Bermagui, New South Wales

2–4 April 2010

This music festival will include Italian maestro of the viola da gamba, Paolo Pandolfo, conveying the romance of renaissance Italy and the music reverberating around the ancient squares of Tuscany. Flamenco from Arte Kanela will bring a contemporary latino element picked up by the Flinders quartet when it joins with Karin Schaupp on guitar Melbourne group e21 will sing mediaeval Gregorian chant and songs of place from Australian Indigenous songlines. The Black Arm Band will sing in 13 Indigenous languages. Various locations.

BluesFest - Byron Bay, New South Wales

1 April – 5 April 2010

BluesFest began in 1990 at the Arts Factory in Byron Bay, and pioneered the presentation of blues music in Australia. It has featured people from many backgrounds, including Indigenous, non-European and non-English speaking backgrounds. The festival has been the inspiration for dozens of blues world music and blues and roots festivals around Australia. Bluesfest has continued to evolve, incorporating surf culture, Latino Music, African Music and political and environmental message artists. Bluesfest prides itself on being an all ages family event. Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm.

Sunbury BackRoad Music Festival - Sunbury, Victoria

10 April 2010

The Sunbury BackRoad Music Festival is a one day music festival featuring some of Australia's classic rock bands, including blues band 'Chain' and Madder Lake. The finish will feature chart-topping tracks that brought Madder Lake fame. The line up also includes Jan Preston, the queen of boogie woogie piano, Jarrah Thompson, fusing rock, blues & roots, and the powerful soul voice of Bronnie Gordon.

Megan Shorey, Handle With Care - Brisbane

14–17 April 2010

Penned by acclaimed contemporary musical theatre composer and performer Megan Shorey, Handle With Care is a powerful package of four mini musicals rejoicing in both the beauty and the tension of being a woman. Directed by award-winning director Lewis Jones and featuring a stellar all female cast including Leisa Barry-Smith, Penny Farrow, Sarah Knight, Judy Hainsworth, Liz Buchanan, Kathy Burns, Airlie McCormack and Kathryn McIntyre, Handle with Care is a first class ticket to the world inside a woman's head. Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts.

Melbourne International Comedy Festival - Melbourne

24 March – 18 April 2010

An annual event, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival takes over Melbourne each autumn with an enormous program of stand-up comedy, cabaret, theatre, street performance, film, television, radio and visual arts. The festival was launched in 1987 by Barry Humphries and Peter Cook.

The Swimming Club by Hannie Rayson - Perth

27 March – 18 April 2010

The Swimming Club is presented by Black Swan State Theatre Company in association with Melbourne Theatre Company. Six young people from around the world, including two UWA students, spend a glorious summer together on a Greek island in 1983. They are beautiful, adventurous, idealistic and believe that the world is theirs for the taking. Fast-forward to 2009: These footloose and fancy-free types have turned into successful and driven people who are juggling careers, families and mortgages and are grappling with middle age. Each in their own way, they feel trapped by their life choices and are baffled by their children's youth culture in the new millennium. Will a reunion on their magical Greek island be able to rekindle their spiritual fire? Playhouse Theatre.

Force Majeure's The Age I'm In - Brisbane

4–5 May 2010

It's not how old you are, but how you are old. Force Majeure's The Age I'm In is a poignant, witty and revealing portrait of how we inhabit the age we're in throughout our lives. Woven together and brought to life by Force Majeure's distinctive dance-theatre language, a diverse selection of Australians aged between fourteen and eighty offer astonishingly personal responses to a range of emotive issues, creating an intimate and warm-hearted snapshot of the aging process. Under director Kate Champion, this performance won the award for Outstanding Performance by a Company at the 2009 Australian Dance Awards. Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts.

Wild West Comedy Festival - Perth

19–30 May 2010

The Wild West Comedy Festival brings Australian and international comedians to Perth for 12 days of stand up, sketch, improv, film, laughter, celebrity spotting and fun. The 13th Over The Fence Film Festival will screen at Cinema Paradiso and 'Funny Sculptures' will exhibit at the Alexander Library Building throughout May. Various locations.

Australian Songwriters Conference (ASC) - Ettalong Beach, New South Wales

11–14 June 2010

The ASC is designed to give attendees maximum exposure and networking time with hit songwriters, producers, publishers and industry professionals. The conference offers the opportunity to learn to become a better songwriter, pitch directly to the attending publishers, work with producers in the on-site recording studio, perform original songs to the public in the ASC Open Mics, and network throughout the days and evenings. Ettalong Beach Tourist Resort.

House on Fire by Debra Oswald - Sydney

2–19 June 2010

Written by one of Australia's masters of teen theatre, House on Fire is a new comic play. It is suitable for those aged 12 and over. ATYP Studio 1, The Wharf.

2nd Song Summit - Sydney

19–21 June 2010

Following the success of the inaugural Song Summit in 2008, APRA|AMCOS and Events NSW present Song Summit 2010, The Summit will feature keynote speeches, 'In Conversation' interviews with international and home-grown songwriting superstars, panel discussions with industry experts, hands-on creative and business workshops, and live music showcases. It will conclude with a celebration of songs and songwriters, with the annual APRA Music Awards. Registration opens soon. Sydney Convention Centre.

Heart Matters - Hobart and Launceston, Tasmania

23–24 July 2010, 30 July 2010

Launceston-based Tasdance, with 31 players from the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, presents new dance works by Graeme Murphy and Chrissie Parrott. Both choreographers use notions of attraction, love, health, connection to family and friends or heartbreak as starting points for their creations, and draw on their own and others' experiences as inspiration. The program premieres a new musical commission by Constantine Koukias (Artistic Director of IHOS Opera) and Carl Vine's latest string quartet, in a new version for string orchestra developed especially for this project. Theatre Royal, Princess Theatre.

Mamma Mia! (musical) - touring Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane

23 October 2009 – 19 September 2010

This is the tenth anniversary of this musical, which incorporates 22 of ABBA's hits including Dancing Queen, I Have a Dream and Voulez-Vous. A daughter's quest to discover the identity of her father brings three men from her mother's past back to the Greek island they visited 20 years before. Various locations.

Australasian World Music Expo - Melbourne

18–21 November 2010

Now in its third year, the Australasian World Music Expo (AWME) is the Australia-Pacific region's music industry conference and showcase of Indigenous, roots and world music. It has been described as the South by South West of world and Indigenous music. AWME is a trade fair which attracts festival bookers, talent agents, record labels and media for workshops, panel discussions and industry networking. By night, AWME transforms a variety of Melbourne venues into a festival showcase of world, Indigenous, roots and folk music. The benefits for showcasing bands are potentially great. Showcase concerts are scheduled for 18, 19, 20 and 21 November 2010. Various locations.

Featured projects

There are currently no featured projects.

Call for entries

Australasian World Music Expo - national

31 May 2010

Artist showcase applications for the Australasian World Music Expo (AWME) 2010 are currently open. Now in its third year, AWME is the Australia-Pacific region's music industry conference and showcase of Indigenous, roots and world music. AWME is a trade fair which attracts festival bookers, talent agents, record labels and media for workshops, panel discussions and industry networking. The benefits for showcasing bands are potentially great. Showcase concerts are scheduled for 18, 19, 20 and 21 November 2010 in Melbourne.

Sound Quality - online

Ongoing

Sound Quality is a program about music that does not need to fit into a genre to be understood and doesn't need the support of peers to sound good. New sounds and genres have found their way on to Radio National through Sound Quality. If you make or market music that needs an airing, sign up and upload to Pool. Tag it sound quality, and it'll be listened to, commented on, and might be used in the program.

Announcements

West Australian Ballet to have new home

18 March 2010

The West Australian Ballet will soon have a permanent new home following a decision by the City of Bayswater to establish a State Ballet Centre in the former Senses Foundation building. The building is a handsome Art Deco building in Maylands that originally housed students from the Royal WA Institute for the Blind's school. The proposed State Ballet Centre is expected to open in 2011, and will become a world-class rehearsal and training facility for the West Australian Ballet.

ARIA Awards 2009

November 2009

The winners of the 2009 ARIA Awards were announced last night, with Empire of the Sun storming the winner's scoreboard and Ladyhawke and AC/DC close behind. Other prestigious winners were a mix of well established artists and debut winners including Josh Pyke, Sarah Blasko, CW Stoneking, The Presets, Hilltop Hoods, Troy Cassar-Daley, The Wiggles and more. The ARIA for Best Male Artist went to R&B singer-songwriter Danial Merriweather for his debut album Love & War, and Sydney-based songstress Sarah Blasko's album, As Day Follows Night, earned her the award for Best Female Artist.

Key online resources

• KULCHA - Multicultural Arts of Western Australia
• MusicAustralia - Australia's Music: Online, in Time
• West Australian Music Industry Association Inc
• Australia Dancing - National Library of Australia
• International Guild of Disabled Artists & Performers (IGODAP)
• The Aussie Bands Music Page
• Jazz Australia
• AusStage: Gateway to the Australian Performing Arts

Collection resources and online publications

• Currency Press - Performing Arts Publisher
• MusicFestivalsAustralia.com
• The Music Network
• Parnassus' Den
• Theatre Alive
• Theatre Australia
• The Arts Centre collections
• Fools Paradise - an audio-visual exploration of twelve years of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival

Institutions and government organisations

• Devising Celebration - a resource for teachers who wish to devise their own celebratory performances and event theatre.
• Music in Australia: A Statistical Overview
• National Networked Facility for Research in Australian Music

Peak bodies and associations

• Ausdance - Australia's professional dance advocacy organisation
• Music NT
• The Australian Script Centre - collects, catalogues, promotes and distributes unpublished Australian plays.
• Music NSW
• Music Council of Australia

People

• Barry Humphries
• Australian comedy

Featured websites/projects

• Questacon - Strike a Chord