Dive into the archives.
It’s that time of the year again. July. It’s cold and wet, with a crackling fire in the room, excellent wine and good food adding to the comfort and joy.
It’s time to laugh at the crazy state of our world while wearing funny paper hats and singing about the 12 Days to Christmas.
But it’s not December when it’s hot and sticky and your nose is peeling and the last thing you have time for is to sit and just enjoy life.
Tannie Evita Bezuidenhout has been celebrating friendship and fun at Evita se Perron for some years now, highlighted with her Christmas show during the month of July.
Xmas in July 2011 is even more special – Tannie has created a price to suit most pockets with show tickets at R114 per person. Groups of 50 & more cost R80 per person. Sophia’s Rosemary Roast Chicken from her cookbook ‘Evita’s Kossie Sikelela’ , a special Xmas Buffet, costs R100 pp. Book now with Beryl at 022 492 3930 or via bookings@evita.co.za.
Featuring several performances as well as panel interviews and talks, GIPCA’s exciting Director and Directing conference will take place at the Hiddingh Hall Campus, University of Cape Town from 28 to 31 July 2011.
The programme begins with a keynote address by highly respected and innovative director, Ivana Vujic from Belgrade and the premiere of Geoffrey Hyland and Carolyn Holden’s dance theatre interpretation of Garcia-Lorca’s House of Bernarda Alba.
Panels include The Director’s Signature with established directors Janice Honeyman, Aubrey Sekhabi, Clare Stopford, Mandla Mbothwe, James Ncgobo, Geoffrey Hyland and Liz Mills. Another, titled Views from the Trenches, Actors talk about Directors features a staged conversation hosted by critic, Brent Meersman with Diane Wilson, Faniswa Yisa, Dawid Minnaar, Nicholas Ellenbogen and Chuma Sopotela. A third panel discussion will focus on Young directors and Emerging Visions featuring Standard Bank Young Artist Award Winners Janni Younge and Neil Coppen and Emerging Director Award Winners, Amy Jephta, Asanda Phewa, Pusetso Thibedi and Leo Senekal. The final panel on Criticism and Directing features Marianne Thamm, Zingi Mfeka, and Zane Henry.
Guests to the conference will also enjoy a variety of performances by groups from across the country including the premiere of, Misconception of Sanity, conceived & directed by Pusetso Thibedi, Sitting Around the Fire, written and directed by Bheki Mkhwane and Invasion 2.0 by Rethabile Mothobi.
Another exciting feature of the conference will be an interactive exercise in which four different directors will be asked to interpret and direct the same scene from one of Athol Fugard’s play’s Boesman and Lena. This will illustrate the influence of directorial interpretation.
Tickets for this event are available through Computicket from 7 July and cost R150. This includes all talks, performances, the opening function, coffee and tea, a Sunday brunch and closing drinks. Day tickets are R80. Student rates are R80 for the full conference. The full programme will be available from www.gipca.uct.ac.za from 1 July. For more information contact the GIPCA office on 021 480 7156 or fin-gipca@uct.ac.za.
Join 5 great Cape Town designers (Missibaba, Queen Magpie, Moonbasket, Fabric and Skinny laMinx) on Saturday 25 June from 10am to 3pm for a Winter Sale of bespoke handbags, jewellery, clothing, lighting and home décor.
In June and July this year Everard Read, Cape Town, will be hosting a group exhibition showcasing emerging artists that are starting to make their presence felt in the South African art world. Comprising primarily painters (and one sculptor) drawn from Cape Town and Johannesburg, and ranging from university graduates to self taught artists, this exhibition presents an opportunity to see a variety of contemporary styles and concepts without the imposition of a curatorial brief. Each artist will submit a selection of works that exemplifies their current focus, presenting a snapshot of the diverse perspectives of young professional artists in South Africa today.
Fikile Mqhayi, ‘Enjoying Ourselves’, mixed media on canvas, 80 x 100 cm
Artists include: Kim Gurney, Marike Kleynscheldt, Khanya Mehlo, Boyce Magandela, Lindile Magunya, Louise Mason, Saso Sinadinovski, Christopher Slack, Brett Williams, Fikile Mqhayi, Heike Allerton-Davies, Sam Allerton, Eleonora Rossi, Steve Bandoma, Tom Cartwright, Jimmy Law and Vernon de Wee
Colin Payne – Signs in the Landscape (Night) (Top left), Sandra Hanekom – Tree Gazer (Bottom right), Karen Cronje - WTF (Bottom left), Francis Burger and Christian Nerf - And Not But (Top right)
The AVA, in partnership with Spier invites you to the opening of 4 new exhibitions (details below):
Opening at 6 pm, Monday, 13 June 2011
Exhibition closes on Friday 8 July 2011 at 1 pm
The Duality Of Remembering And Forgetting, a group exhibition in the Main Gallery, could just as easily have been called “Object and Obsession” or “the Quite Subversive”. Corlie de Kock, Sandra Hanekom and Madelein Marincowitz all create art pieces in a lyrical and detailed manner. Artworks that imbue the mundane and commonplace with a sense of imaginative significance. The common thread woven through each of these artists work is the compulsive and obsessive fastidiousness in which they create detailed images.
We Hope You Enjoyed Your Visit by Colin Payne employs the Long Gallery. Payne is drawn to graphic media in popular culture. Simple, clean and often colourful forms have a commanding effect on him. His makes work about simple things – discovery, vanity, loneliness, distance, fear, joy, peace. Influenced by museums and by inference tourism, public displays and the repackaging of culture. Payne presents works in plastic gold, oil painting paint-by-numbers, and landscape paintings exploding in flat colour: each piece is either inspired by classical art subjects or museum relics and plays with the contemporary way in which they are produced. He also really does hope that you enjoy your visit.
Karen Cronje presents Amanuensis, a collection of sketchbook images in the Artstrip. “These works are taken from my personal sketchbooks. Originally intended as a daily sketchbook and an exploration of ideas for later artworks, they have (since the first in 1998) taken on many different permutations and a life of their own. The results reflect a process that incorporates found images, and objects and photographs that I collect on a daily basis. They are about manual labour and possessiveness and repetition, and reflect thoughts and tangents based on what is generally garnered and appropriated from mass media – war, nuclear experiments, fairy tales and falsehoods.” Karen Cronje
Francis Burger and Christian Nerf’s generative installation And Not But has been extended for a second run with added elements of sound, film, text, painting and sculpture. Propelled by the emergence of a recurring form and following a recording experiment led by musician and inventor Brendon Bussy, And Not But is inviting attempts at teaching a sculpture to talk, listen, see and be seen. Leading up to a collaborative book project titled Unbecoming, And But Not is an optimistic glossarium of ideas, objects, shapes and feelings – part teaching machine, part epiphanic fold.
Association for Visual Arts Gallery
35 Church Street, Cape Town, South Africa
Gallery hours: Weekdays 10h00 to 17h00,
Saturdays 10h00 to 13h00
Phone: +27-21 424-7436,
Fax: +27-21 423-2637,
avaart@iafrica.com
www.ava.co.za
The Fugard Theatre will mark the Lifetime Achievement Tony Award to Athol Fugard in New York on June 12 with a week of classic films based on the playwright’s works this week, from 7 – 11 June.
The Awards committee described Fugard as “a playwright whose art has always spoken out against racism and who continues to be an active voice for freedom and equality”. Over the years Athol Fugard has received six Tony nominations including four for Best Play – Sizwe Banzi is Dead and The Island (1975); A Lesson from Aloes (1982) and Master Harold and The Boys (1982) and Blood Knot (1986).
All screenings will start at 8pm and hot soup, garlic bread, wine and a warm atmosphere will await patrons at The Fugard. The theatre has recently been fitted out with new cinema–style seats and cinema quality projection and surround sound systems. The updated schedule is as follows:
Tuesday 7 June: Boesman and Lena directed by Ross Devenish and starring Athol Fugard and Yvonne Bryceland (1974).
Wednesday 8 June: Marigolds in August directed by Ross Devenish and starring Athol Fugard, John Kani and Winston Ntshona (1979).
Thursday 9 June: The Guest directed by Ross Devenish and starring Athol Fugard (1976).
Friday 10 June: The Road to Mecca directed by Athol Fugard and Peter Goldsmid and starring Academy award-winner Kathy Bates, Athol Fugard and Yvonne Bryceland (1992).
Saturday 11 June: Tsotsi directed by Gavin Hood – 2006 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Tickets are R40 and bookings can be made on www.computicket.com www.computicket.com, or by phoning the Fugard Theatre Box Office on 021 461 4554.
Ouroboros, which opens at the Baxter Theatre on Tuesday the 1st of June and runs to 11 June, is inspired by the poetry of Billy Collins and is essentially a love story between a poet, Andre and a dancer, Nokobonisa.
Ouroboros is directed by 2010 Standard Bank Young Artist Award winner for Theatre, Janni Younge, with master puppeteers Basil Jones and Adrian Kohler, marking their first collaboration since Younge joined the Handspring Puppet Company this year as Associate Director. The play offers a swirling interaction of performers, exquisitely created puppets by Handspring, filigree shadow work and Michael Clark’s animation and is set to original music by Neo Muyanga, with puppet dance choreography by Mamela Nyamza (2011 Standard Bank Young Artist for Dance). The 13 main puppets are manipulated by a superb cast comprising Jason Potgieter, Cindy Mkaza, Gabriel Marchand, Tali Cervati, Beren Belknap and 2007 Fleur du Cap Best Actress winner, Chuma Sopotela.
The production is played out in a series of interactions between the two main characters, represented as five versions of themselves from birth to death. In the beginning we seem to be following multiple stories or the stories of several members of a family. However, as the play progresses, it becomes clear that we are in fact, watching only two characters interacting both with the various aspects of themselves and of each other. As such the production forms a web of relationships capturing dynamics played out across the past present and future.
During the forthcoming Ouroboros season at the Baxter, audiences can look forward to several amazing events, before and after the shows.
There will be several special and exciting events taking place during Janni Younge and the Tony-award-winning Handspring Puppet Company’s upcoming Ouroboros season at the Baxter Theatre from 1 to 11 June.
Question & Answer sessions with Younge and the Ouroboros cast will take place in the theatre auditorium directly after the 20:15 performances on Saturday 4 June, Tuesday 7 June and Wednesday 8 June, from 21:30 till 22:00. After the 11:00 show on Tuesday 7 June, the Q&A session will be followed by a puppet demonstration by Janni and the cast. Handspring’s Basil Jones and Adrian Kohler will participate in the Q&A session on Saturday 4 June.
Before the start of the Ouroboros performance on Thursday 9 June, there will be a screening of the fascinating film The Making of War Horse at 18:30, only for those who have purchased tickets to see the show at 20:15. A special feature on the building of the War Horse puppets by Clifford Bestall will also be shown. War Horse is the hugely successful National Theatre production that ran to great acclaim on London’s West End and is currently on the boards in New York, garnering countless accolades and prestigious awards.
Ouroboros runs at the Baxter Theatre from 1 to 11 June with ticket prices from R60 to R130 through Computicket or any Shoprite Checkers outlets countrywide.
The Cape Dance Company (CDC) returns to the Masque Theatre in June for the third time, presenting a season that will include two new dance works by David Krugel and Michelle Reid that will once again showcase the artistry and technical aplomb of this highly skilled dance company.
South African David Krugel is well known in dance circles as a superb dancer, choreographer & director. His new work for the CDC is neo-classical in style, extending & challenging the dancers technically, making for an exciting performance. Krugel, now based in Den Haag, was trained at the UCT Ballet School in Cape Town before receiving a scholarship to study in New York under the brilliant ballet teacher David Howard. He has been based in Europe since 1980 and has danced professionally with prestigious companies such as Bejart Ballet, Ballet van Vlaanderen, Nederlandse Dans Teater (NDT) lll and CAPAB Ballet. Krugel has assisted and worked with exceptional and world renowned choreographers such as Mats Ek, Hans van Manen and Jiri Kylian. He is currently performing in Last Touch First as part of the ongoing Holland Dance Festival that is touring worldwide.
Michelle Reid, who has worked with the CDC as its resident choreographer since 1995, is known for her unusual and quirky approach to her subject matter. She has the knack of divulging a different side to an artist, and her newly created God’s Waiting Room is no exception. The work, with a cast of three dancers, includes new company members Grant van Ster, formerly of the Jazzart Dance Theatre and Simone Muller, former CTCB soloist and freelance artist. In addition the work features popular senior members of the company, Louisa Talbot & James Bradley. Reid ponders: “What happens at the exact moment of death when the spirit leaves the body and crosses over?” The work is abstract, yet clear and thought-provoking in its exploration of the subject. Reid’s popular Us Travellers, that premiered at the November 2010 Artscape season will also be included in the repertoire this season.
Love Always, choreographed by CDC’s Artistic Director, Debbie Turner, is a neo-classical pas de deux danced to the exquisite and poignant music of Franz Schmidt and performed by soloists Alice Godfrey & Henk Opperman. The athletic grace and lyricism of this work is inspiring in its emotive simplicity.
The Cape Dance Company is based in Tokai, Cape Town and was founded by Debbie Turner in 1995. It is known for its excellent standard of dance, with performances that are uplifting and accessible. The company has performed in key venues around South Africa and has presented seasons abroad at the Ailey Citigroup Theater in New York, the Edinburgh International Arts Festival and the Salisbury International Arts Festival in the United Kingdom. Their dynamic repertoire includes works created by recognised choreographers such as Christopher L. Huggins (USA), Carlos Dos Santos (USA), Redha (France), Adele Blank (SA), Gregory Maqoma (SA), Michelle Reid (SA), Michael Thomas (USA) and more. Powerful athleticism, strong technique and a great evening of entertainment is a hallmark of this well-loved Cape Town company.
The Cape Dance Company performances run at the Masque Theatre in Muizenberg from 10 to 18 June 2011. Tickets cost from R65 and R75 and all bookings are via 021 -788 1898 with special offers available for Masque Theatre members.
