Fresh from a sell-out season at the Adelaide Fringe Festival, La La Parlour are embracing the unique performance skills of its members – from burlesque to angle grinding, acrobatics, dance and cabaret – to present a unique, awe-inspiring and visually arresting show. Mixing a tantalising touch of burlesque, circus, aerial acrobatics, sideshow stunts and old-world glamour, La La Parlour’s Garnished is leaping into Brisbane for a limited 3-night season. Combining the humour, physicality and ladylike talents of Kellie Vella and Tigerlil – with guest gent stars Rudi Mineur and Mark Winmill – Garnished promises sparkle, feathers, chorus lines, contortion, aerial high-jinks and beefy sailor boys. With a short season running from April 15–18, check out the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Art for details and tickets.
Image credit: Stills by Hill.
The stylish yet haphazard composition of The Beez band (wild outfits, toylike instruments and a seemingly random and wacky repertoire) may indicate a lackadaisical approach to music-making. But to the contrary, their skill and creativity as musicians is obvious from the moment they swarm to the stage, producing tightly crafted, imaginative takes on old and new songs. And this impression was echoed in the hive of activity and buzz of excitement of my fellow audience members. Continue reading ‘the beez kneez’
With each opening of a new door, fresh and exciting opportunities appear. For Honia Lipinski, she may have just crashed through the door that contains her dreams. Recently winning the talent discovery, The Bubble presented by General Pants Co., Honia will now be commissioned to have her work published in well known magazines, displayed in the highly recognised clothing store, General Pants and have her very own exhibition supported by mentors of The Bubble. Having competed against hundreds of photographers, writers, artists in all mediums, filmmakers, musicians, designers and graphic designers, it is clear that Honia has the support of the artistic community to take her photography to the next level. Continue reading ’success in a bubble’
Tonight Australian philosopher Peter Singer spoke at the State Library of Queensland as part of the 2009 Ideas Festival. Though Peter’s areas of passion and expertise range from The Ethics of What We Eat to Animal Liberation, his focus in this particular lecture was global poverty, and how it can be eradicated through action from individuals within the community. Peter makes his point very simply: “If we could easily save the life of a child, we would. For example, if we saw a child in danger of drowning in a shallow pond, and all we had to do to save the child was wade into the pond, and pull him out, we would do so. The fact that we would get wet, or ruin a good pair of shoes, doesn’t really count when it comes to saving a child’s life. UNICEF, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, estimates that about 27,000 children dieevery day from preventable, poverty-related causes. Yet at the same time almost a billion people live very comfortable lives, with money to spare for many things that are not at all necessary. (You are not sure if you are in that category? When did you last spend money on something to drink, when drinkable water was available for nothing? If the answer is ‘within the past week’ then you are spending money on luxuries while children die from malnutrition or diseases that we know how to prevent or cure.)” With his new book The Life You Can Save (the proceeds of which will be donated to Oxfam), Peter is trying to change this based on the premise that if everyone who can afford to contribute to reducing extreme poverty gave a modest proportion of their income to effective organisations fighting extreme poverty, the problem could be solved. Continue reading ‘the life you can save’
What do you get when you cross funky bass lines, beat-boxing, a 10-octave vocal range and a loop machine? Ladies and gentlemen, meet Reggie Watts. The New York-based entertainer has been wowing audiences at music and comedy festivals around the world with his skilful improvisation, experimental beats and creative riffs, which touch on politics, science, absurd comedy and pop culture. With a background as a classically trained pianist and jazz singer, Reggie Watts now regularly performs with Regina Spektor, Imogen Heap and The Dresden Dolls as well as enjoying collaborations with Flight Of The Conchords and Soulive. Popping into Australia to partake in the Sydney Festival, Reggie Watts will be extending his tour to perform one show only at Brisbane Powerhouse on February 5, 2009.
Sydney Festival 2009 kicked off on Saturday night by throwing Australia’s biggest, free street party. Resembling the love child of a Big Day Out and Moonlight Cinema (it would never work out between them), several city streets around Hyde Park were closed to vehicles as the drum and bass ricocheted from sky-rise window through to rustling fig tree leaves, drawing thousands to start celebrations in the fading light. Early on, DJ’s had the kids street dancing with moves only a flood of endorphins could conjure. Santogold proved too popular than anticipated, causing an old fashioned storming of pedestrian barriers. And while the enigma of Grace Jones materialized in the Domain, I found myself seeking out Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings and was not disappointed by the 4′10 crowd favourite. Continue reading ‘this is our city in summer.’
A new year often means new goals, new aspirations, trying new things, and opening your mind to what the year ahead will bring. For some new sounds for the new year, check out the musical collaboration between Eugene Chadbourne (USA) and Mani Neumeier (Germany). Eugene is a guitarist who is not afraid to fuse sounds and musical genres to create exciting new sounds and concepts. Taking parts of jazz, bluegrass, country and sound art (also known as noise music), Eugene has created a new genre of music that is all his own. His experimental, and often improvised, Continue reading ‘new year, new sound’
With only a few days left until we hit December, Christmas is fast approaching. Some people are getting out their Christmas trees and dusting off the decorations, while others have had the carols pumping for a few weeks already. Christmas also means Christmas shopping so here are a few ideas if you’re a bit stuck for inspiration. The Gallery of Modern Art is hosting the first-ever Gallery Store Christmas Design Market on Saturday December 6. For one day only, 22 established local artists will set up stalls in the GoMA forecourt. Handmade ceramics, jewellery and other craft items will feature by artists such as Kylie Johnson, Liana Kabel and Shannon Garson. On the other side of town, BrisStyle will also be holding its first ever Christmas Market on Saturday December 13. A collective of Brisbane-based Etsy shop owners will be taking their wares to Hamilton Town Hall for a one-stop Christmas craft shopping experience. Offering gourmet food in the outside courtyard as well as acoustic music to accompany the day, the BrisStyle Christmas Market will feature handmade handbags, children’s wear, jewellery, footwear, and artwork.
This Eskimo proverb provides a timely insight into the potential of innovation as a source of economical, social, technical and environmental change. One of the world’s most innovative companies, Ideo, invites discussion on its ‘Big conversations & small talk’ facebook group titled ‘Turning recession on its head: is there an upside to the downturn’? For readers of Street Editors with an inkling for entrepreneurship, a bone for invention and a deep craving to make a difference, this forum will provide some appetizing brain food. And it seems timing is everything. Just yesterday it was brought to my attention that this week celebrates the inaugural Global Entrepreneurship Week, an initiative launched by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The international program of events encourages youth to think big, turn their ideas into reality, and make their mark. For those in Sydney on Wednesday night, Vibewire is co-presenting an evening with the School for Social Entrepreneurs in Ultimo.
This Friday, September 18, is 
