The Australian Ballet

Column: Bit Parts | Date Published: Tuesday, 13 March 12 | Author: Julia Winterflood | 1 year, 2 months ago

WHAT: Telstra Ballet in the Park
WHEN: Fri March 16
WHERE: Stage 88

The Australian Ballet’s 50th anniversary wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the nation’s capital. A specially selected array of repertoire will be performed featuring many company highlights from throughout the decades. Sumptuous divertissements from La Favorita, Don Quixote, Giselle, The Nutcracker, Le Corsaire and Molto Vivace will sit alongside an emotionally charged pas de trois from Graeme Murphy’s 2002 masterpiece Swan Lake. Finishing off the evening will be an excerpt from the Russian classic La Bayadere. Featuring 12 female dancers in a sea of white tutus, tiaras and tulle, The Kingdom of the Shades is a superb showcase of a strong corps de ballet with ensemble work that demands absolute precision. 7pm sharp, free.

	headspace ACT : WHAT: National Youth Week WHEN: Now! WHERE: www.headspace.org.au headspace ACT is running a competition for National Youth Week which runs from April 13-22. The competition is open to young people aged between 12 to 25 years old living in the ACT or surrounding regions. It requires the young person to enter a piece of artwork, digital image or photo that corresponds with the theme ‘Imagine, Create, Inspire’, which is the theme for this year’s youth week. The winner will receive an iPad2 and will be announced at the National Youth Week Expo at Garema Place on April 13. Entries close March 30 can either be emailed to headspaceACT@canberra.edu.au, sent or dropped in to the headspace ACT office. For more info go to www.headspace.org.au .

	Political Asylum : WHAT: Australia’s pre-eminent live political comedy group WHEN: Wed-Sat March 21-24 WHERE: Civic Pub Political Asylum is Australia’s pre-eminent live political comedy group, performing regularly to sell out crowds in Melbourne, and featuring appearances from the best political comedians this country has to offer. In preparation for a big new show at the 2012 Melbourne International Comedy Festival, they’re bringing their core team of talented funny men to the nation’s capital for a whistle stop tour. There is certainly something distinct that sets political comedy apart from the wider stand up scene, and often it?s as much about the audience as the performer. Says comedian and co-founder of Political Asylum Mathew Kenneally, “Our audiences read the paper and watch the news, and they?re clamouring for some pointed humour at the expense of Barnaby Joyce or Mark Arbib. We do our best to oblige.” Start time is 7.30pm, and tickets are $20/$15. For more info head to www.politicalasylum.com.au .

	Us Folk Magazine: WHAT: Launch WHEN: Fri March 23, 7pm WHERE: Smiths Alternative Bookshop Come along to Smiths Alternative Bookshop on Friday March 23 to celebrate the launch of Us Folk Magazine. Us Folk is a new magazine founded by locals Ash Peak and Juliette Dudley that focuses on exposing young talent from unknown illustrators, writers, photographers, artists and designers from the Canberra Region. There will be lovely people, wine, soft chairs to rest upon, nibblies, and most importantly their first issue! Issue One of Us Folk will be available for sale at Smiths for $12, as well as for free online. Everyone is welcome, so come along and support a group of very talented locals.

	Sarah Quinn: WHAT: Weird Lonely Strangers WHEN: Wed-Thurs March 23-24 WHERE: The Street Theatre Weird Lonely Strangers is the latest offering from critically acclaimed writer/performer Sarah Quinn, who was last seen at The Street in her sell-out self-help parody Other People’s Problems. Billed as a “tender, sexy, silly and sad satirical solo sketch comedy”, Weird Lonely Strangers is “packed with oddball folks and idiosyncratic nobodies, in all their lovely weirdness.” With fast-paced vignettes satirising subjects as diverse as Jon Bon Jovi’s fierce will to live, writers who can’t speak, and speed-dating for commitment-phobes, Weird Lonely Strangers promises to be an unpredictably offbeat mixer for the inarticulate, the uncomfortable and the overlooked; people you might not notice, some you’d rather ignore. For tickets call 6247 1223 or www.thestreet.org.au .

	David O'Doherty : WHAT: Winner 2008 Edinburgh Comedy Award & 2010 Irish Comedian of The Year WHEN: Sat March 24 WHERE: Canberra Theatre Centre Irish comedian David O'Doherty has spent the past year touring and writing, and doing bits for British and US television. Last year he became the least famous person ever to have hosted the BBC quiz Never Mind The Buzzcocks, and his latest book 100 Facts About Sharks co-written with Claudia O'Doherty and Mike Ahern was published worldwide. In November he recorded his latest CD We Are Not The Champions in Dublin and in February he became the first Irish comedian to record his own Comedy Central TV Special in America. On March 24 David O'Doherty presents an hour of talking, songs and a movie proposal for Canberra. He is terribly excited to be coming back. Bookings through the venue.