‘The voice of youth’
Canberra Youth Theatre (CYT) have a bold outline for their 2020 season, to make it “a year of challenging and intelligent theatre that expresses the voice of youth.”
As well as announcing three major productions, the company launched a suite of new training programs, further expanding opportunities for early career artists in the ACT.
According to artistic director Luke Rogers, “our 2020 season asks some very big questions, explores our identities, and interrogates the connections we make with each other”.
Rogers says 2020 will see CYT produce three exciting Australian works that will challenge and inspire both artists and audiences of all ages.
“Normal by Katie Pollock is a provocative play about disenfranchisement, acceptance, and fitting in … I’ve Been Meaning to Ask You sees young people finally get the answers to the big questions they’ve been seeking.
“Impending Everyone by Michael Andrew Collins explores the secrets we hold tight, the parts of ourselves that define us, and the impact technology is having on our lives.”
CYT will also provide development opportunities for young people to assist and be mentored by professional artists in the areas of design, direction, stage management and producing.
They will continue offering weekly and holiday workshops at Ainslie and Gorman Arts Centres and in schools across the ACT for young artists in years 1-12.
For more information, visit canberrayouththeatre.com.au
Dance for a cause
To raise funds for victims of the ongoing bushfires, the volunteers assisting and the animals suffering, Kingston studio Subsdance will be uniting the Canberra dance community to host a 12-hour dance marathon this Saturday 8 February.
The event will comprise $5 dance classes (45 minutes each) in two dance studios, including Samba, Afro and World Dance, Swing, Jazz, Cabaret and Drag-lipsync.
The dance marathon bushfire appeal is run in collaboration with a host of local dance studios and businesses including ProjectBeats, Jumptown Swing, STOMP, Phish and Phreak Productions, the Chachettes and Captavitae Photography.
The dance marathon will be held at Subsdance Dance Studio, Kingston, 8 February 10am-10pm.
Craft ACT showcases a bright future
A handpicked selection of the most exciting early career artists and designers working in furniture, ceramics, glass, jewellery, textiles and more will launch the 2020 Craft ACT artistic program today, 6 February.
As the global appetite to support the local and the handmade grows, two exhibitions – Distorted Trajectories and Emerging Contemporaries – show the future is bright for contemporary craft and design in the Canberra region.
Two early career contemporary glass artists, Madeline Prowd and Marcel Hoogstad Hay, explore the combinations of pattern and form through the medium of blown glass in Distorted Trajectories.
Emerging Contemporaries is a highlight of Craft ACT’s annual exhibition program, showcasing the work of outstanding graduates and emerging craft practitioners selected from the ACT region.
Craft ACT CEO and artistic director, Rachael Coghlan, says these exhibitions demonstrate a bright future for contemporary craft and design, in Canberra and beyond.
She says the exhibitions feature impressive and high-quality work from emerging and early career artists across all the craft mediums, who “spark new conversations and generate inspiring ideas”.
Emerging Contemporaries also features works from the Honouring Cultures Indigenous Jewellery Project, established by Craft ACT’s esteemed Accredited Professional Member (APM), Jennifer Kemarre Martiniello (Kemarre Arts) and tutored by Wayne Simon at the ANU School of Art and Design Gold and Silversmithing Workshop.
See Distorted Trajectories and Emerging Contemporaries at Craft ACT’s Civic gallery until 21 March; craftact.org.au
Lantern Festival postponed
The Australia China Friendship Society’s annual Lantern Festival, which was to be held this Saturday 8 February, will be postponed until March due to concerns regarding coronavirus.
