12 Sydney Festival highlights
International and local acts are celebrating midsummer in the harbor city
62 performers bring sounds to vision in "Assembly."Once again, Sydney's rocking to the vibe of its very own festival.
Festival First Night saw hundreds of thousands of Sydneysiders and travelers reclaim the streets to witness the wonders of Gurrumul, Manu Chao and the omnipresent sideshow acts.
What started from humble beginnings in the 1980s as an attempt to bring people into the city center in summer has now become the arts heartbeat of the harbor city.
The festival has now embraced western Sydney's cultural rennaissance and includes the other downtown, Parramatta.
With the festival now in full swing, it’s time to soak up the summer culture.
Some events are freebies -- others can be booked through the venue or online at www.sydneyfestival.org.au, or 1300 668 812.
Looking at sound in 'Assembly'
What does sound look like?
Gideon Obarzanek -- founder of local dance company “Chunky Move” -- attempts to answer this question in his peak audio-visual experience, housed within the sublime acoustics of the City Recital Hall.
Eight dancers and 54 singers are dynamically choreographed.
With no sound track or orchestra, it is the cast that provides the score: stamping, yelling, breathing, singing and chanting.
Obarzanek depicts the freedom and isolation of individuality while evoking the nature of crowd mentality and communal endeavor.
Obrazanek was described at the Melbourne Festival as “a mesmerizing mix of order and chaos,” and this multi-disciplinary piece at the Sydney Festival will be Obarzanek’s final work.
"Assembly" by Chunky Move Dance Company with Opera Victoria and Sydney Philharmonic Choir, City Recital Hall, 2-12 Angel Place, City, +61 (0)2 8256 2222, until January 14 at 8 p.m.; Saturday January 14 also at 2 p.m., tickets $80-$89, www.cityrecitalhall.com
Facebook exposed in 'I Am a Camera'
Elena Kats-Chernin and William Yang.
His work is usually focused on the people and places around him, but this time Yang turns the camera on himself in “I Am a Camera.”
His slideshow commentates on his own journey with Facebook, and the seemingly eternal voyeurism it has created.
Elena Kats-Chernin’s cello and percussion accompany his images and words.
"I Am a Camera" at Lennox Theatre at Riverside Theatres, Parramatta Reginald Theatre, January 13-15 at 7 p.m., January 14-15 at 3 p.m., also shows at Seymour Centre, Chippendale, +61 (0)2 9351 7940, www.sydney.edu.au/seymour/, also plays at Riverside Theatres, Parramatta, January 17-22 at 7 p.m., January 21, 22 at 2:15 p.m., tickets $30, www.riversideparramatta.com.au
'I Am Eora'
Indigenous arts are bringing social issues to the surface.
This fusion of dance, performance, theater, film, art and literature explores three local indigenous heroes: protest and resistance warrior Pemulway; Barangaroo's female embodiment of resilience and and her controversial husband, Bennelong -- a gifted interpreter who sought reconciliation.
They are names that live on in Australian places and projects.
“I Am Eora” opens boldly and beautifully as a smoke ceremony’s pungent aroma fills the air. It then expresses the collision of past and present with “in your face” music and performance.
This contemporary indigenous performance has powerful cultural and political statements.
“I Am Eora” at Carriageworks, Bay 17, Eveleigh, until 14 January at 8:30 p.m., Saturday January 14 also at 5 p.m., tickets $44-$59, recommended for over-12s, www.carriageworks.com.au
The epicenter of Keystone Festival Bar
The Keystone Festival Bar is a pop-up bar that runs through January.
The wonderfully lit sandstone architecture provides a surreal backdrop for a more mature and discerning audience.
Here are five great nights with tickets available:
Sunday January 15: Andrew Weatherill, master producer and re-mixer serves up his brand of electro, techno and Balearic beats, accompanied by the raw house of Neville Watson.
Wednesday January 25: Mad Racket, Sydney’s foremost purveyors of underground dance music, combine with Chicago’s favorite house and R&B DJ, Peven Everett.
Thursday January 26: Australia’s best Latin group, Watussi, combine with congo-slapper Pedrito Martinez in a night of Afro-Cuban revelry.
Saturday January 28: German DJ Koze debuts his minimal house in Australia.
Keystone Festival Bar Hyde Park Barracks Museum, Corner Macquarie Street and Prince Albert Road, City, January 8-9, 11-14, 18-21, 25-28, doors open at 8 p.m. (7:45 p.m. on January 9, 11, 12 and 21), free entry after 11:30 p.m. (subject to capacity), over-18s only, www.sydneyfestival.org/keystone
Multiculturalism explored in 'Edge of Elsewhere'
Australia is a lot more than usually meets the media.
“Edge of Elsewhere" is a culmination of a three-year project –- undertaken by artists in the broader Asia-Pacific community in collaboration with local communities –- to showcase the multicultural symposium that suburban Sydney is.
This a large-scale, visual exhibition of contemporary art is fittingly held across two venues in the city and the greater west.
"Edge of Elsewhere" 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, 181-187 Hay St., Haymarket, +61 (0)2 9212 0380, www.4a.com.au, also shows at Campbelltown Arts Centre, Corner Camden and Appin roads, Campbelltown, January 13-March 3, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
Journey into black theater during '181 Regent Street'
1972 lives on in Redfern.
In 1972, the National Black Theatre emerged nearby on Regent Street with a biting portrayal of the times through dance, activist poetry and theater.
Curator Rhonda Roberts was part of those dreamy times and she resurrects the cultural renaissance to not only look back at the past, but also celebrate the present and recreate the future.
The day of readings, talks and film features indigenous artists Lydia Miller, Wesley Enoch, Ernie Dingo, Cathie Craigie, Katharine Brisbane, Wendy Blacklock and Redfern resident Mooghalin Performing Arts.
181 Regent St. Symposium, Carriageworks, Eveleigh, Saturday 14 January at 10 a.m., register interest for free event, www.carriageworks.com.au
