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Melbourne International Arts Festival 11 - 27 October 2007 The 2007 Melbourne International Arts Festival program features some of the world's finest contemporary artists from countries such as Austria, Canada, France, Israel, Japan, Korea, Mexico, The Netherlands, Spain, South Africa, USA, UK and Australia. For 17 days and nights, over 700 international and local artists will converge in Melbourne to perform, exhibit and screen their work in 19 venues throughout the city. Audiences can expect groundbreaking and engaging theatre, dance, music, visual arts and more. "This year's program presents artists who have, by definition, changed the possibilities of their artform for all time, and whose individual legacies continue to expand, astound and inspire. Audiences will have direct experience with artists who have attained mastery, and those whose fresh contribution is emerging on the international scene. The Festival is a swirling convergence of creativity. The main stage theatres, galleries and concert halls, the Famous Spiegeltent, Arts House Meat Market, Federation Square and an electric charge of energy in the air everywhere in between, to which Melbourne will play host." Kristy Edmunds, Festival Artistic Director. The 2007 Melbourne International Arts Festival kicks off with a tremendous line-up of Opening Night events. There is literally something for everyone: from an irresistible sing-along for all in Federation Square to a diverse selection of first night performances and exhibitions. It will start with a fantastic free event in the heart of Melbourne. Grammy Award winners Dan Zanes and Friends, whose wild and woolly concert, House Party, was a huge hit at last year's Festival, return to Melbourne with an Opening Night performance that sets the tone for the incredible 17 days and nights to come. So what about Dance? In just the first week of the festival audiences will be treated to performances by choreographer Shaun Parker, renowned Melbourne based dance company Chunky Move and French choreographer Jérôme Bel. Shaun Parker is one of Australia's freshest talents to emerge on the international dance scene. He presents the world premiere of his brand new work This Show Is About People, an intricate, compelling and arresting music and dance-theatre performance that explores the innate human drive to belong to something and connect with others. Internationally acclaimed Australian dance company Chunky Move will present their illuminating and highly regarded dance work Glow, an intimate interactive solo performance in which the motion of the human body is used to trigger and control music, lighting and animation. French choreographer Jérôme
Bel returns to Melbourne with the groundbreaking piece The Show
Must Go On, a humorous 90-minute celebration of music and movement
exploring the clash between fine art and entertainment. The second week will bring recent graduates of the National Institute of Circus Arts for their festival debut in DiVino. In an extravagant circus performance based on the films by Frederico Fellini, DiVino combines circus, music, theatre and dance in a magical show for the whole family. During this week, October 18th to 20th, The Arts Centre will be home to Japan's acclaimed dance company Sankai Juku. Sankai Juku has presented its enigmatic all-male Butoh stylings to more than 700 cities in 41 countries and makes its Melbourne debut with the visually stunning Kagemi: Beyond the Metaphors of Mirrors. Kagemi is a visually stunning work that gradually unfolds in seven scenes to the musical synthesis of Western and Eastern instruments. The highlight of this year's Melbourne International Arts Festival is a tribute to the world's greatest living choreographer, USA's Merce Cunningham. Celebrating more than 50 years of remarkable innovation and revolutionary achievements in dance, Merce Cunningham: The Melbourne Residency will showcase the expansiveness of Cunningham's genius and pioneering vision through a series of projects including live dance and music performances, visual arts exhibitions, a film retrospective, discussions and more. Honouring a truly phenomenal career, these projects will culminate in the largest Merce Cunningham residency ever presented. Merce Cunningham: The Melbourne Residency is one of the most important dance programs to hit Australian shores. During the final week of the Festival, Merce Cunningham Dance Company will perform six dance works: a site-specific free outdoor piece, The Melbourne Event, choreographed exclusively by Cunningham for the Federation Square Plaza space (which will never again be staged anywhere in the world); Suite for Five (1956), BIPED (1999), Split Sides (2003), Views on Stage (2004) and their latest work eyeSpace (2006). Also included in The Residency is Collaborations, a retrospective from the Merce Cunningham Dance Company film archives Festival goers can also join the man himself, Merce Cunningham and Lee Christofis, Curator of Dance at the National Library of Australia, with David Vaughan, Archivist for Merce Cunningham Dance Company since 1976, on stage for a discussion of Cunningham's life and work, influences and legacies.. To find out more about The Melbourne International Arts Festival and book tickets visit www.melbournefestival.com.au banner photo courtesy of www.flickr.com DWinton P1010045ryy |