Managing director of Ebono Institute and major sponsor of The Generator, Geoff Ebbs, is running against Kevin Rudd in the seat of Griffith at the next Federal election. By the expression on their faces in this candid shot it looks like a pretty dull campaign. Read on
Bent Books sponsors a $50 poetry prize in Westender every month
Des Skordilis is this month’s winner of the Bent Books Poetry Prize. Congratulations Des, your $50 Book Voucher is waiting for you at Bent Books in West End.
Emilio Pavan is the oak on which Meng Ningning alights … the best glutes and quads on the planet
Queensland Ballet’s Coppelia is glorious.
Sumptuous, brilliantly danced and boasting a ripe sense of humour this performance will engage Queenslanders just as company director Li Cun Xin hopes.
It does no harm to his more ambitious goal: to make Queensland Ballet internationally renowned and respected.
The principal dancers are sublime.
Meng Ningning is delicate, graceful and robust at the same time. Her representation of the girl pretending to be a doll that operates under the spell of Dr Coppelius is brilliant dancing, acting and comedy all at once. The sequence where he has her mimic a range of folk dances in quick succession just about had the premiere audience on its feet. She plays with the doctor, the audience and the character while performing a most demanding dance sequence with simple grace.
Emilio Pavan is the perfect complement. The company dancer’s incredible strength, beauty and grace is breath taking. The fact that he is an absolute hunk of a man, with the best glutes and quads on the planet, doesn’t hurt either. His acting ability matches Meng’s, creating a playful and romantic presence that leaps off the stage. Into the bargain, the two of them perform a range of dace feats to create living, breathing sculpture as well as sublime dance and musical theatre.
The second male lead, Nathan Scicluna, almost reaches the soaring heights of the principals. The part does not give him quite as much scope but he makes the most of his opportunities. His humour, charm and wry representation of the dopey bloke who can’t detect romance when he trips over it is a highlight. His Aussie sense of humour reflects that of choreographer Greg Horsman, fully realising the comic potential of his scenes. Arguably, he is the most likeable character on stage.
Horsman has done a brilliant job of bringing a popular and classical work to a modern audience. The fact that Coppelia is so popular and well known presents him with a challenge. Every change he makes to Marius Pepita and Arthur Saint-Léon’s original is scrutinised and challenged by balletomaines.
He has left most of the most famous dances alone, with the delightfully dangerous exception of Australian Rules Footballers in well-known team colours dancing the famous Mazurka with a football. One of the best known pieces of music and popular dances, becomes hilarious, risky and delightful with this simple twist. Of course, it will only confirm the prejudices of some thick-necked northerner who believe that footballers should stay close the ground and rarely, if ever, touch the ball with their feet.
He also teases out the narrative elements as fully as he can, portraying Dr Coppelius as a tragic father obsessed by the loss of his daughter. This adds a great deal of sympathy and depth to that character, so that we sympathise with his aloofness in the first act, villainy in the second and welcome his re-appearance and rapprochement in the third.
He uses all this and more to give the third act some substance. That act has often been dropped in modern performances of Coppelia as it adds little to the narrative and is simply a showcase of a range of dance styles.
Horsman’s integration of the Scot and German ancestry of the Australian/German village of Hahndorf lent a nice touch of local colour to this and again he applies a good deal of humour to leaven the load. Dr Coppelius is brought in to make peace with the rest of the company, who he has battled consistently through the previous two acts.
What does not work so well, is the inclusion of an extended prologue to introduce the daughter and transport the Doctor and his daughter’s ghost from nineteenth century Germany to Australia.
Yes, being able to love the doctor is a valuable narrative device and yes, localising the scene allows for touches such as the Magpie Mazurka. Essentially though, the prologue and animated story projected on screen form an awkward pause before the ballet begins. Rather than working as an aperitif, or foreplay, it is simply delays the action.
It would have been truly radical and extremely difficult to insert a new dance involving the death of a central character into such a classic ballet, so it is clear why Horsman did not try. However, if his narrative device is worthwhile, then something of that nature is required. It would be a far more elegant solution than an animated in-ship GPS, as the daughter dies and is tipped over the side of the ship on a half-lit stage.
All up, that is a minor complaint.
The staging is beautiful, the dancers stunning, the humour hilarious and the acting delightful. The premieré audience was pleased, thrilled and warmed to the innermost cockles. Li Cun Xin will press his company dancers for more technical excellence and because of the superlative standard set by the principal dancers and the high quality of the performance overall, I’m sure he will get it.
If you love theatre, dance or the ballet and you can afford a ticket take the opportunity. It is wonderful.
Visitors enjoying the sun at Southbank to celebrate the Buddha’s birthday
After a few wet and drizzly days in Brisbane, the sunshine cast an auspicious glow over the Iconic Buddha Birth Day Festival.
The Parklands were sparkling in traditional Oriental style to the rich vibrant colours of thousands of Red Chinese Lanterns while three gigantic Buddhas sat in tranquility, watchful over the pleasant fragrant sea of hundreds of lilies, carnations and chrysanthemums.
The Piazza hosted a day of grand spectacular commencing with an explosive display of firecrackers at 11:00am, followed by the Grand Cultural Parade with 200 people wearing the traditional national costumes from a range of Asian countries including Korea, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia, and China.
As expected, at the heart of all good Asian celebrations was a superb range of vegetarian food delights. Dim sims, noodle soup, fried rice and sushi were just a small part of the tasteful offerings.
Meditation classes, bathing Buddha, Kung Fu displays, Tea Ceremonies, Calligraphy and Tai Chi were just a small part of a wide range of activities.
Following on from a tradition dating back of thousands of years there was a spectacular fireworks display at South Bank commencing at 7:30pm on Sunday.
Organisers of the Buddha Birth Day Festival are pleased that over the past 18 years the Festival, which is now one of the Iconic Events of Queensland, continues to make a valued contribution to the cultural fabric of Brisbane.
Suzy Butterworth, with a little help from her friend, can help you find your lost super
Residents living in postcodes within two kilometres of West End have over a quarter of a billion dollars in lost superannuation according to Suzy Butterworth, Branch Principal and Wealth Manager at Yellow Brick Road West End. “That is an incredible amount of unclaimed money sloshing around in the system that Australians should take back,” she said.
Yellow Brick Road commissioned a study to help the local community realise just how much is at stake. There is almost $15 billion in lost superannuation across the country and even the Australian Tax Office (ATO) is unsure who it belongs to. “Many people change jobs and will often establish a new super account. It’s quite easy to then forget your old super account which ends up as unclaimed money, reducing your retirement nest egg,” says Suzy.
“We are offering to help our community take control and find their missing superannuation so they know exactly how much they have. Part of that process is learning how to invest wisely, and better plan for the future. Just 20 minutes at our office is all it takes to be sure you have a hold on your entire superannuation investment.”
Suzy has helped local residents in and around West End for over a decade on most matters financial and joined Yellow Brick Road to deliver an enhanced service to all her clients. “Our unique advantage is that we provide advice, superannuation services, term deposits, mortgage broking, insurance and even car loans. At Yellow Brick Road, the person that owns the business is the also the person you deal with in a personable way. My clients like the fact they can get total financial peace of mind, all in the one location.”
Find out more today from Suzy and her team at Yellow Brick Road West End, they are located at 93 Boundary Street, West End.
Will Lord Mayor Graham Quirk respond to resident’s invitation?
The existing Brisbane City Plan 2000 earmarks six sites for “new public open space” within the South Brisbane Riverside Neighbourhood Plan.
Four new parks are to be delivered as part of the high rise development of the Parmalat site, the ACI site, the Absoe site and a third site south of Davies Park – the Lord Mayor recently identified Bailey Street as the location.
The other two parks require the acquisition of land at 68 Vulture Street and 281 Montague Road, so expanding Davies Park.
Council has issued a Notice for Compulsory Acquisition of 68 Vulture Street, triggered by the lodging of a development application on the site. The design of this park will be critical to ensure it becomes a well-used community space.
The draft New City Plan tells a different future for new parks.
The Absoe site and Bailey Street are renamed “Plaza”. The definition of a Plaza is “privately owned open space that is publicly accessible during hours of operation”. Privately owned land that can be closed is NOT a public park.
The intention to acquire 281 Montague Road has been deleted from the draft New City Plan. This is a serious blow and efforts are being made to turn around this LNP decision.
There is another twist to new West End parks. The existing City Plan states where development sites are equal to or greater than 10,000m2, a minimum of 20% of the site is publicly accessible. The most recent Pradella approval failed to deliver this publicly accessible open space.
Local residents are mobilising. They are seeking a meeting with Lord Mayor Graham Quirk to invite him to a public meeting to explain his intentions.
