NANDIPHA MNTAMBO

(Pic courtesy Brodie Stevenson: Nandipha Mntambo, Pracade TourousI)

Standard Bank Young Artist Winner For Visual Art 2011

For 28-year old Nandipha Mntambo, cowhide is the primary canvas used to express her passion to challenge societal and cultural norms. The 2011 Standard Bank Young Artist Award winner for Visual Art graduated with a Masters of Fine Art (with distinction) from the Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town in 2007, and is currently studying in Cleveland, Ohio.

“Winning the Standard Bank Young Artist Award is wonderful. At this stage of my career it is a great affirmation of my achievements within my art practice,” said Mntambo. “My hope is that the scope of my art creation would be increased.”

Well-known for her experimentation with natural elements - cowhide in particular - as canvas for her artistic expression, Mntambo is as concerned over the creative process as with the end-result of her work. Her creativity has crossed many national, cultural, emotional and artistic boundaries.

“My intention is to explore the physical and tactile properties of hide and aspects of control that allow or prevent me from manipulating this material in the context of the female body and contemporary art,” Mntambo explains in a catalogue statement for her solo exhibition Ingabisa at Michael Stevenson in 2007. “I have used cowhide as a means to subvert expected associations with corporeal presence, femininity, sexuality and vulnerability.”

Brenton Maart, National Arts Festival committee member for Visual Art comments: "Nandipha Mntambo is one of South Africa's most remarkable young sculptors,” said “Her mastery of an incredibly difficult medium, animal skin and hair, allows her to shape morphing structures that are part human and part animal, part alive and part dead, part grotesquely revolting and part sensually enticing. It is this ambivalence, that sense of unease, that elevates Mntambo's work above the level of the commonplace into the ranks of the astonishing."

Her thought–provoking solo exhibitions include Umphatsi Wemphi at Brodie/Stevenson in Johannesburg (2009), The Encounter at Michael Stevenson in Cape Town (2009), Ingabisa at Michael Stevenson, Cape Town (2007) and Locating me in order to see you, her Master's exhibition, at Michaelis Gallery in Cape Town (2007).

Her work has also been exhibited as part of numerous group exhibitions around the world. In 2010, her work formed part of nine different exhibitions in Berlin, Australia, Senegal, Wales, Denmark, Germany, Paris, Rome and Newtown, Johannesburg. In 2009, she also exhibited in the USA, UK, Mali and Norway, and again in Germany. In 2008, her work travelled to Italy and again to the UK, in 2007 to Spain and in 2006 to the Canary Islands, in addition to the group exhibitions that she continued to participate in on home soil.

Mntambo was awarded the Wits/BHP Billiton Fellowship to do a three-month residency at the Wits School of the Arts in 2010. In 2006 she was a finalist in the MTN New Contemporaries Award and in 2005 she received the Brett Kebble Curatorial Fellowship. She was also a recipient of the Mellon Meyers Fellowship in 2003 and 2004 to study at the Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town.

“I’m inspired by my everyday environment, the past and the present,” said Mntambo. “I've also been experimenting with photography, video and performance. It’s great to be able to diversify.”

MICHAEL GREEN’S WINE NOTES #246

Screw tops are becoming increasingly popular among South African winemakers, and the day is long past when a screw top was regarded as the mark of an inexpensive plonk.

Many high quality South African white wines now come in screw top bottles, and a recent addition to this trend is Plaisir de Merle Sauvignon Blanc 2010, from the Franschhoek farm that is one of the most beautiful properties in the Western Cape. This wine retails at about R77 a bottle. For that you get a sauvignon with aromas and tastes of green figs, peas, green peppers and ripe tropical flavours, with a lingering aftertaste. It is excellent now but, interestingly enough (considering that it is a screw top), it should develop in the bottle for one to two years, according to the Plaisir de Merle cellarmaster, Niel Bester.

Cork from the bark of trees grown mainly in Portugal has been used for centuries for wine bottles but in recent years the screw top has gained rapidly in popularity. A good screw top has a lining which expands and provides a tight seal for the wine in the bottle. And of course it is easier to open a bottle and to keep the wine in a refrigerator for a day or two once it has been opened. The advantage of cork is that it allows small amounts of air to penetrate and assist the natural ageing of the wine. Cork is still the closure of choice for a good red wine that can be laid down to mature for several years.

The solemn truth, however, is that these days very few wines, red or white, are kept for a significant period. In South Africa a very high percentage of all wines is consumed within 24 hours of purchase, and it is unusual indeed to find people keeping red wines for up to ten years, as they did two or three decades ago. The winemakers are well aware of this trend, and most South African reds are now made for early consumption, ready to drink on the day they are bought.

With white wines maturation is hardly an issue, and this is why dozens of expensive whites now have screw tops.

For everyday wines I prefer screw tops. The old ritual of drawing a cork slowly, examining it, sniffing it, is fun (provided the cork doesn’t crumble or break) but the screw top is really much easier.

**** **** *****

Wine tastings are available these days at a great many Cape estates, but Plaisir de Merle has taken this pleasant entertainment a step further with a choice of five different tastings. It offers a standard tasting for R20; a flavour tasting for R50, in which bite-sized items of food are matched with wine; a wine and chocolate tasting for R50, in which wines such as merlot, cabernet sauvignon and shiraz are paired with chocolates; an exclusive tasting for R100, where limited releases of red wines from Plaisir de Merle are tasted; and a blind tasting at R100, in which the winner takes home a bottle of merlot as a prize.

Plaisir de Merle is open most days for tastings and wine sales. It is about 40 minutes’ drive from Cape Town. Phone 021 874 1071.- Michael Green

BOKANI DYER

(Pic by Magriet Theron: Bokani Dyer)

Standard Bank Young Artist Winner for Jazz 2011

Jazz pianist Bokani Dyer (24) comes from a strong musical family and as the 2011 Standard Bank Young Artist Award winner for Jazz, he is building on his musical heritage with a unique flair.

“The Standard Bank Award is a blessing. Being recognized as someone doing something worthwhile is encouraging,” said Dyer. “I look at the previous winners of this award who are all musicians whom I admire and respect, so to be a winner of this award is a great honour. I feel it will give me some momentum at this early stage of my career by creating a platform for my music to be heard.”

Dyer graduated from the South African College of Music, University of Cape Town, with a Bachelor of Music (Hons) first class in June 2008. During his studies in 2006, he was chosen by Andre Peterson for a youth band that took part in a summer school in Sogne, Norway. He was also part of the Standard Band National Youth Jazz band in Grahamstown, which played at the Johannesburg International Jazz festival, the Cape Town International Jazz Festival and toured Sweden. He played for the University of Cape Town Big Band and also played at the Arts Alive concert with Steve Dyer, Dorothy Masuku, Thandiswa Mazwai and Siya Makhuzeni.

“I've always had a love for music, but developed a liking for jazz from the age of 16 after I had been playing for a few years. I was introduced to jazz by my father, Steve Dyer, who used to play jazz music in the car and at home often. Jazz is a beautiful art form which allows for deep exploration through spontaneous creativity,” said Dyer.

In 2007, he became a member of the Shannon Mowday band and performed at all the major jazz festivals in South Africa. He also joined leading South African Afro-Jazz guitarist Jimmy Dludlu’s band that frequently performs around the country on the South African festival circuit and abroad. He travelled to Sweden in March 2007 with his own trio to perform at the Swedish Jazz celebration held in Lulea, and also performed at Fasching, the iconic Swedish jazz club in Stockholm. In 2007 he formed Plan Be, an original groove music band with talented vocalist, Sakhile Moleshe and was a runner-up in the Fine Music Radio travel awards competition.

After graduating in 2008, Dyer’s trio became a regular fixture at the popular Green Dolphin restaurant in Cape Town and he played at the Cape Town International Jazz festival with Jimmy Dludlu and toured with the band in and around South Africa. They were also a backing band for high profile jazz artists, including Jonas Gwangwa and Judith Sephuma. Dyer then joined the Moreira Project led by Mozambique saxophonist, Moreira Chonguica for the launch of his second album in Namibia, Mozambique and Cape Town.

In 2009, Dyer performed with Judith Sephuma at the annual Jazzathon held in the amphitheatre at the Waterfront, Cape Town and travelled with Jimmy Dludlu to Davos, Switzerland to play for the South African delegation at the World Economic Forum. He also toured to Zanzibar with Moreira Chonguica to play at the Sauti za Busara music festival in February 2009. At the Cape Town International Festival he performed with Rus Nerwich and the Collective Imagination. He was also sponsored by Laurentina Premium to perform with the Moreira project at the Mozambique Jazz Festival in April. He was Runner-up in the Samro jazz piano competition.

A highlight in his career was being involved for the first time in a concert in Botswana, his country of birth, featuring in a concert with Steve Dyer, headlined by Oliver Mtukudzi. In 2010 he again travelled to Davos, Switzerland with Jimmy Dludlu for the World Economic Forum, and performed at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival with the Bokani Dyer Trio.

“Bokani is a very impressive young musician, technically skilled beyond his years and artistically creative in a wide array of jazz genres. He is undoubtedly someone who is going to add to the breadth of South African jazz in the future,” said Alan Webster, Director of the Standard Bank Jazz Festival, Grahamstown.

Dyer lists Bheki Mseleku, Moses Molelekwa, Andile Yenana, Winston 'Mankunku' Ngozi locally and Robert Glasper, Herbie Hancock, Bobo Stenson internationally as some of his jazz heroes.

“Inspiration is a weird thing,” said Dyer. “It doesn't always come from likely places, like a conversation or the weather or spending time with children. The energy behind the music is what inspires me. It is the character and feeling behind the sound that really matters.”

BEN SCHOEMAN

(Pic bystudio1b.co.uk 2: Ben Schoeman)

Standard Bank Young Artist Winner For Music 2011

After being the first South African to win the first grand prize in the 11th UNISA Vodacom International Piano Competition in Pretoria in 2008, Ben Schoeman (27) now also adds the Standard Bank Young Artist Award for Music 2011 to his long list of professional accolades.

“The Standard Bank Young Artist Award is a wonderful recognition, and I feel really honoured to be part of the list of creative artists that have won this Award over the past three decades,” said Schoeman. “This award gives a great amount of international exposure, but it also builds stronger ties with my home country South Africa. It also inspires me as an artist to achieve higher standards,” he added.

“As a young pianist who has already begun to make his mark, Ben Schoeman is someone to watch,” said Richard Cock, National Arts Festival committee member for Music. “He will certainly make his presence felt at the Festival, and it is a long time since we have had a pianist as the Music winner.”

After obtaining a Masters in Performing Arts (cum laude) from the University of Pretoria, Schoeman completed a Master Diploma from the Accademia Pianistica ‘Incontri col Maestro’ in Imola, Italy. He is currently undertaking a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at City University of London and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He has studied with well-known musicians, including Joseph Stanford, Michel Dalberto, Louis Lortie, Boris Petrushansky and Ronan O’Hora.

“I grew up in a very musical family. My parents often took me to concerts and I started with violin lessons at the age of four. Music has therefore played a very important role during my childhood. My mother is an organist and I always had the music of JS Bach in my ears,” said Schoeman. “It was, however, the sound of the piano that had captured my imagination most vividly, and I started listening to many recordings of great artists such as Arthur Rubinstein, Sviatoslav Richter and Emil Gilels.”

Schoeman has performed across Europe, Canada and the United Kingdom. He has played in prestigious concert halls, such as the Wigmore Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, the Grande Auditorio of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, the Teatro del Giglio in Lucca, the Paleis Het Loo in the Netherlands, Schloss Moritzburg in Dresden and the Konzerthaus in Berlin. He also gave critically-acclaimed recitals at various international festivals, among others the Chester Festival and King’s Lynn Festival (UK), the Festival da Bach a Bartók and the Festival Pianistico “Mario Ghislandi” (Italy), the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival (Canada) and the Crans-Montana Semaines Musicales (Switzerland).

“My greatest heroes are those musicians who show real integrity and creativity in their music-making,” said Schoeman. “A musician that inspires and moves me tremendously is the pianist András Schiff. When he plays, I forget about anything that is material and earthly. I hear only the beautiful and transcendental qualities of the music itself. I would love to perform with more South African singers in the future.”

He regularly performs concertos with the leading South African symphony orchestras, including the Johannesburg, KwaZulu-Natal and Cape Philharmonic Orchestras. He also regularly gives solo and chamber music recitals throughout South Africa. His recent nationwide tour of 23 concerts received rave reviews.

“Humanity and spirituality are the things that inspire me the most. Music is something that brings me great joy, but I also want to share this with a large public. I feel that we can never work hard enough to emphasise the important role of music and art in basic education. I feel really inspired when I see someone being moved by a great work of art,” said Schoeman.

In 2008 he received the prestigious Laureate Award from the University of Pretoria Alumni Association for his achievements as well as his contribution to music in South Africa. In 2009 he also won the coveted gold medal and first prize in the Royal Over-Seas League Music Competition in London. Salon Music and UNISA recently launched his DVD-recording of concertos by Mozart and Tchaikovsky.

“I hope that I can create a greater awareness of classical music in South Africa and to be a cultural ambassador for my country,” said Schoeman about his hopes for the year ahead. “I also see this as an important year to expand my repertoire, and I hope that I shall have the opportunity to introduce the music of South African composers to more audiences in South Africa and abroad. I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to Standard Bank for their loyal and continued support of the arts, and in particular their great investment towards the Standard Bank Young Artist Award.”

ACT SCHOLARSHIPS 2011

The Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) is now open for registration for participation in the ACT | DALRO | Nedbank Performing Arts Scholarships 2011.

Sponsored by the Dramatic, Artistic and Literary Rights Organisation (DALRO) and Nedbank, the ACT Scholarships Programme is aimed at learners in their final year of secondary education who wish to pursue undergraduate studies in the performing arts. Individuals between 18 and 25 who are not considered to be professional and who are not registered for an undergraduate course during 2011 are also eligible for participation.

Participants are required to demonstrate competence in all three disciplines - acting, singing and dancing - with exceptional talent in at least one. Scholarship winners will be at liberty to select their preferred performing arts course at any accredited South African tertiary institution.

The first 'Magic in the Making' event was hosted in 2009 with the inaugural ACT | DALRO Performing Arts Scholarship. In 2010, Nedbank joined forces with ACT and DALRO and the combined value of the scholarships was raised to R210,000.

"ACT will once again award two Scholarships to the value of R105,000 each through the programme in 2011," says Nomalanga Nkosi, Programmes Manager of ACT. "Regional rounds will be held in Durban, Cape Town, Johannesburg and a national round will take place in Grahamstown during the South African National Schools Festival," she continues.

For rules of the competition, guidelines for preparation and to download the registration forms, please visit www.act.org.za/downloads.htm

Selected finalists must be available for the final round which will take place in Johannesburg from September 22 to 27, 2011. ACT will cover the costs of travel and accommodation for finalists.

The closing date for registrations is May 31, 2011.

For more information contact the ACT office on 011 712 8403 or send an e-mail to deidre@act.org.za For more information about ACT, its funding programmes, criteria for assessment and submission of applications online, visit www.act.org.za

ACT AWARDS 2010: WINNERS

The winners of the prestigious ACT Awards were announced in November.

The recipients of the ACT Lifetime Achievement Awards 2010 are industry veterans: Peter Clarke for Visual Arts; Gcina Mhlope for Theatre and Pops Mohamed for Music.

“We salute the three recipients of these awards. ACT is privileged to be in a position to honour the achievements of these exemplary individuals who have served the arts with vision and commitment“, said ACT chairperson, Brenda Devar.

The prestigious ACT Lifetime Achievement Awards honour Arts professionals whose extraordinary careers have had a profound and lasting impact on arts, culture and heritage and whose lifetime achievements have contributed significantly to the enrichment of cultural life in South Africa. These awards are sponsored by the Vodacom Foundation (the Visual Art Award); the Southern African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO) (the Music award) and the Dramatic, Artistic and Literary Rights Organisation (DALRO) (the Theatre Award).

Peter Clarke’s artistic career spans many decades and he has unsurprisingly, produced a large number of works and appeared in many exhibitions. He received his award from Joseph Gaylard, ACT Trustee and Ebrahim Hassim, Vodacom Foundation Manager.

Themi Venturas, ACT Trustee together with Gérard Robinson, the Executive Director of DALRO presented Gcina Mhlope with her award. Mhlope is best known for her charismatic performances, where she says she does most of her important work, using Storytelling as a means of keeping history alive and encouraging South African children to read.

The esteemed musician, Pops Mohamed, a well-travelled, multi-instrumentalist, who has taken it upon himself to keep traditional sounds alive and is undoubtedly one of South Africa’s living legends of music received his award from ACT Trustee, Jayesperi Moopen and the CEO of SAMRO, Nick Motsatse

This year, together with the presentation of the Lifetime Achievement Awards, was the inaugural presentation of the ImpACT Awards for Young Professionals. The four ImpACT Awards are proudly sponsored by Distell Foundation and were presented to the winners by ACT Chairperson Brenda Devar and Rupert Hermanus, HR Manager from Distell.

The ImpACT Awards were awarded to Johannesburg based artist Musa Nxumalo (Visual Arts); Kyla Davis, founder and Artistic Director of Well Worn Theatre (Theatre); UCT Honours student and flautist Monique van Willingh (Music and Singing) and LIV Green Design (Design) which focuses on sustainable urban design.

The nomination process for the ImpACT awards is open to the public and every year a fresh panel of judges is convened. The 2010 Awards panel was made up of Anriette Chorn, manager of SAMRO’s Endowment for the National Arts, Christina Wiese, David Koloane, a past ACT Lifetime Achievement Award winner (2008 Visual Art), past ACT Trustee Jill Waterman and freelance casting director, Libé Ferreira.

The 2010 ACT Awards were sponsored by the Vodacom Foundation, the Southern African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO), the Dramatic, Artistic and Literary Rights Organisation (DALRO), and supported by Classicfeel Magazine and Business and Arts South Africa (BASA) with the ImpACT Awards being sponsored by the Distell Foundation.

The Arts & Culture Trust also took the opportunity to announce the launch of the brand new ACT Building Blocks Programme, in partnership with the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands at the event. More information at www.act.org.za

NEIL COPPEN

(Pic by Val Adamson: Neil Coppen)

Standard Bank Young Artist Winner For Theatre 2011

Neil Coppen’s (29) obsession with theatre grew like a tempest at the age of six when his mother first took him along to the NAPAC production of Singing in the Rain.

“I was totally enthralled when it started to pour with rain on stage. I think my father told me that the director had a hotline to some celestial being that made it pour on cue. I had seen magic before but this took things to a whole new level,” Coppen recalls. “I suppose it made me realise that anything was possible. This was the beginning of a very long and involved love affair, and I think after that I dragged my mother to the theatre on a regular basis.”

After matriculating from Durban High School in 1999, he attended Robert Mackee’s Story Workshop in London in 2004, completed the South African Script Writing Institute (level 6) at the Bat Centre in 2007, and recently obtained a Creative Writing Degree through UNISA.

“My education, you could say, has been formed over the decades by watching and learning from the greats,” said Coppen who has not been formally trained in theatre. “From an early age I was exposed to a wide range of performing arts styles including children’s theatre, opera, pantomime, contemporary and classical dance, William Shakespeare, Athol Fugard and the Mbongeni Ngema musicals.”

Inspired by what he experienced in the theatre, Neil found the need to create and tell his own stories. “I would sit for hours writing plays, and then build miniature sets using my father’s jenga blocks and brothers screen-printing screens as gauzes. At the same time my passion for literature and cinema was developed and all these mediums began to fuel my ambitions.”

Neil began his acting career performing in productions of Twelfth Night, Compleat Wks of William Shakespeare, Oedipus Rex, Dangerous Liaisons, King Lear and Wit, which premiered at the National Arts Festival in 2009. He has won leading actor awards for his performances in Hamlet, Proof and Dracula.

Coppen currently works as a writer/director and designer in Durban, as well as a playwright and freelance journalist for various South African publications including the Sunday Times Lifestyle, Mail & Guardian, Sunday Independent and City Press. His work centres on a wide range of historical and cultural interests, while his travel writing has seen him traverse the awe-inspiring landscapes of India, Nepal, Madagascar and South America, where he tracked the life and fiction of Noble prize-winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez in Colombia. His various collaborations include works with visual artists, writers, community groups, sound designers, film- makers, authors, animators, choreographers and musicians.

“I admire artists and visionaries who have refused to compromise and have sustained careers by constantly challenging themselves and their audiences,” said Coppen.

Since 2005, Neil has served as artistic director for the Think Theatre Productions company where he has written several educational and children’s theatre programmes, including the much loved Marvellous Mixtures.

His first grown-up play, Suicidal Pigeons, premiered at the Red Eye Art exhibition in 2005. In 2007 he completed seasons of two acclaimed new works, namely Two ...The Beginning of the End (co -written and performed alongside Clare Mortimer), as well as the multi-award winning Tin Bucket Drum (directed by Karen Logan), which has toured extensively throughout the country and in 2011 will visit New York as part of the Ibewu theatre festival.

Coppen’s latest work Tree Boy, which he wrote and designed (directed by Libby Allen), saw him initiating a three year creative process alongside a team of actors, animators, editors and musicians in an attempt to distort the boundaries between live performance and filmic conventions and projections. It won the Durban Theatre Award for best new South African Script (2009) and had sell-out performances at the 2010 National Arts Festival, Grahamstown Main Theatre Program and Hilton Theatre festival.

He is currently developing several new plays and screenplay ideas while collaborating with the Umsindo Community group in Umlazi as a script writer on the Twist Development project.

“This award offers a significant moment to stop and take a deep breath. It’s a welcome point to reflect on the past decade, a chance to look back over my work while at the same time prepare myself for a future of exciting new challenges,” said Coppen. “Most of all I am so grateful that I get to continue doing what I love, crafting stories and creating experiences alongside a group of people who care as deeply about the things that I do.”

Coppen is currently teamed up with visual artist Vaughn Sadie for the Two Thousand And Ten Reasons To Live In A Small Town (Reimagining Space-Place-Process) residency facilitated by the Visual Arts Network of South Africa. Coppen and Sadie have taken up a residency in the historic KZN battle field town of Dundee for three months to implement their project.

“While I love working in different provinces, there are so many stories/complexities in KZN that interest me right now, so many significant talents who remain unrecognized, and I feel a sense of duty to base myself here (in Durban) and do what I can to tap into the abundance of talent and possibilities,”. says Coppen. “I am also in awe of the many talents, on stage and off with whom I have had the fortune of collaborating with over the years. This award would not be possible without their considerable inputs. So I share it with dozens of artists, collaborators and friends who make what I do possible. My parents, family and partner have also been hugely supportive and patient with me along my creative journey.”

MAMELA NYAMZA

Standard Bank Young Artist Winner For Dance 2011

34-year old multiple award-winning dancer, choreographer, dance teacher, passionate development activist and motivational speaker Mamela Nyamza is the 2011 Standard Bank Young Artist Award Winner for Dance.

“It’s such a great feeling to be recognised in your country,” said Nyamza after hearing that she had won the award. ”Now I can travel the world with confidence, and carry the flag with me everywhere I go. There are no mistakes in life. Dreams are for real. I have dreamt about winning this award, and now it’s a reality.”

Nyamza matriculated from Fezeka High School in Gugulethu, Cape Town, where she also attended the ZAMA Dance School, under the royal Academy of Dance.

“Growing up in Gugulethu with a huge family did not give me a choice but to love dancing. There is music and sound, all day long, and even in the streets the noise became the music,” said Nyamza. ”I used my body as the instrument to react to all forms of sound, whether it be playing, crying, or watching all sorts of things that one can imagine happened in Gugulethu in the 80’s” she added.

She went on to study a National Diploma in Ballet through the Pretoria Technikon Arts Faculty. In 1998 she completed a one year fellowship at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Centre, and also participated in intensive choreographic workshops at the Vienna International Dance festival. In 2005 she attended African Dance workshops in Soweto with Jamaine Acogny, and in 1997 she had Ballet Training with Martin Schonberg through the Pact Dance Company. Most recently in 2009, she did a major intensive course in dance directing through London’s prestigious Sadler’s Wells Theatre.

“No-one warned me that it would be this difficult to be a dancer in South Africa, and there weren’t many black female dancers back in the days who could have advised me on how to make it in this profession,” said Nyamza. “So I juggled all of this on my own, not knowing what I was getting myself into. It is by no mistake that I am in the industry, it was meant for me. It actually chose me!” she said.

Since graduating she has been a member of the State Theatre Dance Company, lectured dance at the Pretoria Dance Technikon, The Dance Factory and Jazzart Dance Theatre, and was resident choreographer, teacher and Vice Principal of the Zama Dance School in 2007. From 2002 until 2005 she was also involved with various commercial, modelling and corporate projects, including being part of the Face of Woolworths Campaign in 2004, and her ongoing work with the Free flight Dance Company since 2002. She has also presented dance workshops in Brazil and Mexico.

The multi-award winning Nyamza is currently project coordinator for the University of Stellenbosch's Project Move 1524, to educate and demonstrate through dance movement therapy on issues relating to HIV/AIDS, domestic violence and drug abuse. Managing all of this outreach work amidst an intense performance schedule, Nyamza has been part of various original grand-scale musical casts, including The Lion King in Denhaag, Netherlands in 2004 and We Will Rock You in South Africa in 2006.

In 2008, Nyamza choreographed and performed her own piece, HATCH at On Broadway, the Out The Box Festival and Baxter Dance Festival. She also took the piece to the Netherlands, where she performed it in shelters for abused women. She also performed this piece at the World Population Foundation. She did informal studio performances of the work in Brazil and Vienna, as well as at selected schools in the Eastern Cape, Durban and Cape Town and at the South African Domestic Violence conference in Johannesburg. During 2008, she performed in Gugulethu and Khayelitsha for the World's Aids Day, collaborating with Free Flight Dance Company and Dance For All. She was also selected as the South African representative invited to present Afro - fusion in Los Angeles, USA at the Superstars of Dance competition. Her work, Kutheni, was commissioned by FNB.

In 2009 she performed at the FNB Dance Umbrella and also took HATCH to Mexico for Foro Performatica. She attended the 2009 Young & Bright Artist's Conference in Cape Town, and was a commissioned artist for the Baxter Dance Festival.

Even after many years of experience in the South African performing arts industry, Nyamza is thankful for the opportunities to express her artistic views in the way that she wants to. “I now have my own repertoire, and I am so proud of my own achievements in the industry, thankful for all of those who believed in my art. I am ready to fly with the award, and take it to places where only the sky will stop me,” said the dynamic mother, artist and activist.

FUTURE EXPOSED

For the first time the CFAD (Centre for Fine Art Animation and Design) in Durban’s CBD is hosting their annual students’ portfolio exhibition at both the Durban Art Gallery and CFAD exhibition space. Titled Future Exposed, the exhibition runs until February 4, 2011.

The sheer body of work, and the incredibly high standard of the art have meant that for the first time the exhibition will have two venues. Previously only the CFAD space was used, but the work has shown such a quantum leap in volume and quality, that a carefully-chosen selection of pieces will hang in the charming red room at the top of the stairs of the Durban Art Gallery, as well as at CFAD.

A total of 168 first, second and third year students are enrolled for the integrated diploma this year and the multi-media exhibition shows the breadth of the work they have explored: animation, cartooning, graphic design, drawing, painting, TV commercial production and web design. Their hugely varied curriculum has seen the students exploring the world of mosaic, fashion, graffiti, public art and writing – as well as the expected genres of fine art, animation and design.

CFAD is situated at 201 Salbany House, 50 Albany Grove, Durban. For more info on projects run at CFAD, contact Sasha on 031 305 2480. Registration is now open for students for 2011.

HENK VOS

World renowned Henk Vos, South Africa’s premier wildlife and equine artist, is back in the limelight!

Henk Vos was born in Amsterdam, Holland in 1946 and studied art at the Johannesburg School of Art. He began his career as a commercial artist and newspaper cartoonist and has worked for companies, newspapers and publishing houses, until the turning point in his life in 1975. Inspired many years ago by Oprah, who said `If you do what you love, you’ll never have to work again”, this was Henk’s kickstart to going on his own and following his dream. .

Durban based Vos is an exceptionally energetic visionary and an extraordinary artist. His reputation as a painter of wildlife has spread, recognized in South Africa as the premier wildlife and equine artist. His huge oil, Survival of the Giants, became the symbol in the African campaign to save the disappearing herds of elephants. He later became renowned for his depictions of racehorses and particularly for his monumental five metre long painting commemorating one hundred years of the Durban July horserace, titled The Painting of the Century, which took him five years to complete.

In his own words, the artist explains: "Gold, diamonds and the sheer space of South Africa before the turn of the century, attracted great men and women who were destined for greatness."

Because humanity lies always at the core, for almost a decade now, Henk Vos has had a dream: To bring to life on canvas the most eventful century in South African recorded history, a painting in oil of epic proportions to celebrate the South African Renaissance - from the seafarer Van Riebeeck to the icon, Mandela.

His work is now available exclusively on exhibition at Graceland Gallery in Mooi River, KwaZulu-Natal which is the perfect home for Vos’ work, as the gallery is situated in a beautifully refurbished barn, with the neighing of stud horses audible from the adjacent stables, set in lush Midlands surroundings and overlooking Giants Castle, a true reflection of Vos’s free spirit and soul. The gallery has framed and unframed limited prints carrying wildlife, equine and nude themes available.

Contact Graceland Gallery on 033 263 1200 or email: gracelandgallery@gmail.com Open Wednesday to Sunday from 10h00 to 16h00 – or by special appointment.

BLARNEY BROTHERS AT RIVERSIDE

The Blarney Brothers, Durban’s widely acclaimed Irish group, are back this festive season at The Riverside Hotel’s Conference Centre, formerly known as ‘The Barn’, at the old Athlone Hotel in Durban North where they performed for many years.

The legendary three-man group has been at the heart of South Africa’s music going on 40 years, livening up parties and gala events with their own special brand of music, including Irish ballads, catchy pub songs, popular ‘newies’ and even the occasional Irish jig.

Comprising three of South Africa’s best loved musicians, Paul and Damien McIlroy and Tony Fisher, The Blarney Brothers established themselves playing "The Barn" at Durban’s former Athlone Hotel every Wednesday and Friday for 13 years. Since finishing there in 1991, they have toured widely, performing internationally with great success in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Macau, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Australia and the UK.

“We’re happy to be back on our old stomping ground this season, at ‘The Barn’ as our ‘home from home’ for so many years was known, and we look forward to renewing ties with old friends as well as meeting new ones,” says Blarney Brothers band leader, Paul McIlroy.

Following the popular success of their appearances there for the past two years, the group will perform in this venue until December 30. Tickets R80 available at Riverside Hotel reception on 031 563 0600 or at the door

New recruits to The Blarney Brothers’ unique brand of music-making can log onto www.blarneybrothers.co.za for full details about their rich performance history, as well as the titles of their CDs, and other information.

SAMRO ON GROWTH PATH

The Southern African Music Rights Organisation (SAMRO) ends 2010 on a continuing sound note following news that its royalty distribution shows a healthy growth for the period July 1 2009 to June 30 2010.

What’s more, the Johannesburg-based rights management organisation is also reporting a substantial increase in group gross income – by R31.7 million or 9% - for the same period, alongside a welcome containment of its expenses.

These figures were among those presented to SAMRO’s AGM held on November 26 at SAMRO Place and attended by a substantial number of members – with a small amount drawn from around South Africa including KwaZulu-Natal and the Northern Cape. The AGM confirmed the 49th Annual Report which is now available for public viewing on SAMRO’s website (www.samro.org.za). This year’s report was audited by Ernst & Young Inc.

Says Annette Emdon, Chairman of SAMRO’s Board, “It is especially gratifying to report such strong income and distribution figures during a period that was defined by the global economic crisis. As the Board and management, we are also very pleased to report that SAMRO’s operating costs were kept contained – again not an easy task given the macro circumstances that prevailed during the year under review. But we are gratified that a concerted cost containment programme implemented by SAMRO’s management team over the past year is showing real benefits - and addresses an area of concern for some members.”

Emdon says she was particularly pleased to report that out of the group licence and royalty income increase of R26.8-million (8.8%), the amount that was available for music rights distribution increased by R19.9-million (7.9%). “This means that our member earned increased royalties over the same period the year before.”

SAMRO members number 10,087 in total, spread across individual rights holders and entities like publishing companies. The period under review also saw a significant proportion of SAMRO’s membership participating in this year’s royalty distributions, with a total of 7,012 SAMRO members and 105 Affiliated Societies earning royalties during the year under review (compared to 2009 when 6,637 SAMRO members and 100 Affiliated Societies earned). To earn a royalty in a specified period, SAMRO’s performing and mechanical rights members have to have had works that are active - that is broadcast, performed publicly, transmitted by diffusion or reproduced by music users.

There’s more good news for SAMRO’s members before 2010 ends.

SAMRO’s annual Non-Royalty Revenue distribution will be undertaken on December 10. The amount available for NRR in the period under review is R39,7 million showing a 0.4% increase over the previous period. “While this performance is not directly attributable to management activity, this again shows that SAMRO has been able to either hold its ground or show increases during what has been a particularly trying period for the global economy,” says Emdon.

Emdon underscored SAMRO’s ability to grow in difficult economic times by pointing to the report of the International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC) that the collections of all CISAC member societies globally showed a growth of 2.5%. “Although emanating from a low base, collections in Africa, where SAMRO is a compelling force, grew by 4.9%,” she explains.

In reflecting on the July 1 2009 to June 30 2010 financial year, Emdon also made reference to SAMRO’s ongoing commitment to the highest levels of corporate governance. In particular, SAMRO is committed to complying with the King III Code of Good Governance as well as the new Companies’ Act. To this end the organisation’s constitutive documents will be reviewed and amalgamated into a new Memorandum of Incorporation (MoI)

“Aside from meeting the day-to-day and immediate requirements of our stakeholders and the business, one of the key areas the Board and management have had to pay close attention to in recent years is the sustainability of the organisation,” Emdon says. Pointing to the areas of human resources, technological capacity and physical infrastructure, she said SAMRO had been strengthened in its long-term sustainability by investment in all three areas. “It’s important to note that this drive to sustainability as required by good corporate governance is not done by taking away what is due as income to rights holders.”

For the full SAMRO Annual Report go to www.samro.org.za

EVITA’S KOSSIE SIKELELA

Evita Bezuidenhout has done it again. Her very first cookbook, Evita’s Kossie Sikelela, of which over 40,000 copies have been sold since its release in March 2010, has just been named the South African winner of the Gourmand World Cookbooks Awards 2010, in the category “Best Easy Recipes Book.”

This qualifies Mrs Bezuidenhout’s book for the next round in which its peers from all other countries compete for the “Gourmand Best In The World” award. The award ceremony takes place in Paris (France – not Parys in the Free State) on March 3, 2011 on the first day of the Paris Cookbook Fair.

Evita, who is no stranger to fame and the limelight, says: “I am thrilled and delighted at this news and pay a special tribute to Linda Vicquery who did most of the work, while I picked up most of the weight! Best in South Africa is better than best in the world!”

Publisher Frederik de Jager says: “The delight of having to do with Tannie Evita is like standing in the crowd and cheering her along the red carpet. She is glamour and generosity personified and makes magic of everything she touches. And her partner in this book Linda Vicquery is as bounteous in the arts of cooking and drawing as she is in her love of life. Eating one’s way through this entire book couldn’t give greater pleasure than seeing the two of them thus honoured.”

Author royalties from the sale of this book, matched by the publishers, go to the Darling Trust, founded by Pieter-Dirk Uys to serve the community of Darling in the Western Cape through art and culture, education and health. More information at www.thedarlingtrust.org

THE AU PAIR

The Au Pair by Michele Macfarlane bravely goes where no other book has gone, and tells the story which so many women have experienced, with complete honesty. There is no other lesbian novel that addresses the issues faced in the book as directly, and as openly. Furthermore, it is a novel that everyone who comes into contact with something similar will be able to identify with, and benefit from. Whether it is a mother, whose daughter turns out gay. Or a young woman, trying to come to terms with her sexuality

Falling madly in love, even when you know that by loving you risk all you have? It could happen to anyone.

The Au Pair is a tantalising true story of a British wife and mother of three whose life is turned upside down when she meets and falls in love with her pretty and much younger Afrikaans au pair.

In essence this is an unconventional love story, a candid memoir of how two women found each other at an inopportune time of their lives. How they overcame and faced reactions of their relationship from their families and friends; and ultimately dealing with their own guilt. Written as it happened, one can feel the urgency and passion woven intricately through the pages of this jaw-dropping and at times humorous memoir.

Michele Macfarlane was born in South Africa, but experienced a somewhat nomadic childhood with the constant moving of her parents, before their final settling in England when she was 14 years old. Even from youth Michele remembers being interested in the crossing over of sexual identities, and she followed her fascination for dressing up and playing different roles by attending the Coventry Centre for Performing Arts, where she studied drama. It was here that she met her now ex-husband, and father of her three children. She moved on, however, to the music college, in the subsequent following of a new interest in opera singing. Following the events described in The Au Pair, Michele now lives in Cape Town, South Africa, with her lover, Marizette.

The Au Pair is published in paperback by Jacana Media. Recommended Retail Price R139.95 - EAN/ISBN-13: 978-1-77009-908-1

ABSA KKNK PROGRAMME

Festival goers can look forward to an impressive number of debut productions during the 17th Absa KKNK from April 2 to 9 2011 in Oudtshoorn.

One prominent feature of this diverse festival programme that will be launched on January 20 in Cape Town, is a selection of nail-biting dramas that will have audiences gripping their seats in suspense. Festival goers can indulge in this preview of two productions where the tension levels will ensure gripping drama.

As part of this festival’s Oudtshoorn Oraloor offering of memorable outdoor arts experiences, the site specific drama, Hel op Hemel-en-Aarde, is about the serial killer Hansie Mowers, also known as “the phantom of the Overberg”. According to the community, Hansie has supernatural powers. By day he hides in the mountains to steal, poach and plunder. In the evening he turns into a black cat. This is when he silently slips into houses to capture the daughters in the valley. Hansie creates havoc in the Hemel-en-Aarde valley and harasses this tightly knit community mercilessly. An unusual experience awaits the audience, because in this drama there is no single stage. The audience is taken from one place of mischief to the next. With dramatic text by Francois Bloemhof, nail-biting tension is guaranteed. Others involved include Schalk Joubert, music director, and Deon van Zyl, cast manager.

Based on Dennis Kelly’s award-winning Orphans, in Wees you meet Danie and Heleen. They are sitting down for supper. Suddenly they look up and see Liam. He is tense and his shirt is drenched in blood. And so begins this Afrikaans Hitchcock-reminiscent thriller. In spite of our obsession with high walls, alarm systems and barbed wire, what do you do when the evil is already inside your house? Hennie van Greunen is responsible for the translation and producing, with cast Nicola Hanekom, André Weideman and Gustav Gerdener.

Other highlights to look forward to during the Absa KKNK 2011 include close to 100 top-notch productions and exhibitions, a spectacular music programme, entertainment for the whole family, delicious food and wine, a friendly, sociable atmosphere and so much more. KKNK patrons should prepare themselves for eight days of the arts in unforgettable in Klein Karoo style.

Tickets will be available from January 24 2011 to members of the Absa KKNK loyalty club (Kl!ek) and to the public from January 31, 2011. Tickets available at Computicket branches, online at www.computicket.com or at your nearest Shoprite/Checkers. For more information about the programme of the Absa KKNK 2011 visit www.absakknk.co.za

INTERNATIONAL RADIO PLAYWRITING COMPETITION

Do you live outside the UK? Would you like to win £2,500, a trip to London and have your play broadcast all over the world?

BBC World Service and the British Council are once again joining forces to launch their International Radio Playwriting Competition 2011.

Applicants are invited to write a radio play of approximately 60 minutes in length on a subject of their choice. The play must be the original, unpublished work of the person or persons submitting it. The competition is open to any writer who is not normally a resident of the United Kingdom. The play must be written in English but can be translated by a third party (BBC is not able to offer any assistance with translation costs). Translated work must be identified as such, and the translator must be credited. The complete set of rules are given on the application form.

There are two main prizes given: to the best play written in English as a first language and to the best play written in English as a second language. The two prize winners will each receive £2,500 sterling and a trip to London to see their plays being recorded and to attend a prize-giving evening.

There are also additional prizes of digital or short wave radios being given for the best radio play to be written from each of the following geographical areas: The Americas; Europe; Africa and the Middle East; South Asia; Russia and the Caucasus; Asia and Pacific. All writers whose plays reach the judges' final shortlist will receive BBC goodie bags. Closing date for applications will be March 31, 2011.

Application forms will be available to download from: www.bbcworldservice.com/radioplay or www.britishcouncil.org/arts

Submissions and application forms can be emailed to radioplay@bbc.co.uk

Applicants who do not wish to e-mail their play also have the opportunity to hand in a hard copy of their play and application form at the British Council offices in Johannesburg or Cape Town. Johannesburg address: British Council, Ground Floor, Forum 1, Braampaark, 33 Hoofd Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg 2001. Cape Town address: British Council, 3rd floor, Associated Magazines House, 21 St John's Road, Cape Town 8000

To view advice from last year's winners and interviews with established radio playwrights and actors and interesting resources go to www.bbcworldservice.com/radioplay

UMCEBO AND WEYLANDTS

(Flower Power Chandelier from Umcebo)

Local craft mavericks crack the big time. (Report by Anton Ressel)

A community-focused Non Profit Organization with a reputation for pushing design boundaries has broken into the mainstream local retail market, proving that a social focus is no barrier to commercial success.

The Umcebo Trust, a public benefit organization with a goal to empower impoverished young crafters and people with special needs to generate an income through their artistic talents, recently delivered their first order of huge wire-and-bead chandeliers to premium retailer Weylandts. In terms of the deal, Umcebo manufactured eight Sunset Sparkle and four Flower Power chandeliers from their flagship After Dark range for the retailer.

Robin Opperman, Director and Founder of the Umcebo Trust, believes that this association with Weylandts will add significant credibility to his organization and the craft sector as a whole. “Being a community based craft organization, you battle with design credibility. The label of 'craft' can be a bit of an albatross in the Design World. Being noticed by Weylandts, and completing a successful order for them, means we are part of their range and catalogues and that people immediately abandon their preconceptions and sit up and take notice. Being able to meet the requirements of an order for a large retailer like Weylandts, also means that people understand that you are capable of successfully supplying at this level.”

Founded in 2003 as a means of assisting people with special needs and talented crafters from disadvantaged backgrounds to generate income and express themselves through creativity, Umcebo currently provides employment and a sense of self-worth to numerous crafters in the greater Durban area. Based in the vibrant Ushaka shopping complex, the Trust focuses on supplying chandeliers, lighting and sculptural pieces made from wire and beads and recycled materials to the local and international market, as well as direct to the public through their retail space at Ushaka. “Our goal is to educate, empower and inform people about the potential for craft and creativity as a means of upliftment and personal development,” adds Opperman.

The Weylandts order is the latest feather in the cap of these craft pioneers, who have made pieces for Rita Marley (wife of late reggae icon Bob Marley), King Goodwill Zwelethini and also US retail giant Anthropologie, who commissioned the project to make a large order of recycled baskets in 2009.

Kim Smith of Weylandts explains their reasoning in supporting Umcebo: “We saw Umcebo’s work at the Design Indaba and were blown away by their original, handmade chandeliers, which are like a volcano of millions of beads in bursts of colour! In particular, I loved the fact that their products are proudly South African in design but devoid of any clichéd ‘curio’ element.” Smith adds that the chandeliers have been extremely well received by the public, and in particular by foreigners, who seem more appreciative of the handmade nature of the work. “South Africans still appear a bit reluctant to pay real money for locally produced work, but this is changing as awareness increases about the amount of time and effort that goes into producing works of this nature.”

According to Smith, Weylandts has a policy of trying to source product from local artisans as much as possible. “We are constantly on the lookout for local products that reflect the look and feel of our brand and design ethos. We are not into mass production and have a strong interest in limited handmade product, such as the chandeliers Umcebo produces. Not only do these products look amazing, but the emphasis on handmade skills keeps valuable techniques such as beading or weaving alive, while also providing much-needed employment on a local level.”

The collaboration between Umcebo and Weylandts has not been without its challenges. “When dealing with a customer of this nature you have to ensure that you not only take care of the creative work, but that you liaise properly with the client, complete all the paperwork on time, and communicate clearly. It is about retail on another level, and you need to be ready to rise to the occasion. Fortunately since 2008 we have been a participant in the Legends Programme, an Old Mutual-funded business development initiative implemented by Fetola – a specialist enterprise development organisation, and have learned so much about the ‘business of business’ as a result. Weylandts have also been very generous and supportive, and really helped us to learn the lessons we needed to in order to make this collaboration a success,” says Opperman.

Kim Smith echoes the need for a professional approach when engaging with large retailers. “Suppliers need to understand the importance of adhering to lead times, meeting packaging and other requirements and costing their products correctly. Often, smaller local producers overlook the fact that they are competing with some of the best crafters and artisans from around the world, so to stand alongside this internationally sourced product the local offering has to be individual, interesting and of a very high standard.”

If the response to the bold, vibrant and completely original chandeliers produced by this tiny collective of talented crafters from KwaZulu-Natal is anything to go by, it is only a matter of time before our local artisans start making their impact felt on a global level. - Anton Ressel (email: antonressel@gmail.com or 083 564 4488)

"FIRST GRADER" CAPTURES NORTH AMERICA

The First Grader, co-produced by Videovision Entertainment, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and at the prestigious Telluride Film Festival recently. Shot in Kenya, the film has captured the hearts of critics and audiences. The film is directed by Justin Chadwick (The Other Boleyn Girl) and stars Naomie Harris and Oliver Litondo, Vusi Kunene, Tony Kgoroge and David Chege, written by South African born Emmy winner Ann Peacock, produced by David M Thompson, Sam Feuer and Richard Harding and executive produced by Anant Singh, Helena Spring, Joe Oppenheimer and Norman Merry.

Based on a true story, The First Grader is set in a remote primary school in the Kenyan bush where hundreds of children are jostling for a chance for the free education newly promised by the Kenyan government. One new applicant causes astonishment when he knocks on the door of the school. He is Maruge, an old Mau Mau veteran in his 80’s, who is desperate to learn to read at this late stage of his life. He fought for the liberation of his country and now feels he must have the chance of an education so long denied - even if it means sitting in a classroom alongside six-year-olds. Moved by his passionate plea, head teacher Jane Obinchu, supports his struggle to gain admission and together they face fierce opposition from parents and officials who don’t want to waste a precious school place on such an old man.

The heavyweight industry journals, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter have lauded The First Grader with Variety reporting that the film had an 'enthusiastic, wet-eyed reception' at Telluride and that it was "an effective, emotional uplift". The Hollywood Reporter said the film was "one of the biggest crowd-pleasers at the Telluride Film Festival and that audiences will "embrace the film" and was a "perfect balance between humour and tragic gravity....certain to stir the hearts of audiences worldwide." Toronto's respected Globe and Mail newspaper predicted that The First Grader is a possible Oscar contender.

A Sixth Sense / Origin Pictures production, The First Grader is a BBC Films and UK Film Council production in association with Videovision Entertainment, Lipsync and ARTE France. It will be released at cinemas in South Africa early next year through United International Pictures.

DURBAN FILMMART 2011 SUBMISSIONS

The Durban FilmMart has confirmed that its second edition will take place from July 22-25 2011 during the 32nd Durban International Film Festival (July 21-31).

This partnership project between the Durban Film Office and the Durban International Film Festival (DIFF) provides film professionals from across Africa with an opportunity to pitch projects to financiers, distributors and sales agents as well as participate in an exciting master-class and workshop programme.

The successful inaugural edition of Durban FilmMart hosted over 200 international producers, sales agents, distributors, financiers and funding organisations, who filled meeting lounges and seminar rooms over four days, attending meetings, project presentations and a series of master classes and workshops on latest trends in film finance, marketing, distribution and new media technologies.

Designed to create partnerships and further the development and production of African cinema, Durban FilmMart ultimately aims to raise the visibility of projects from the African continent, create networking opportunities with potential co-producers and other industry partners and act as a feeder stage for established co-production markets such as DFM’s official partner, CineMart, of the International Film Festival Rotterdam.

The organisers are now calling for project submissions for the 2nd Durban FilmMart July 22 – 25 2011, offering filmmakers from the continent of Africa the opportunity to be selected to pitch projects in one-on-one meetings with potential investors within the Finance Forum segment of the programme. African film practitioners are encouraged to take this opportunity as a means of promoting their projects, meeting experts and networking with industry professionals from across the globe. The closing date for submissions is February 15, 2011.

Entry is open to projects with an African citizen attached to one of the three key creative roles of producer, director or writer. Proof of African citizenship or birth must be provided through a certified copy of a valid African passport/ birth certificate. It is also open to projects with a producer attached as well as to Africans living in the Diaspora, but who still have African citizenship or have proof of birth in Africa.

For more information on the Durban FilmMart and how to submit a project visit www.durbanfilmmart.com Further information on 031 311 4248, fax 031 311 4092 or email: durbanfilmmart@durban.gov.za or durbanfilmmart@gmail.com

NKANYEZI SUPPORTED BY BASA

Business sponsorship of eight arts projects has been further leveraged through support from Business and Arts South Africa’s Supporting Grant Scheme.

Among the eight projects is Durban’s Stable Theatre. The theatre made the application for a supporting grant for its Nkanyezi – The Star play in association with sponsor Johnnie Walker®. This was part of Welcome Msomi’s identifying Stable Theatre as the recipient of his prize money as winner of the Arts category in the Johnnie Walker® Celebrating Strides Awards.

The Business and Arts South Africa Supporting Grant Scheme is funded by an annual allocation from the Department of Arts and Culture, and continues to serve as a mechanism through which business and the arts can engage and leverage further mutual benefit through the partnership. Only arts projects with business support are eligible for the scheme, and both the arts applicant and the business sponsor are required to complete application forms.

Eight arts projects were named as recipients of Business and Arts South Africa’s fourth cycle of Supporting Grants for the current financial year. The projects receiving these financial grants are drawn from a diverse spread of arts disciplines and represent many different regions of South Africa. Business sponsorship for this cycle has seen small business and large corporations investing in the arts.

The 20th edition of Port Elizabeth’s Showtime Awards – which recognise both amateurs and professionals in the city – was one of the successful applicants, with sponsor African Unity Insurance. Another was Vodacom Foundation’s sponsorship of Business Against Crime in the Northern Cape’s Crime Prevention through music, dancing, drama, poetry and debate programme. The Vodacom Foundation in association with Avusa Media, has also selected Business Against Crime Northern Cape as part of its Change The World initiative.

Further successful applicants were Oude Libertas Amphitheatre Summer Season 2010 – 2011, sponsored by Distell Foundation and the Joburg Child Welfare’s innovative New Beginnings: 100 Doors Project, for sponsorship received from Otis.

Other recipients were the Kulula.com-sponsored dance project Sentimientos; the Coca-Cola-sponsored National School of the Arts’ Festival of Fame 2011, and Bioskop @ 20h00, a Newtown-based film festival that allows emerging filmmakers and others to showcase their work at sponsor, Ko’spotong.

The deadline for the next round of Business and Arts South Africa Supporting Grants for the 2010/2011 financial year is January 18, 2011. The Grant forms, available on www.basa.co.za, are designed to encourage the two partners to work together and identify areas of potential benefit. This is in keeping with the organisation’s belief in taking arts projects from “seed to strength to sustainability.” For more information call 011 832 3000/3039 or visit www.basa.co.za

ROYAL VARIETY PERFORMANCE

Marking the end of another decade, the year 2010 ends with a spectacular evening of music, comedy and theatre starring world famous acts on BBC Entertainment (Dstv Channel 120) as the annual Royal Variety Performance airs on New Year’s Eve (December 31) at 21h30 CAT.

Now in its 82nd year, the Royal Variety Performance is a gala evening attended by senior members of the British Royal Family and features the best in entertainment from around the globe. This year South African audiences will see a host of top acts perform from the iconic London Palladium and in the presence of their Royal Highnesses, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall.

Jon Farrar, VP Programming EMEA, BBC Worldwide Channels said: “We are thrilled to be bringing this high point in the British TV calendar to South African audiences. This show has everything - laughs, drama, music, thrills, and, of course, some of the famous stars on television. We hope our viewers will enjoy it as much as their Royal Highnesses, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall do.”

This year’s host is award-winning comedian Michael McIntyre (Comedy Roadshow, Live and Laughing) who will introduce a variety of famous acts in his own inimitable style.

Pop princess and Royal Variety favourite Kylie Minogue will perform her latest single Better than today, while international Jazz supremo Jamie Cullum also headlines. An all-star comedy line-up will raise the roof with hilarious routines. Acts include: John Bishop –the fastest selling stand-up comedian on DVD in the UK this year, Not Going Out star Lee Mack, Edinburgh Fringe Festival Best Newcomer, Sarah Millican; and new funniest kid on the block, Jack Whitehall.

A host of theatre's brightest stars will dazzle the royal audience with performances from Danielle Hope, the leading lady from The Wizard Of Oz, and Alastair Marriott from The Royal Ballet has choreographed a piece especially for the Royal Variety. More acts will be confirmed in the coming days.

The Royal Variety Performance is an annual charity event in aid of the Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund. The 2010 Royal Variety Performance is a BBC Production and is executive produced by Antonia Hurford-Jones.

BBC WORLDWIDE CHANNELS

Derren Brown, George Gently, undercover princesses and the aftermath of the tsunami.

BBC Entertainment presents comedy with the Derren Brown: Outnumbered Christmas Special on December 26 at 19h15; a new premiere from master illusionist Derren Brown.

Then there’s a brand new crime drama starring Martin Shaw in George Gently: Gently Through the Mill on December 26 at 20h00.

The new series The Undercover Princesses on December 29 at 20h30 which follows three royals from all over the world as they go undercover to try to find love in the UK

BBC Knowledge will present a two-part drama focusing on the aftermath of the tsunami in Thailand, Tsunami: The Aftermath on December 27 and 28 at 21h30, as seen through the eyes of a fictional group of characters whose lives are irrevocably transformed by the disaster. Filmed on location in Thailand, Tsunami stars Tim Roth, Toni Collette, Hugh Bonneville and Chiwetel Ejiofor and was written by award-winning Abi Morgan (Bafta winner for Sex Traffic and Murder.

GHOST DAD

M-Net Stars (Channel 105) will screen Ghost Dad on December 26 at 19h30. Starring Bill Cosby, Salim Grant, Denise Nicholas, Brooke Fontaine and Kimberly Russell, the film is directed by Sidney Poitier.

After a tragic death, a deceased father is given a chance to solidify his relationship with his three children.

CRY BABY

M-Net Stars (Channel 105) will screen Cry Baby on December 30 at 19h30. Directed by John Waters in 1990, the film stars Johnny Depp, Ricki Lake and Traci Lords.

Cry Baby is a hilarious homage/parody of 50’s films, with Depp playing a James Dean-type that electrifies a town full of squares! Hysterical musical numbers highlight this delightful romp through a naïve age gone by!

BOK VAN BLERK AT USHAKA!

This festive season, it will be especially ‘lekker by die see!’ On December 28, Bok van Blerk, the man behind the much talked about song De la Rey and one of the biggest names in Afrikaans music, will perform at uShaka Marine World’s Upper Deck.

Bok’s celebration of Christmas and New Year certainly won’t stop at the modern day Boer War anthem. Expect a wide selection of the new and old favourites that have earned him awards and accolades across the country over the past four years.

After seven years in the construction industry, Bok traded in bricks and mortar for a career as a singer / songwriter. He was signed up by new label Mozi Records in 2005 and released his first album - Bok van Blerk en die Mossies: Jy Praat Nog Steeds My Taal - in 2006. Six months later, after a storm of praise and protest, this was re-released as De la Rey.

It became the biggest selling album in 2007 and, with more than 200,000 albums sold, remains South Africa’s most successful Afrikaans album ever. Bok collected several awards including three Tempo awards, five Vonk awards and the MK Music Video of the year award for De la Rey.

He followed with another winner - a compilation album during the 2007 World Cup which earned him a SAMA Award as the top selling artist in South Africa this year. In 2009, he released Afrikaner Hart. His brand new third album, My Kreet, is already making musical waves from the Vaal Dam to Durban’s Golden Mile.

So, on December 28, audiences might just hear some of Bok’s latest songs including My Kreet, Die Ou Klipkerkgebou, ‘n Goeie Man, Platteland, Tannie Tina van Wyk en Bloubul Shebeen.

Tickets R110 available from Computicket. For more information, contact uShaka on 031 328 8000.

A PIANIST’S HOLIDAY

Christopher Duigan presents his annual New Year’s Concert of popular classical and easy-going piano entertainment over the New Year Holidays.

Performances run daily on December 29, 30 and 31 at 19h30 (patrons are free to bring their own additional wine) and on January 2 at 15h30.

The CD Close your Eyes and Listen with Joanne Rozario and Christopher Duigan is available from Dulce Coffee Shop in Parklane Super Spar. It is also available at www.christopherduigan.com for postal order. Selected tracks by Richard Guinness are available for immediate download. and where you can listen to samples.

Tickets R90 include a glass of wine on arrival and coffee for the evening performances and scones and coffee for the Sunday performance. The recitals take place at 35 Montgomery Drive, Pietermaritzburg. Booking is essential - parking secure. The venue opens approximately 30 minutes before starting time.

Further details to be announced or visit www.musicrevival.co.za or www.christopherduigan.com for further details. Booking on booking@musicrevival.co.za (email booking is preferred) or on 033 342 3051.

AWARD FOR VERUSHKA

Well-known exponent of classical Indian dance, Verushka Pather, was recently honoured with an Award Presentation by Shri Suresh K Goel, the Director General of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, and her respected Gurus, hosted by Hamsadhwani for their Non-Resident Indian Festival (NRI). She was honoured for her performance as well as her contribution and propagation of the Indian Arts in South Africa.

She performed for the inauguration of the NRI Festival on December 15 which celebrated the arrival of the first indentured Indians to South Africa 150 years ago.

“I am indeed honoured to receive this felicitation for all our artists in South Africa that have contributed immensely to the rich cultural heritage that we celebrate. A special Thank You to Mr. Anil K Sharan for his Letter of Support from the Indian Consulate and Kiru Naidoo for the Citation presented.”

The following is an extract from the citation by Durban political analyst Kiru Naidoo:

For Verushka, dance is communion with the Almighty. Her gurus and the various senior gurus the Dhananjayans have introduced her to; have been the pathway to serving God. Verushka Pather has had the great opportunity of receiving a fellowship from the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, New Delhi India. She has danced on three continents from her native South Africa to her ancestral home in India to North America. She has danced for ordinary people enchanted by the ancient scripts, movements, choreography and costumes of Bharata Natyam through to an audience with President Abdul Kalam through to the Gandhi Peace Awards in honour of the Nobel Laureate, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
Under the guidance of her gurus, she has taken the high art of Bharata Natya to common and modern applications. The most fulfilling for her is working with children with special needs in schools and hospitals in South Africa. Her dance therapy techniques are received with great joy and bring enormous relief.

As a dancer, dance teacher and head of a school, Natya Ananda, Academy of Fine Art, she is a sought-after personality on the South Africa art scene. She has crossed over disciplines working with a number of artists and was rapturously received at South Africa’s leading dance festival, Jomba, annually hosted by the Centre for Creative Arts at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

IN THE DARK WITH MY DRESS ON FIRE

In the Dark with My Dress on Fire - My Life in Cape Town, London, Havana and Home Again by Blanche La Guma with Martin Klammer is the remarkable life story of Blanche La Guma, a South African woman who dedicated her life to ending apartheid through her various roles as professional nurse, wife and mother, and underground Communist activist.

Born into a poor, working-class coloured family in Cape Town, Blanche met her future husband, the novelist Alex La Guma, while training as a nurse-midwife in the early 1950s. Together they fought apartheid at great personal risk before continuing the struggle in exile in London and Havana, Cuba.

Harassed, banned, and imprisoned in solitary confinement for her political convictions, Blanche worked as a nurse-midwife in poor black communities on the Cape Flats. With Alex constantly detained or under house arrest, she was the family’s only breadwinner, a role she would continue throughout their life together. When Blanche was not working, visiting her husband in prison, or protecting their two young sons Eugene and Barto from harassment by the security police, she met secretly at night with fellow anti-apartheid Communists. As a young nurse she led the fight against “nursing apartheid” in Cape Town and she provided safe houses for anti-apartheid leaders such as Walter Sisulu and Govan Mbeki.

Forced into exile with her family in 1966, Blanche continued her struggle for justice in London, advocating for better maternal care in a large urban hospital and managing a Soviet Union publications office. When Alex was called to Havana, Cuba, in 1978 as chief representative of the African National Congress (ANC) in the Caribbean, she joined him as a full partner, which included their mentoring of ANC students sent to Cuba after the 1976 Soweto Uprising. Her story provides a rare first-hand account of life as a South African in Fidel Castro’s Cuba until Alex’s death by heart attack in 1985.

Told vividly, passionately, and at times humorously, In the Dark with My Dress on Fire is a compelling account of Blanche La Guma’s struggle against apartheid on three continents. It’s the story of a courageous woman who paid dearly for her commitments yet returned with dignity to a free and democratic South Africa.

Martin Klammer is Professor of Africana Studies and English and head of the Africana Studies Department at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa (USA). He is the author of Whitman, Slavery, and the Emergence of ‘Leaves of Grass’ (1995) and articles on American and African-American literature. He has taught in Diversity Studies at the University of Cape Town (2005) and served as a consultant to the Bophirima Development Initiative in Vryburg, South Africa (1998-1999).

In the Dark with My Dress on Fire is published by Jacana Media in paperback. Recommended Retail Price R165. EAN/ISBN-13: 9781770098886

MANDALAS - PAGES FROM MY DIARIES

Jutta Faulds’ Mandalas - Pages From My Diaries was recently launched by the Midlands Arts & Crafts Society in Pietermaritzburg.

Jutta Faulds was introduced to mandalas through a workshop by Kobie Venter. Carl Gustav Jung’s achievement of making a mandala a day for two years started Faulds exploring this concept and she has since incorporated them into her daily routine. Even travelling overseas does not limit her - though she limits herself by only using small sheets of paper and black pen rather than colour with paints or dyes.

“While travelling with Faulds in India, I sometimes watched her draw a mandala with the end result often including small aspects of places we had visited’” explains Wendy Bloy of MACS. “They formed a picture diary or journal that frequently spoke to one more poignantly than my traditional written journal.

“ “Mandala” is a Sanskrit word meaning “circle” and the concept of the circle as a symbol of wholeness, eternity, perfection and ultimately the Divine is accepted universally,” explains Bloy. “My personal fascination with circles or spirals draws me to Faulds’ mandalas, black and white or colour, and through them I revel in the sense of peace or energy that emanates from them. Mandalas - Pages from my Diaries is a small treasure to be carried with one and dipped into from time to time - it is both pleasing to the eye and to the soul.

Copies of the book are available for R115 from MACS at 23 Haldane Road (off Ritchie Road), Pelham, Pietermaritzburg, or phone 033 386 6500, email: macszine@yahoo.com or visit http://midlandsartsandcraftssociety.wordpress.com

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

Here’s wishing readers, reviewers, webmasters and the artSMart team alike the very best for a Merry Christmas!

IAN VAN ZYL AT LA LUCIA

“Whilst in the bush recently, I spotted a mud-encrusted, wrinkled old doddering warthog - staggering from tree to tree - not a pretty sight - and thought: "He looks like I feel!"

So says artist Ian van Zyl who goes on to say that it “has been that kind of year, frantic, productive and most satisfying. I managed to fit in 12 humorous paintings for the Football World Cup - the organisers had the licence to sell the prints ONLY but a few weeks ago I managed to obtain my originals back - these will be available in the Mall as well.”

The World Cup enabled Ian to get good exposure on TV, various magazine articles and radio as well as quite a few new international clients.

“Our masochistic nature has once again prompted Liz and I to take a shop at La Lucia Mall for December and January (upstairs - opposite Woolies) and if you are in the area, please pop in to see my new collection of some 35 new paintings, including miniatures!” says Ian, by way of invitation.

He will also have his original football paintings and he has added to his ongoing range of "protest paintings" which deal with global warming, over population and pollution and can be seen on his website www.ianvanzyl.com

Ian van Zyl will be working at the shop at La Lucia Mall most mornings untiol the end of January until about 12h00 noon or 13h00. More information on 031 561 1446 or 082 962 9127.

LAUNCH OF GRAPHIC CLUB

The Graphic Club of South Africa announces its re-launch as a web based art dealership, making quality silkscreen prints by well known artists available at affordable prices.

The Graphic Club founded by Fred Schimmel in 1970, with the aim of making good quality art, by well known artists, available to younger buyers at affordable prices. Fred worked with artists such as Cecil Skotnes, Walter Battiss, Lucky Sibiya and many others, to make silkscreen works that were available to members as part of their subscription.

During the 70’s, the Graphic Club produced many of these silkscreens, and achieved its aim of spreading quality South African art into the homes of the ordinary person.

The Graphic Club is now relaunched, in its 21st century online form, with the same aims: to make the original silkscreen prints available to people who may not be able to afford original art works by the well known and established names behind the original Graphic Club. Fred Schimmel’s daughter, Gail, has partnered with Art Vault in this endeavour, and remains committed to the values and quality honoured by the original Club.

The Graphic Club can be found at www.graphicclub.co.za For more information contact Gail on 082 330 3726, or gail@clearcopy.co.za.

THE ABSOLUTE 80S

Back: Ruan Geldenhuys (vocals) and Neil Schoeman (guitar); Middle: Karl Hering (bass guitar), Granville Michaels (vocals), Regardt de Bruin (guitar) and Ray Oberholzer (vocals); Front: PW van der Walt (drums)

The Barnyard Theatre at Gateway’s year-end show, The Absolute 80s, has proved to be another outstanding production which has something for everybody to celebrate the festive season. After having to endure the highs and lows of 2010, it’s time to let your hair down as you party it to a close, and The Absolute 80s allows you to do just that.

The eleven-piece cast, led by the inimitable Bronwyn Evans, dish up all the favourite 1980s hits, from Sweet Dreams, Don’t Leave Me This Way, Total Eclipse of The Heart and Walk Like An Egyptian; to House Of Fun, Paradise City and Don’t Worry Be Happy. The classic movies of the decade are also paid tribute to with St Elmo’s Fire, Take My Breath Away, Xanadu, Danger Zone and Ghost Busters. So, dust off the neon garb, the legwarmers and Madonna sandals, and get ready for an awesome festive season party!

The Barnyard has developed an enviable reputation for its fabulous New Year’s Eve show and after-party, and the venue promises a festive send-off of 2010 and a roof-raising welcome of 2011.

Once the show is over, the band get the chance to indulge in a real session, as they take you through the last 30 minutes of this year before doing the mandatory new year count down. They’ll party with patrons into the first 20 minutes of 2011 after which Durban’s favourite DJ, David Yapp, will keep the music pumping until the early hours.

Tickets for the New Year’s Eve show is a bargain at R290 pp. A great meal can be ordered from the Barnyard kitchen to make the evening as stress-free as possible and there is safe parking. Bookings and enquiries to 031 566 3045, e-mail gateway@barnyardtheatres.co.za or visit www.barnyardtheatres.co.za for more information.

CLASSICAL NOTES

The Bel Canto repertoire has dominated my listening and viewing in recent weeks. (Column by William Charlton-Perkins, courtesy of The Mercury)

The passing of Dame Joan Sutherland has prompted personal revisits to much of the great soprano’s recorded legacy. With this in mind, and with the HD screening of Met’s enchanting Don Pasquale at Cinema Nouveau still resonating, I thought I’d share some impressions of a number of recent recordings that feature new generation exponents in this field, by way of suggestions for readers to explore as online shoppers, or as last-minute gift requests via the internet.

Three releases from the UK’s ever-enterprising Opera Rara label offer exciting listening. A rare recording of Bellini’s La Straniera, starring the feisty Italian soprano Patrizia Ciofi in the title role, makes a strong case for this seldom heard piece, which is often regarded as the Cinderella of the short-lived composer’s 11-opera canon.

Composed in 1828, the work’s high-voltage melodrama of a libretto proves an effective stringboard for some arresting musical encounters as the cornerstones of Bellini’s score, which is perhaps less florid and more declamatory in style than those of its better known siblings, La Sonnambula, Beatrice di Tenda, Norma and I Puritani.

While the title role of Alaide proves a bit of a stretch for Ciofi’s lyric soprano, her all-or-nothing commitment and nuanced performance are most compelling.

As Opera Rara’s typically exhaustive booklet note explains, Bellini wanted the great Rubini for the tenor role, Arturo, but his favourite was unavailable due to other commitments. This accounts for the lack of a punchy tenor part in this score, also perhaps for the work’s low ratings. Mark Stone and Enkelejda Shkosa, however, make ample amends in the baritone and mezzo parts of Baron Valdeburgo and Isoletta. The London Philharmonic Orchestra and Geoffrey Mitchell Choir respond fully to David Parry's fiery conducting.

Parry is also at the helm of the London Philharmonic in the other two Opera Rara releases featured here, Rossini’s dramatic masterwork, Ermione, composed in 1819 for the San Carlo opera house in Naples, and Donizetti’s 1833 lyric tragedy, Parisina. Both works offer superb opportunities for a star soprano in their equally meaty title roles, which were created respectively by two leading prima donnas of the early 19th century, Isabella Colbran and Carolina Ungher.

Here both roles are entrusted to Carmen Giannattasio. She sails with equal aplomb through the hazards of Rossini’s fiendishly taxing virtuoso passages and Donizetti’s emotionally draining vocal high-wire of a part, the latter culminating in what must surely be one of the most purple death scenes in the opera repertoire. Following in the footsteps of Marilyn Horne, coloratura mezzo soprano Patricia Bardon makes a meal of her substantial role as Andromaca in the Racine-inspired Rossini work, as does British tenor Paul Nilon in the terrifyingly demanding role of Pirro. Likewise the Spanish lyric tenor Jose Bros is a major plus factor in the Donizetti work, taking full advantage of his role of Ugo, which offers similar vocal rewards to that of Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor. As always, Opera Rara reward purchasers of their luxuriously packaged recordings with wonderfully informative accompanying booklets. Each of the three recordings touched on here is well worth investing in.

So is Decca’s new DVD release of Bellini’s melodically inspired final opera, I Puritani. Captured live last year at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna, this stars the Peruvian tenor, Juan Diego Florez (billed these days as the 21st Century’s King of the High C’s) in one of his most thrilling roles, opposite opera’s exciting new discovery, the young Georgian soprano Nino Machaidze as the mentally dicey Elvira.

While the latter’s sometimes shrill top notes hardly efface memories of Sutherland’s golden high register in one of her hallmark roles, the new girl on the block nonetheless makes the fragile heroine of this piece her own, while her Angelina Jolie look-alike persona goes a long way towards winning audience support. Bass baritone Ildebrando D’Arcangelo and baritone Gabriele Viviani provide thrills too, and all but bring the house down in their show-stopping duet, Il rival salvar du dei at the end of Act II. Pier’Alli’s self-effacingly stark staging deliberately casts the focus onto Bellini’s marvellous score, which is stylishly conducted here by Michele Mariotti.

All recordings mentioned here are readily available from online retail outlets, if not locally. – William Charlton-Perkins

GLENWOOD NEW YEAR’S EVE

Glenwood New Year’s Eve Café Style Street Festival takes place on New Year’s Eve from 19h00 until 02h00.

The ever proactive Darryl Hofmann from Yossis and the team from the Glenwood Community Forum have planned an elegant café-styled New Year’s Eve festival in the streets of Glenwood – with the restaurants in the Glenwood strip spilling out al fresco style onto the pavement and road for the evening.

Davenport / Helen Joseph Road in front of the restaurants will be closed for New Year’s evening allowing tables and chairs to occupy the road, café style.

Hofmann promises a family-friendly great vibe. Live bands will perform early evening and DJs will take over later, playing smooth sounds. The restaurants will be operational, and there will be satellite bars along the strip.

There will be a nominal couvert charge R70 (children under ten free). For more information contact Carla on 031 201 0090. There will be a rain plan!

JUNIOR

M-Net Stars (Channel 105) will screen Junior on December 29 at 19h30. The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito and was directed by Ivan Reitman in 1994.

Gynaecologist Doctor Alex Hesse has a nightmare about urinating infants in a library. In the real world, he and fellow gynaecologist, Doctor Larry Arbogast have invented a fertility drug, "Expectane” that is supposed to reduce the chances of a woman's body rejecting an embryo and thus avert a miscarriage. Unfortunately, they are not allowed to test the drug on women and move forward in their research.

It is revealed that the "Junior" ovum is actually Reddin's own body, making her the mother of Hesse's child. Banes wants to take credit for the experiment despite having no role in it. Arbogast disguises Hesse as a woman and hides him in a retreat for expecting mothers outside the city, passing off his masculine appearance as past anabolic steroid use. Eventually, Hesse goes into labour (as does Arbogast's ex-wife) and gives birth via caesarean section. Arbogast delivers his ex-wife's child and the two reconcile to raise their new son as their own.

KING RALPH

M-Net Stars (Channel 105) will screen King Ralph December 28 at 19h30. Among the nobility of England, sometimes a family title goes to the "collateral" heirs -- people not in the direct line of descent, like cousins, great-nephews and the like. On rare occasions, these people are not even aware that they are about to be elevated to the House of Lords, and they have been living more-or-less ordinary lives. Starring John Goodman, Peter O'Toole and directed by David S. Ward. (1991)

FESTIVE SEASON AT SIBAYA

This December, Sibaya Casino & Entertainment Kingdom celebrates its 7th birthday, and Durban’s top entertainment venue promises an awesome season.

Back by popular demand, Showtime Australia’s The Beatles - Beatlemania on Tour runs until January 8, 2011, in the iZulu Theatre. This foot-stomping musical features a talented Australian cast paying tribute to one of the most influential bands of all time - The Beatles. Using authentic looking Beatles instruments, amplifiers and costumes, coupled with faithful renditions of everyone’s favourite Beatles classics – Beatlemania recreates the spirit of the Fab Four in ways that have audiences around the world raving. Tickets booked through Computicket on 083 915 8000.

The White Christmas Weekend takes place at Krakatoa on December 24 (Bhangra) and December 25 (Club Nite) with Global megaDJ Paul Mendez. See the New Year in with Reddy D, Mimi Kesaris and Chunky Charles. Doors for all evenings open at 22h00 with a free shooter on entry.

For more information call Sibaya on 031 580 5000.

STIMELA SASEZOLA CONCERT

Mbongeni Ngema

Mbongeni Ngema’s Stimela saseZola Concert

Stand by to be blown away at The Playhouse this Festive Season by Mbongeni Ngema’s Stimela saseZola Concert in The Playhouse Opera on December 22 and 23 at 19h30. Presented by KZN Music House in association with The Playhouse Company, this big-stage concert extravaganza is devised and directed by Mbongeni Ngema, and features a star line-up of artists from KZN Music House’s roster, headed by Mr Ngema himself.

With full backing by the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra and a feisty Maskandi band, the stellar line-up of artists are set to get their audience rocking. They include big-name Maskandi stars Madala Kunene, Phuzekhemisi and Mfiliseni Magubane; multi-talented singer-dancer Nondumiso Tembe; hot property jazz star Natalie Rungan; the widely appealing Afro Pop group, Afro Soul; ace Kwaito exponents, Bullistic, Sosha and Mgarimbe; and cutting edge R & B artist Nhlanhla Sibisi.

Booking is at Computicket on 083 915 8000, or book on 031 369 9540 (Playhouse box office hours). Pre-booked tickets are R115. Tickets bought at the door (an hour before the performance) are R135.