Flamenqueanda
Byron Theatre | Thursday 13 Dec
Flamenqueando Productions return with the award winning cast of Cafe Cantante (Adelaide Fringe 2018) and join forces with brilliant Flamenco guitarist Paco Lara (Jerez de la Frontera, Spain).
Paco Lara embodies the unmistakeable Jerez style of Flamenco guitar playing. He has toured internationally alongside Maestro Paco Cepero, one of Flamenco’s most legendary guitarists and composers. Paco Lara has also been at the vanguard of Flamenco Fusion with hugely successful groups such as El Barrio and Los Delinquentes.
Flamenqueando Productions features award-winning Madrid-trained Flamenco dancer Rosalie Cocchiaro; Aria-nominated guitarist Damian Wright; Jessica Statham (outstanding dancer – Dance magazine Australia 2013); Chachy Penalver (Amor de Dios scholarship winner 2013) and the incredible James Hauptmann (Vince Jones, James Morrison). Winners – Fringe Dance Award 2014 and Finalists 2016 and 2018.
Adelaide dancer Rosalie Cocchiaro’s company Flamenqueando Productions was formed in 2014 after she returned from living and performing in Spain for 10 years. Their first show Flamenqueando won the Adelaide Fringe Dance Award that year. In 2015 their second show Tablao was selected by Beijing 707N-Theatre through the Honeypot Program to perfrom in Hangzhou China. Tablao won the Adelaide Fringe weekly award in 2016 and was one of three finalists for the overall dance award. Flamenqueando Productions returned to China in June 2016 as invited artists for the inaugural Shanghai Fringe Festival. Rosalie has performed in many of Madrid’s well-known tablaos and has worked with artist and performers such as Bernard Fanning, Bandaluzia, and Cirque de Soleil. Flamenqueando’s most recent show Cafe Cantante received 5-star reviews and won the weekly Adelaide Fringe Dance Award for 2018.
Lynne Wallis Exhibition
Northern Rivers Community Gallery Ballina | 28 Nov – 23 Dec
An exhibition of landscape paintings by local artist Lynne Wallis opens this week at the Northern Rivers Community Gallery in Ballina.
Lynne’s paintings capture quiet moments when shifting light or conditions render familiar landscapes more ambiguous or mysterious, evoking the beauty and timeless qualities of the natural world. Her beautiful images transcend specific locations and invite the possibilities of landscape as metaphor and as a doorway into memory.
Lynne has exhibited in numerous local group shows, held a solo exhibition at Lone Goat Gallery, Byron Bay, 2014, and received the SCU Chancellor’s Award at the SCU Graduate Exhibition in 2016. This is her first exhibition at the Northern Rivers Community Gallery. www.lynnewallis.com
Her work opens Wednesday and is on show until 23 December
Federal Writers Festival
Federal Hall | Sun 9 December | 9am – 10pm | FREE
The inaugural Federal Writers Festival will feature 25 writers from all over the Asia Pacific region and beyond. This is a free festival for locals and visitors to enjoy a day of literary discussion on a wide range of issues. FWF is hosting writers, poets and literary commentators from India, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Indonesia, Hong Kong and the US as well as local and Indigenous Australian writers and poets. The venue is the Federal Hall, which has limited seating so bookings are required. Discussion panels will run hourly 9am – 7pm. There will be a break for lunch. Sandwiches and wraps, tea and coffee will be for sale, plus there will be a licensed bar. At the end of the day, patrons can stay for dinner and mingle with writers. Dinner will be available from pizza and Asian cuisine carts.
More info the website or on echonetdaily. www.echo.net.au/2018/11/free-writers-festival-federal-coming/
Poets at the Pub
The Rails | Sunday | 2pm | Free
Writers at the Rails are back for their summer show this Sunday with special guest, the Queensland poetry champ from the 2017 Oz Poetry Slam and national finalist Vivi Baker, along with the wonderfully unpoetic Peter Willey. The show will also feature invited readings, a toss of music, and a poetry slam.
Starts 2pm at the Rails. Free.
Bruns Got Talent
Brunswick Picture House | Saturday | 7pm | $18–22
Got a secret talent you are busting to show? A party trick you drag out after a couple of chardies? Well this could be your opportunity to shine!
Bruns Got Talent at the Brunswick Picture House on Saturday! It’s open to everyone! If you’re ready to see your name in shiny lights, drop them a line, give them a call or go and see them — they are happy to talk through your act, and offer advice to bring that silly little idea of yours to life!
Sat at 7pm | Adult $22 | Conc $20 | Child $18 | Family of 4 $70
Court House Comedy with Mandy Nolan MC
Court House Hotel, Mullumbimby | Thursday 6 December | 8pm | Free
That’s the comedy question on everyone’s lips at the Court House Hotel on Thursday 6 December when Mandy Nolan hosts the regular open mic comedy night.
With 2018 about to come to a close Mandy has asked the comedians to prepare material on someone they would like to nominate for Loser of the Year. Clearly Donald Trump should expect a few nominations, especially after his recent comments on preventing forest fires by ‘raking’. But look who we’ve got here? Barnaby Joyce! Mark Latham! Pauline Hanson! Jarryd Hayne! We have no shortage of losers right on our doorstep. After hosting comedy at the Court House for over eight years, now Mandy has mixed up the format with only five open mic comics and a featured comic with a comedy challenge to get comics thinking on their feet!
This month features comedy by Louis Spiteri, Matthew Price, John Peacock, Lisa Sharpe, and Grace Hogan, and a feature by Robert Grayson. Mandy Nolan will be there as MC.
Free from 8pm!
Fiona McGary Headlines Country Club Comedy
Ocean Shores Country Club | Tuesday 4 Dec | 7pm | Free
Comedian Fiona McGary has a passion for using humour to change people’s lives. ‘After working with humour for over 18 years as a professional standup comedian, I was fascinated by unpacking the science behind it – what it is, how it works, and how we can better understand it to use its power in our lives.
‘We talk about our “sense of humour” all the time; everyone’s is different, some people have ‘good’ or ‘bad’ ones, and some people seem to have none at all, or life has beaten them down so much they seem to have lost it.
‘But we really don’t UNDERSTAND it, and it’s not something we’re ever taught about – how to use it effectively, how to develop it, and how crucial it can be in creating happiness in our lives or dealing with stress, fear, grief, depression, or any number of the challenges we can face on a daily basis.’
Fiona’s obsession with understanding this mysterious force, along with her desire to help others harness the amazing power of humour in their lives, led her to develop her Change With Humour course and become a sought-after personal and professional development speaker on the topic of humour and change in our personal and professional lives. Her expertise comes from years as a standup comedian on the national circuit with performances as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Adelaide Fringe Festival, Woodford Folk Festival, and The Sydney Comedy Festival. Fiona heads to Ocean Shores Country Club to headline the hugely popular Country Club Comedy with support Matt Ford and MC Mandy Nolan on Tuesday 4 Dec at 7pm. Free entry.
The Last Dalai Lama
We Move Studios, Mullumbimby | Saturday | 7pm | $20/25
A special music and film event to commemorate the anniversary of His Holiness Dalai Lama’s Nobel Peace Prize and World Human Rights Day (10 Dec) will be held at the WeMove Studio in Mullumbimby on Saturday. See musical performances by Australian composer and percussionist Michael Askill, Tibetan musician, composer, activist and cultural ambassador Tenzin Choegyal, and young Tibetan songstress Tenzin Nyidon. Followed by the screening of the film The Last Dalai Lama, directed by Mickey Lemle. In this powerful documentary, the great spiritual leader opens up candidly about love, compassion, and reincarnation. As he turns 82 he must deal with the questions of ageing and death, and whether he will reincarnate as the Dalai Lama, or if he will be the last of the lineage that has existed for a millennium.
wemove.studio/tibetan-fundraiser
Cloudcatching Artivism
Dusty Attic Music Lounge, Lismore | Thursday November 29 | 7pm | free
After six years of preparation, we are about to begin the final six months of creating #ConfusingThemWithOurJoy. The culmination of our efforts will be a series of never-before-seen multi-media events.
This is the fundraising launch of the project the northern rivers has been waiting for!
Come along to the @dustyatticmusiclounge in Lismore to be the first to find out what we’re up to with the project, and snap up the chance to be with us when we celebrate the fifth anniversary of the historic win at #Bentley in 2019.
Meet the Cloudcatcher Media team and watch the trailer for our new concept in #artivism.
Join us from 7pm at Dusty Attic Music Lounge in Lismore on Thursday November 29 for live music and a Q&A with the Cloudcatchers.
There will be a special event menu of local organic eats* with full bar available!
(*Food must be purchased with alcohol so please come hungry!)
Big Gig Comedy with Greg Sullivan, Robert Grayson, and Mandy Nolan
Ballina RSL | Thursday | 8pm | Free
The Big Gig at the Ballina RSL is entering its 12th year with its monthly turnout of close to 400 comedy lovers proof that this is one of the best nights on the coast.
Once a month comedian Mandy Nolan invites some of her favourite mates from the national and sometimes even international circuit to drop into Ballina for the Big Gig.
This month features Greg Sullivan, the longtime host of Brisbane’s Triple M Breakfast show (14 years in fact). His material is insightful and unique. In fact it would be true to say that no one really has a perspective anything like Greg Sullivan, aka Sully.
He has performed on television, radio, in theatres, overseas, to corporate bigwigs and to smalls groups of disinterested tradesmen while standing on the back of a ute.
Greg is joined by support act Robert Grayson and Mandy Nolan as MC at the Ballina RSL on Thursday. 8pm. Free!