Stars Over Cape Town

K'NAAN AT THE GRAND PARADE 

A chance to see this amazing star at the Grand Parade this Tuesday evening.   A friend bought me a ticket to the grandstand the other day and I discovered you can have it both ways - be in the middle of the action and be in perfect comfort - for just R20.   Get to the fan park early, today or any other day!  
Grand Parade, Darling St
Tuesday 29    18h00
Cost: Free




GIRL IN THE YELLOW DRESS AT THE BAXTER

A must-see play is Girl in the Yellow Dress which opens at the Baxter's Flipside theatre this week.  Written by Craig Higginson and directed by Malcolm Purkey, this is a co-production between the Market Theatre in Johannesburg and two UK theatres.  Described as  "a dark, witty, sexually charged drama," it features UK actress Marianne Oldham as a beautiful English teacher living in Paris and South African Nat Ramabulana as her French-Congolese student. 
The Flipside    Baxter Theatre
29 June to 10 July       18h00
12 to 22 July   20h00
021 685 7880     www.baxter.co.za


 



MORNING TANGO SALON

Just in case you have a Wednesday morning somehow perfectly free, there's a "Morning Tango Salon" with Mark Hoeben and friends, filling the Baxter Theatre's Wednesday morning concert slot.   I wasn't sure about the word "salon" so I checked and it is a concert, not a participatory event.
Baxter Concert Hall
Wednesday  30  10h30
Price: R30




INVITATION TO AN EVENING OF OPERA

Take note of the time for this one - it could be a lovely way to end the day and still have the night free.  Cape Town Opera hosts  a gathering on Wednesday, in the "elegant Opal Lounge...Guests will be treated to decadent welcome drinks & sublime opera."   Entrance is free.
Opal Lounge     Kloof Street
Wednesday 30       17h00 to 19h00




MOZART'S REQUIEM

Another event that seems designed to be tucked  between other commitments, the New Apostolic Choir and Orchestra with soloists Friedel Mitas, Janelle Visagie, Kwakhanya Mavuka and Conroy Scott "present one of Mozart's greatest and most popular works."
Silvertown Auditorium  Durant St   Athlone
Thursday 1 July    17h00
021 700 2238 / 084 838 9780

THE VUVUZELA ORCHESTRA

I saw the band on the fan walk last week and the feel-good factor was enormous.   Their gigs this week include two on the fan walk at St Andrews Square, on Tuesday at 18h45 and on Saturday at 13h00.   They're also on stage at the Grand Parade on Saturday at 14h15. 

AT THE BOOK LOUNGE: ROBBEN ISLAND TO WALL STREET

On Tuesday there's the launch of Dr Gaby Magomola’s book Robben Island to Wall Street, by all accounts an inspiring read about a remarkable life.  "He endured a harsh prison life at the tender age of nineteen; he navigated the steep climb from a casual labourer to a global career in banking. On his return to South Africa, he made a pioneering effort to set up new business ventures."  
Book Lounge
Tuesday 29    17h30 for  18h00




36 VIEWS OF LIONS HEAD: EXHIBITION OPENING AT THESE FOUR WALLS

On Thursday night is the opening of an exhibition of 36 Views of Lions Head, new figurative works by Anne Sassoon.  In the words of the artist:
'36 Views of Lion’s Head’ is borrowed from the Japanese artist Hokusai, whose famous ’36 Views of Mt Fuji’ was a project rather than a series of landscapes. It has been a convenient framework for my work at Greatmore Studios in the past few months, and a homage to the mountain which is a constant and meaningful presence to the people of Cape Town, but changes every time you look at it. .....
I have always been a figurative artist, finding ways to depict what I sense as well as what I see in my environment.  (Since leaving Johannesburg) I have continued working and exhibiting in London, New York and Boston, Berlin, and in Jerusalem, which is where I currently live. My work is in public collections in South Africa and Britain. In spite of my travels, I think I remain a South African artist...

These Four Walls art gallery   169 Lower Main Road   Observatory
Opening Thursday 1 July   18h00
021 4477393




&  ON-GOING .............

The Lie of the Land: Representations of the South African Landscape at the Iziko Michaelis Collection, Old Town House, Greenmarket Square

1910-2010: From Pierneef to Gugulective   at the Iziko South African National Gallery


Aesop's Fables at the Fugard Theatre till 17 July

A week's break

MONDAY 21 JUNE

Some big events in the family (good ones!) have meant I'm very short of time and so I'm taking a week's break from Cape Town Confidential.  I have had a  bit of a look around and there doesn't seem a lot to add to the postings of the last two weeks -  lots of events from those are still on-going and the main thing of course is to be out enjoying the life in the streets for these few thrilling weeks.  I'll be back on Monday as usual, 28 June.

Celebration, Cape Creation, Theatre Sports, Dinosaurs, Discussion, Stories and Art

 A WISH

It's good to be alive in Cape Town a week into the 2010 World Cup.  I honestly could not have imagined how contagious this wild and happy spirit would turn out to be.  I'm loving the Africa-style theatre all over the place, like the Nigerian supporters with their green-painted live chickens.   My wish is that maybe we'll all be injected with the vision of how life in our cities can be and they'll be transformed forever after, with good policing, good transport, good vibes between nations ........




THE CAPE CREATIVE EXHIBITION

The Cape Creative Exhibition has been set up to showcase craft, design, fine arts, film and performing art from Cape Town, and it is positioned for maximum exposure along the fanwalk in Greenpoint throughout the World Cup.  A "previously derelict" building at 37 Main Road has been transformed into a double story exhibition space including gallery, screenings, stage, coffee shop and a garden. The organizations behind it are the the Indalo Project, the City of Cape Town, the Cape Craft and Design Institute, the Visual Arts Network of South Africa,  the Performing Arts Network of South Africa, and the Africa Centre.  
The Indalo Project, new to me, has brought a group of professional designers together with nine different craft organisations, to create nine new ranges of design products.
I took special note because the craft projects they've linked up with are of a very high calibre.  About this show they say:  "This is the first public exhibition we’ve undertaken and we’re planning to raise a brow or two." 
37 Main Rd, Greenpoint 
19 June to 11 July    10h00 to 17h00
Cost: Free (10am - 5pm) R 30 - R 60 (evening performances)
Contacts:
Thessa Bos and Chantal Louw, curators  079 494 1156 and 082 927 7279  
Liane Mulder, sales and marketing Indalo Project   021 426 2475 or 079 0850 277

THEATRESPORTS

The improvisation show Theatresports has been around for so long, you'd expect it to get tired, but when I went not very long ago it was still such a refreshing dose of laughter and fun.  They are at the Kalk Bay Theatre every Tuesday, plus a nightly run from Tuesday till Saturday this week, billed as TheatreSports™: the Other Beautiful Game.
Kalk Bay Theatre
Tuesday 15 to Saturday 19      20h30
Tickets R50 / R40 adults / students    To book call 072 939 3351




CASA LITTLE BRAZIL

I came across a notice for a World Cup venue called Casa Little Brazil, and I thought of a few readers who might like to try it out, especially when it's free of charge in the daytime.  They call it "a celebration hub for all Brazilian fans complete with Brazilian décor, dancers in carnival costumes, gourmet delights, traditional Brazilian music,and World Cup matches screened in Portuguese and English."  
Opening Tuesday 15 at 15h00 in time for Brazil/Korea game at 20h30
Runs till 11 July
Sea Point Civic Centre Main Rd  Sea Point   
Cost: Free (10am - 5pm)  R90 (after 5pm)
Information  082 334 6098     roxannecaitlinclarke@gmail.com




ALLISTER SPARKS AT THE BOOK LOUNGE

Allister Sparks will be at the Book Lounge this week, to discuss the current situation in South Africa.    It should be extremely interesting to hear what he has to say, at a time when the subject seems more confusing and complex than it's ever been before.
Thursday 17    17h30 for 18h00




MICHAELIS MASTERS EXHIBITION

Opening on Thursday is an exhibition of work by Michaelis Fine Arts students in the first, second and third year of the Masters programme.   The epigraph of this show is a quote from Jasper Johns:  “When is it complete and when is it not complete? I don’t think one can say what one longs for.”  Together with the title, This Is Not Final, this clearly states the curators' concern with process, and the finished work will be accompanied by "some aspect of each artist's individualised process." 

Michaelis Galleries   Hiddingh Campus     31 – 37 Orange Street
17 June to 10 July  Tuesday to Friday 10h00 - 15h00, Saturday 10h00 - 12h00
Opening Event:  Thursday 17   18h30




AFRICAN DINOSAURS EXHIBITION

A new permanent exhibition about the dinosaurs that lived in Africa opened recently at the SA Museum, and it's bound to be fascinating to the children in your life (especially).   African Dinosaurs is about "where they came from, what they ate, how they reproduced, how they adapted to their ever-changing environments and what caused their rapid global decline into worldwide extinction, around 65 million years ago. It also investigates the origins of birds, the direct descendant of dinosaurs, which survived extinction and still exist today." 
Open daily 10h00 to 17h00.
Free to children 16 and under, adults R15.
www.iziko.org.za.




SINDIWE MAGONA TELLS STORIES

Saturday morning story-time is a weekly ritual at the Book Lounge, aimed at the age group 3 to 8.   This week writer Sindiwe Magona is there; I haven't heard her but they promise that as a story-teller she's a treat.
Saturday 19  11h00 




THE GIRL IN THE YELLOW DRESS

Not happening for a couple of weeks yet, but for the joy of anticipation here is advance warning of a great season coming up at the Baxter Theatre.   Make a note in your diary of the first and most anticipated (by me) play in the line-up: The Girl in the Yellow Dress by Craig Higginson, directed by Malcolm Purkey, opening on 27 June, direct from the Grahamstown main festival.  More details in following posts.

Lie of the Land, Bushman Letters, Missa Luba & Misa Criolla, Paris/Joburg Jazz, Soccer Kultcha, Literary Performance

THE LIE OF THE LAND: REPRESENTATIONS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN LANDSCAPE

An exhibition I've been looking forward to for ages, The Lie of the Land: Representations of the the South African Landscape opens at the Old Town House on Wednesday evening.  It is curated by UCT professor Michael Godby and is a sequel to his popular Still Life show which was in the same venue a couple of years ago, and had a beautiful catalogue.   Landscape art is so charged with meaning and feelings relating to history, perhaps more than any other kind of art, and perhaps most especially in South Africa, and Godby has written many incisive pieces on the subject. 
The Old Town House on Greenmarket Square has just been renovated to make it accessible to disabled visitors. 
Opening Wednesday 9  18h00 for 18h30.   The exhibition will run till 11 September.
Enquiries Hayden Proud on 4674676 or email hproud@iziko.org.za 

BOOK LAUNCH: BUSHMAN LETTERS

I won't make it to the opening of the landscape exhibition, because at the same moment  there's the launch of a new book by my friend Michael Wessels.  Bushman Letters: Interpreting |Xam Narrative is about the Bleek and Lloyd collection, the notebooks in which German linguist Wilhelm Bleek and his sister-in-law Lucy Lloyd "transcribed and translated the narratives, cultural information and personal histories told to them in the 1870s by a number of |Xam informants. It represents a rare and rich record of an indigenous language and culture that no longer exists, and has exerted a fascination for anthropologists and poets alike."    Bushman Letters "examines not only the |Xam archive, but also the critical tradition that has grown up around it  .... The book addresses a curiously neglected area in the burgeoning literature on  the Bleek and Lloyd collection: the texts themselves."   The author will be joined by Pippa Skotnes at the Centre for the Book, 62 Queen Victoria Street
Wednesday, 9     17h30 for 18h00

MISSA LUBA AND MISA CRIOLLA

On Thursday there's another clash, between two music concerts that are so distinct from each other that it seems absurd to choose between them.   The one is the kick-off concert, and I imagine that most of us, no matter what reservations etc, will want to be there, watching on tv.  At the same minute is scheduled the Philharmonia Choir of Cape Town performing the Missa Luba and the Misa Criolla, music which I have loved for a long long time. 
The Missa Luba was created when Father Haazen, a Belgian priest working in the Congo in the 1950s, formed a large choir of boys from 9 to 14 years old plus some of their teachers.   The choir, with percussion section, improvised this Mass which uses the Latin text but is musically straight out of the pure Congolese tradition, and the result is completely jubilant and powerful.
Less close to my own heart, but also magnificent, the Misa Criolla was composed by Argentinian Ariel Ramirez and combined Spanish text with traditional Argentinian instruments and musical forms.  I read in a Washington Post article that this work  "for all its verve" had its origins in a visit by the composer to post-Holocaust Germany, which made him feel, he said, "that I had to compose something deep and religious that would revere life and involve people beyond their creeds, race, color or origin."

Philharmonia Choir of Cape Town
Bishops Memorial Chapel, Bishops Diocesan College, Campground Rd, Rondebosch   Time: 8pm   Cost: R 100
Thursday 10   20h00
Tel: 083 915 8000  




ONE-OFF JAZZ CONCERT: PARIS/JOBOURG – ALLER/RETOUR

The Alliance Francaise is hosting just one concert in Cape Town of Paris Joburg Aller/Retour, the result of a collaboration between French percussionist and composer Braka and South African bass player Carlo Mombelli. They have brought together an avant-garde quartet from France and a jazz quartet from South Africa to see what happens when they "fuse their musical styles (representative of Valse Musette from Paris and fifties/sixties African Jazz from Johannesburg.)" The featured musicians are 

Lucia Recio - Voice, 

Siya Makuzeni - Voice, Trombone. 

Marcus Wyatt - Trumpet through Digitech EFX 

Nicolas Stephan - Tenor and Alto Saxophones 

Daniel Malavergne - Tuba 

Carlo Mombelli - Bass 

Braka – Drums, Trombone, Turntables and Electronics 

Justin Badenhorst - Drums

Alliance Française   155 Loop Street
Wednesday 9   19h30     R70

SOCCER KULTCHA: STREET PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION

At the Michaelis Galleries on Hiddingh Campus there's an exhibiton of street photography called Soccer Kultcha curated by Paul Weinberg , Warren Nelson and Leanne Barling.  They're opening on Friday at 18h00, and showing the opening game earlier that afternoon.  "In South Africa, with its strong migrant and urban historical links, street photography has evolved into a distinct genre .... This exhibition is a window on a world... as seen through the lens of football."   It looks like a moving dimension of the theme, from the image on the invitation.  And an unscary place to watch the opening game in company perhaps?

SUPPER CLUB: FOOD AND PERFORMANCE AT THE ANNEXE IN KALK BAY

The Annex Restaurant at Kalk Bay Bookshop, with the Dowling Sisters Productions company, are presenting a series of supper club evenings which feature a meal followed by "a performance with a literary flavour."  This Sunday there is a repeat performance by John Maytham of readings on the subject of solitude and loneliness.  "Nuns Fret Not" explores the intriguing question "Why are we so driven to get away from it all when in our dark moments we are haunted by loneliness?"   The Dowling Sisters Production Co made its name with a season of witty and discerning entertainments at the Olive Station when it was in Muizenberg.

The Annex Restaurant  124 Main Road   Kalk Bay
Sunday 13   Supper will be served between 6 and 7.15pm
The show starts at 7.30 and will run for about one hour
R160 per person for supper and the show, payable in advance, including service.
021 788 2453