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COMPANY GONGOMA
‘The Mermaid’s Daughter’ is a musical journey into the world of Shadow Puppetry and West Africa. The story is about a young girl named Sia, who is unable to walk. It is only when her mother takes her to a Maribu healer that Sia’s true identity is revealed. It is discovered that she is, in fact, the daughter of Mamiwata, the mermaid. Through traditional songs, accompanied by kora (African harp), balaphone (wooden xylophone) and guitar, this story takes you on a journey from the land to the bottom of the sea.
The story, written and narrated by singer/dancer/writer Miriam Lieberman, was inspired by her experiences living in West African shantytowns, while studying traditional music. For Artistic Director Jenny Ellis, ‘The Mermaid’s Daughter’ is the culmination of more than ten years experience in the world of puppetry. She has worked with Australia’s finest puppetry companies, as well as studying wooden marionettes in Prague and shadow puppetry in Buenos Aires.
Company Gongoma have performed at a number of festivals around the country, and has toured through schools in both NSW and the Northern Territory.
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ColorBox Theatre
Local performers Max and Sally will deliver festive fun and games for the whole family. Learn to Juggle, hula the hoop and a play with a host of other circus toys in a 1 hour interactive workshop.
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DEREB DESALEGN’S LION OF JUDAH
Born in a mud hut in Northern Ethiopia, Dereb Desalegn comes from a family of musicians - his father played the accordion and his mother and sisters were renowned singers and dancers. Dereb's destiny was sealed when as a four year old he first performed publicly with his family. His vocal talent was immediately evident, and with his parent acting as mentors he went from strength to strength. Adding the traditional one-string masenko or spike-fiddle to his repertoire at the age of ten, by the time he was sixteen he was drawing crowds in the bars of Addis Ababa, both as a solo artist and with other Ethiopian musicians.
In 1998 he migrated to Australia and has been introducing his music and culture to people here ever since. Singing traditional songs in Amharic and accompanying himself on the masenko, Dereb plays new wave Azmari, the acoustic indie rock of his homeland. This style of music developed when the Azmaris, the wandering minstrels of rural Ethiopia, began frequenting the drinking holes of the capital city. Through them, the musical heritage of the country’s 70 ethnic groups collided with soul, blues, reggae, satellite TV and Bollywood.
Dereb’s first solo CD, Korkoro Yalew was recorded in Ethiopia in 2003, and included the song ‘Wollo’,which hit the top of the charts in Addis Ababa. In 2006 he teamed up with Melbourne multi-instrumentalist Nicky Bomba to create Drums and Lions, an album rich in East African influences. Hailed as one of the very best Australian World music albums of that year, it combined Nicky’s seamless production and instrumentation with Dereb’s moving vocals and virtuosic playing. The duo performed at Womad festivals in UK and New Zealand, as well as joining Joe Camilleri’s Limestone project at Womadelaide ’06. Dereb has also toured nationally with Nicky’s band Bomba.
In early 2008 Dereb formed an exciting new band of his own in Sydney. The Lion of Judah are Rory Brown on bass, Sean MacKenzie on keyboards, saxophonist Peter Farrar, guitar legend Jon Pease and exciting young drummer Lisa Purmodh. A guaranteed roots-rockin’ experience, Ethiopian-style. |
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FLYING HEART PRODUCTIONS
Mister Hardy (a.k.a. Hardey McMurrick) is a unique and highly animated clown, who might best be described as Charlie Chaplin crossed with a ferret in a sock. In his show ‘Mister Hardy’s Suitcase’ he takes his audience on a journey through his world of poetic absurdity. Constantly on the look out for moments of real life strangeness, this performance is a continuous roll of improvisations punctuated with feats of physical skill. Mr. Hardy has invented his own language with quirky vocal sound effects. He’s the world’s first carpet juggler, and also manipulates clubs, balls, coats, hats and tape measures. True to his clown bones he stumbles his way through the show stopping only briefly for a romantic interlude that climaxes with a five-object juggle on a stack of precarious suitcases.
Also keep an eye out for The Broom Guy, a cleaner character who’s big on bins, brooms, brushes and boiler suits. Watch him wrestle with wheelie bins, perch precariously on ladders, and produce clever tricks from unlikely objects. Tidying to the edge of excess, you might catch him sweeping grass and dusting pedestrians. You may go home somewhat cleaner than they came!
“A new breed of entertainer fires the imagination.” - St Kilda Times, Melbourne
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MICHAEL VLASTO
Michael Vlasto is an extremely talented local story teller. Affectionately known as the Bard of Bellingen by some, Michael has been telling stories in the area for over 30years. Having been accredited by the ‘Storytelling Guild of Australia’, Michael spins his theatrical and humorous yarns regularly at local schools, market’s, café and festivals as well as interstate at such events as Woodford in QLD. Michael is guaranteed to entertain your children and keep them absolutely wide-eyed and riveted!
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NORIKO TADANO & TOSHI SAKAMOTO
Noriko Tadano plays both traditional Japanese folk songs (Minyo) and original pieces on the tsugaru shamisen (Japanese banjo). She has been playing shamisen since she was eight years old, and has performed in Japan and at festivals all over Australia. Noriko's ability to cross-over between traditional and modern Japanese music has recently seen her perform with renowned blues and jazz musicians, as well as with traditional Japanese musicians. While Minyo depicts the life and feelings of 'older' Japan, centring around the themes of love, family and the close connection with nature, Noriko's original pieces explore her own feelings and experiences through melody and heart-pounding beats. Based in Melbourne, Noriko is currently working on her first album, due out later this year.
Toshinori Sakamoto is an accomplished player and teacher of Wadaiko (traditional Japanese drums), who has studied under the renowned conductor and lead percussionist of the Kumamoto Philharmonic Orchestra, Takashi Fukuda. Toshi was a founding member of a Kumamoto-based Wadaiko group and played with them from 1987 until he moved to Australia in 1995. Along with his wife Junko, who is also an accomplished Wadaiko player, Toshi founded the group Wadaiko Rindo in Melbourne in 1998. They have appeared at many national events around the country, as well as touring to Fiji and New Caledonia.
As a duo, Noriko and Toshi have been entertaining audiences with their beautiful and powerful music since 2005. They recently featured on ABC-TV’s Sunday Arts program.
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SAYON SOUARE
Sayon Souare is a Mandinka percussionist and dancer who hails from Guinea-Conakry in West Africa. Both of his parents were members of the traditional Guinean group Ballet Joliba - his mother as a dancer and singer, and his father as a dancer and djembe player. He has been playing dundun, sangban and djembewith some of the old drum masters of Guinea since he was a young teenager at traditional ceremonies, festivals and celebrations, and has accompanied some of the most popular Guinean musicians and singers.
Sayon learned gongoma (thumb piano) - a traditional instrument originally from Sierra Leone - when he was thirteen, and at eighteen he began teaching himself bolon, a traditional hunter’s harp of the Manding and Bambara tribes. He was a member of several troupes in Guinea, including Circus Baobab where besides performing as a drummer and dancer he also gained circus skills in juggling and acrobatics. He moved on to Gambia and Senegal where he began teaching both European and African students.
A recent migrant to Australia, after being in the country just one month Sayon was a last- minute entrant into the African section of the SoCo Cargo Latitude World Dance Competiton, which he won. He then became the overall champion in the Grand Finals, held in Melbourne in February ’08. He has since appeared at a number of regional Victorian festivals and is quickly gaining a well-founded reputation as a sensational performer. Welcome to Australia Sayon!
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