COAST IS CLEAR FOR BALLET

Queensland Ballet will be staging the biggest production of its 2020 season this weekend, with a further two performances of Giselle scheduled to take place at the Gold Coast’s Home of the Arts (HOTA) tonight and tomorrow night.

Giselle was not part of the originally planned 2020 season and Queensland Ballet’s artistic director Li Cunxin said although it was a difficult ballet to perform both physically and emotionally, the dancers were more than up to the challenge. Giselle is a ballet from the romantic era that follows the story of an innocent peasant girl.

“The dancers have embraced rehearsals for the full-length romantic ballet Giselle, alongside the current rehearsals for 60 Dancers: 60 Stories, which is touring at the moment,” Li told InQueensland last month.

Li said HOTA’s outdoor stage would provide the perfect backdrop for this production of Giselle, which will be helmed by Ai-Gul Gaisin.

“Everyone in the company is so excited,” he said. “Dancing is their life, and to do a ballet like Giselle under the stars will be very special.”

For tickets or more information, visit HOTA’s website.

SUNSHINE AND LAUGHTER

The Sunshine Coast Coast Comedy Festival kicks off tonight with a stand-up extravaganza at Nightquarter, featuring Steph Tisdell (pictured), Anna Brennan, Jacques Barrett, Nicky Wilkinson, Vanessa Conlin, and Mike Neven.

The festival takes place until Sunday, with 20 comedians performing at three different venues.

There are still tickets available for groups of two to five.  Visit the Nightquarter website for more details.

ELECTRIC FIELDS

Fresh from their pre-game performance at the AFL grand final, multi-award-winning duo Electric Fields are performing at the Tivoli tonight and tomorrow night.

Comprised of singer Zaachariaha Fielding and producer Michael Ross, Electric Fields merge traditional culture with electronic music.

Electric Fields music ranges from soulful pop, to epic-scale electronic works, through to intensely intimate story-songs.

Electric Fields will be supported by Gold Coast act, Selve, led by Indigenous frontman and songwriter Loki Liddle.

Visit the Tivoli’s website for more details,

ON THE FRINGES

Brisbane is getting its own fringe festival, with the inaugural Wynnum Fringe taking over the bayside streets this weekend.

Centred around the festival hub of Edith Street, Wynnum Fringe will activate empty shopfronts, laneways, driveways and carparks with a variety of artistic works spanning theatre, cabaret, music, art installations and circus performances.

There will be a series of free and ticketed shows, including an interview with Colin Petersen tomorrow. Petersen was a musical prodigy as a child, starred in the title role in the international blockbuster Smiley opposite Chips Rafferty in 1956 and was the first non-Gibb brother to be a member of the Bee Gees.

“I’m absolutely honoured that there’s a public out there that wants to hear my stories,” Petersen (pictured) told InQueensland.

“But above all else, it’s extraordinary to me that the work that I did as an actor as a child, and the records that I made with the Gibbs, live on, because neither myself at the time, or the Gibb brothers, for that matter, would have imagined in our wildest dreams that what we were doing at the time would would would become almost iconic.”

Visit the Wynnum Fringe Festival website for the full line-up and ticket details.

SAY CHEESE

Wine Selectors is inviting Townville residents to sample some culture at a Cheese and Wine Masterclass at The Ville Resort & Casino on tomorrow from 2-5pm.

Twelve of the best cheeses from Australia and around the globe have been sourced to taste alongside a selection of matched Australian wines.

Hosted by Black Pearl Epicure’s General Manager and cheese expert Peter Gross, and Selector’s Paul Diamond, attendees will be guided through the cheesemaking process, with explanations given on the array of cheese styles, and discussion about the art of cheese and wine appreciation.

Visit the event’s website for tickets.