Darwin Festival is pleased to announce six exciting highlights of the 2016 event. Australian songstress Sarah Blasko and legendary West Arnhem Land group Nabarlek headline the free Santos Opening Night Concert. Internationally renowned Indonesian choreographer and dancer Rianto will present a debut contemporary dance work. Younger audiences will delight in an Australian premiere from master puppeteers Terrapin Puppet Theatre, as well as the People’s Choice Teddy Bears’ Picnic. And audiences are set to be thrilled with the erotic, gothic burlesque of Finucane & Smith.
Kicking off the 2016 Darwin Festival tropical good times, the free Santos Opening Night Concert is an unmissable highlight on Thursday 4 August at The Amphitheatre in the George Brown Botanic Gardens. Internationally acclaimed musician Sarah Blasko will mesmerise audiences with her signature vocals, poignant lyrics and melodies. Joining Blasko on The Amphitheatre stage is Indigenous roots band, Nabarlek. Described as a garage band that never had a garage, Nabarlek promise to bring a fun-loving vibe to this iconic Festival event.
Following last year’s powerful and internationally acclaimed Cry Jailolo, Darwin Festival is again giving local audiences the chance to see the very best of contemporary Indonesian dance in a spectacular world premiere at Brown’s Mart Theatre from Friday 5 to Sunday 7 August. Medium sees one of the world’s most in-demand talents, Rianto, return to his homeland of Banyumas in Indonesia to collaborate with Indonesia’s leading filmmaker, Garin Nugroho, on a very personal work. Combining solo dance, film and evocative lighting, Rianto’s choreography celebrates lengger, a traditional cross-gender Javanese style of dance. Darwin Festival is proud to co-produce Medium, in association with Der Singel in Belgium, Hessisches Staatsballett in Germany and Rianto, ahead of a global tour.
Terrapin Puppet Theatre’s latest masterwork You and Me and the Space Between will delight audiences of all ages in five shows at Darwin Entertainment Centre fromThursday 11 to Sunday 14 August. A magical tale, You and Me and the Space Between sees a narrator weave a mesmerising story of an adventurous girl as a cartoonist brings the words to life live on stage, accompanied by Terrapin’s master silhouette puppetry. With an enchanting soundtrack, this fascinating collaboration delivers a charming theatrical experience.
Darwin Festival favourites Finucane & Smith return following the wild success of their 2012 Festival sell-out, Caravan Burlesque. Internationally acclaimed star Moira Finucane and her darkly glamorous coterie of burlesque beauties will deliver a new unbridled gothic show with dark, feathery erotic flair. The Birds will showcase vaudeville, poetic libretto, devilish dance, wild tales, angelic voices and amazing aerial precision in The Lighthouse from Wednesday 10 to Saturday 13 August.
The National Indigenous Music Awards (NIMAs) will once again recognise and celebrate the achievements of our outstanding Indigenous musicians, and this year will celebrate Indigenous songs of protest to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first land rights act. The NIMAs will be presented at The Amphitheatre on Saturday 6 August.
Returning to George Brown Botanic Gardens is the People’s Choice Teddy Bears’ Picnic on Sunday 7 August. A Festival family favourite, the picnic is an action-packed day of fun and entertainment with music, magic, food, dancing, crafts and cuddly ones.
Arts and Museums Minister Gary Higgins congratulated Darwin Festival on another exciting program. “I look forward to seeing locals and visitors to the NT out and about in Darwin enjoying Top End dry season hospitality and entertainment during the Festival.
“Darwin Festival is an opportunity to celebrate our diverse cultural community and engage with it in so many different creative and inspiring ways. There’s something for everyone.
“Get in early to book tickets, take advantage of the deals, plan to be with family or invite your interstate friends up for holidays and treat them to something special and unique in our beautiful city,” the Minister said.
It is the non-conformist nature of some shows that makes Darwin Festival so electrifying, suggests Artistic Director Andrew Ross.
“These early offerings herald a surprising, broad-ranging and transporting Festival. Much loved and familiar favourites are back and joined by a taste of the new in the form of some exquisitely beautiful dance that will transport you to a village in Central Java in Rianto’s Medium.
“For the young, and young at heart, let shadow puppets, live drawing and storytelling transport you to a mythical island surrounded, literally, by a rising warm and briny tide. These two shows depicting precious worlds under threat, Medium and You and Me and the Space Between are certainly my early 2016 picks,” Ross said.
The full program of cabaret, theatre, comedy, dance, visual arts, words and ideas, music and family fun that Darwinites and visitors alike swarm to witness each year, will be announced on Wednesday 22 June.
EARLY RELEASE TICKETS are on sale NOW and can be purchased at www.darwinfestival.org.au
Darwin Festival is proudly supported by the Northern Territory Government (ArtsNT), FestivalsNT and City of Darwin.
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