ARTY CHOKE!
Digesting the best South Wales culture in the month ahead
by @mabjones
AS usual, there’s a lot to get Buzz-y about in September! I am looking not too far forward to FAR, a dance extravaganza with jaw-dropping visuals and a score by Brian Eno collaborator Ben Frost. The only Welsh date of this acclaimed Wayne McGregor CBE production is at Sherman Cymru on Thurs 27. A compelling double bill of ballet takes place at Newport’s Riverfront on Sat 22, too, courtesy of Ballet Cymru. One of these features music from Cerys Matthews, and looks to be very interesting indeed.
The Riverfront is also host to the new series of On The Edge script-held performances of new and old plays curated by Michael Kelligan. This begins on Thurs 13 while in Swansea Grand Theatre on Sun 5, Rodney Bewes of The Likely Lads will be celebrating 60 years in the entertainment industry with his one man show As A Boy Growing Up. Nothing like a bit of nostalgia, so make sure you get along!
Real Cardiff By Bike, a bicycle tour of the city featuring poet Peter Finch, begins at the Coal Exchange on Sun 2. I’d better dig out my bicycle clips! Yet more literature gets moving, then, with a horse trek featuring everyone’s favourite pocket poet, Owen Sheers. That’s on Sat 8, contact Literature Wales for details. Personally, I will be looking forward to the launch of the annual Red Poets magazine, featuring a load of leftie literati at the Imperial Hotel in Merthyr on the Thurs 20.
In art world, the House Of Mirrors at Mission Gallery comprises a series of acoustic mirrors and speakers that creates a soundscape… sounds cool! The opening is on Sat 15. If you happen to be in Tenby, then north Wales-based print artist Ann Lewis RCA will be showing about 70 linocuts of her mostly nature-based work at the White Lion Street Gallery from Sat 1.
Also on Sat 1, Euros Childs will be doing his thing at Clwb Ifor Bach in Cardiff, while in Brecon’s Theatr Brycheiniog, 35 harpists will come together in a single concert called, well, quite obviously, Harp Concert 2012. But mostly I am looking forward to Africa Express at Cardiff University Students Union. This collective of African and Western musicians began in 2006 and has featured Damon Albarn, Martha Wainwright, Fatboy Slim, and African legends such as Salif Keita, Toumani Diabate, and Bassakou Kouyate. Each event is unique, and it’s great that we are getting this in Cardiff!
So see you there, and see you next time as well.