Every year at WOMADelaide, around 500 artists from more than 30 countries perform on eight stages spread across a 34-hectare venue space in Adelaide’s magnificent Botanic Park.
And this year, thanks to our friends at WOMADelaide, Expressions Media in collaboration with The Upside News, is running Headliners, a course where young people learn the art of music journalism and then put those skills into practice by interviewing and photographing artists at the media conference.
Ahead of tomorrow’s media morning, our thirteen keen young journalists scoured the WOMADelaide program and put together a few highlights to get along to this weekend.
On Friday we have two great talks by Annabel Crab and Natasha Stott Despoja AM. Crabb is a renowned Australian journalists and will give a talk in honour of International Women’s Day. Stott Despoja is the founder of Our Watch, a foundation to protect women and children against violence.
On Saturday there are a great variety of speakers all the way from Can Trees Talk Think and Heal? to The Party Room Podcast with Fran Kelly and Patricia Karvelas, plus special guests Senator Penny Wong and Minister Simon Birmingham as they analyse and interpret the latest issues from Canberra affecting our world. – by Alex Trewartha
Angie Plummer is CEO of Less Meat Less Heat, an organisation striving to address climate change through encouraging people to change their everyday diet, and shrink the impact of livestock agriculture global warming. Plummer is very much interested in environmental stoppage, and is the Communications Manager at an animal welfare league charity called Action for Dolphins. She is also an advisor for the world’s only bonobo sanctuary, located in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She will present a Planet Talk on Monday called Less Meat, Less Heat: Is the elephant in the room a cow? by Lara Spokes
WOMADelaide has many things for kids in the well-known Kidzone. There are new acts, including Uncle Stevie’s Kaurna Classroom, and some old favourites as Evelyn Roth’s Nylon Zoo comes back for its 23rd year. Kids can play and build at The Nature Village and you can take your little adventurers to explore nature in the SA Museum Explorers’ Tent. Take a break and read a book or simply just listen to music at Adelaide City Library’s Book Nook. You can also visit Story Time with Peter Helliar for laughs, pranks and time traveling exploration from his newest Frankie Fish Book.
If mum and dad are ready to party, they can bring their kids to the Kiddo Silent Disco, where all the kiddos can dance to their favourite songs through some sound-proofed headphones. But one of the newest and coolest events for the kids is the Talking Trees! Talk, sing, and laugh with the trees with newly specialised equipment which allow the trees to talk to you! But remember to leave your axes and chainsaws at home, the trees could get nervous! By Kasia Coultas and Isabella Smith
WOMADelaide is widely renowned for its great musical and cultural diversity. From Irish river dance to modern contemporary, it offers a wide variety of experiences for all cultures and ages.
The Womadelaide festival hosts a multitude of dancers, from different cultures around the world. One group prominent in the program is Janis Claxton Dance: Fragments of Love. The UK based dance group have catered their contemporary dance style for open spaces and accidental audiences. The group of four perform dances based on different aspects of relationships. Also featuring are Marrugeku, they are an Australian/ New Caledonian dance production which showcases a timely reminder of the referendum of independence through the artful medium of dance. This group aims to connect people of all backgrounds to make dances that are transformative.
From Flamenco to Modern Contemporary, WOMADelaide holds many culturally diverse dancers from all around the world. Odes to poetry circulate through each hypnotic movement in the pathway to self discovery and identity. WOMADelaide represents many cultures, so it’s only fitting to witness communication through the universal language of dance. There are plenty of mesmerizing universal groups and one singular act whose performance is called Yo, Carmen. It’s a primal dance that flows through a contemporary twist on Flamenco, choreographed ad performed by Maria Pagés who originally discovered the spotlight through Riverdance. By India Austin, Kahlia Gilbert and Joshua Elford
Theatre and and Art Istallations
At WOMAD there are lots of interactive, immersive and fascinating theatrical acts and installations including Arrived, The Colour of Time and The Leafies. Arrived is a Spanish silent comedy that is very fun and playful. Created by Adrian Schvarzsteinand actor Jurate Sirvyte-Rukštele the show’s premise is to remind people that the world is unfathomable and special.
The Colour of Time is a beautiful and exiting burst of colour. It symbolises friendship and diversity. The Leafies is an interesting and creative park sculpture made entirely of leaves! It is creative and very imaginative.
Those are just some of the acts and beautiful things you can see at WOMADelaide.
By Expressions Media’s Headliners: India Austin, Zarlia Brown, Kasia Coultas, Kahlia Gilbert, Joshua Elford, Lola Lucic Marshall, Amelie Mobbs, Isabella Smith, Lara Spokes, Francesca Stansfield-Labrin, Keeley Trainor, Niamh Trainor and Alexander Trewartha.
Upside Adelaide 