April 22, 2004
By Tammy O'Reilly
A MYRIAD of art forms will be on display when a sizzling line-up of National School of the Arts (NSA) students, amateur artists and professional artists bring their art, drama, dance and music productions to this year's Festival of Fame.
The six-day festival entitled "Truly famous, newly famous and the about-to-be-famous" kicks off on Tuesday, 11 May. Combining an exciting menu of performances, exhibitions and workshops, audiences pay a single admission price for one day's events.
Spanish dancers rehearsing at the NSA
"Our tagline describes the essence of the festival. It serves as a platform for artists and also gives amateurs and professionals the opportunity to interact," said Manqoba Mkhize, co-ordinator of the festival.
Performances will take place at the NSA as well as at the Wits Theatre and Wits Gallery. All performances from 11 to 14 May are exclusively for schools, while Saturday and Sunday performances are open to the public.
"For the first Festival of Fame in 2002, we targeted the general public, but dedicated just one day of the festival to schools," explains Mkhize. "We found that the turnout was phenomenal so from then onwards we decided to target schools instead."
Not to be missed is the internationally acclaimed "Out of Bounds", produced and performed by Rajesh Gopie, who takes a hilarious look at Indian lifestyle.
Following the success of his one-man play at last year's festival, Matthew Ribnick returns with Chilli Boy, in which he stars as an old Indian woman who dies and is reincarnated as a gangster from Boksburg.
Classical music lovers can attend Orchestravaganza at the Wits Great Hall. Renowned classical music maestro, Michael Masote, will conduct this collaboration between NSA's classical music department and other Johannesburg schools. For modern music lovers, Candlelight Dinner presents music from Walt Disney movies and NSA's Time Line 80, which explores contemporary music from the 1980s.
For up-and-coming musos, The Big Break is a music talent search competition for bands, individual artists and ensembles, and Open Mike invites anyone to perform an item of their choice. A firm favourite since the Festival of Fame began in 2002 is Meet the Stars, where local celebrities sign autographs and interact with visitors.
For art fundis, the NSA Art Gallery will exhibit the artworks of former students who are now working professionally, as a well as present students and community-based artists.
Participants in 2003 Festival of Fame music competition
Tickets will be on sale from 1 May at Computicket on 083 915 8000 at R60. For school bookings at R40 per head call the Festival of Fame office on 011 339 3941.
Click here for the 2004 Festival of Fame Programme
In Adobe Acrobat format
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