Represent Review: H2O- More than just a jol
10:00 Am. And unusually quiet for what can only be described as a milestone event. Ten years of the biggest dance party in Africa. Yet this time around, strangely the people hadn’t camped outside waiting to be allowed in. This time, there was no queue extending down the street for people waiting to park nor an equal mass of people walking in and lining up, waiting to get in. What was going on? Upon entering the venue I felt the energy begin to heat up as the music had already started to fill the air. The crowd was small, but growing by the minute and you could feel the twinklings that today was going to be unforgettable. The sun was beating down on us as the African tempos started blaring out the speakers filling our bodies with the energy to make it through the next few hours. This was going to be insane. We milled around, checking out all the floors and getting a feel for each one. Each dancefloor provided it’s own unique flavour to the day – each perfectly located so as not to drown out one another in terms of sound and crowd. I grabbed myself a drink from one of the tents and relaxed to take in all of my surroundings. Before I knew it, the party had really begun. The crowd started getting their ankles wet and so began the cheers and whistles as the DJ began to drop some insane mixes. The next time I turned around to check out the scene, I saw thousands of people with their hands lifted jubilantly up in the air, accepting the music, letting the rhythms take control of their bodies. This was it, this is what we live for. United by music, united by one energy. This is who we are and this is our message. We are South Africans and we know how to party! One hour after the next, swaying the amassed sea of people, the music just kept coming. It didn’t let up, not even for a second. Even when the lines weren’t connected for Fresh to begin his set the crowd was entertained by a beatboxer who not only had the crowd jumping and screaming for more, he even had the one and only Vernon in the background doing his signature move. Only in South Africa can we make a party happen even when there is no sound. The rhythm is in our blood. Ironically, being a party called H2O, we were blessed by Mother Africa raining down on us. The crowds started to dwindle down which was disappointing as there was...
UJU live at House of Nsako this Friday
It’s been a long time since we’ve hear the sweet rocking soulful sounds of UJU… here’s your chance to catch them live in Brixton, Jozi this Friday at the House of Nsako . Friday 13th March 09 8pm 101 High Street, Brixton, Jozi Town. Take the Smit Str offramp from the N1 south. Turn right at the T-junction. Drive past the Garden City Hospital and the Brixton Fire Department. Just past the Pick and Pay Centre look out for ABSA on the lft and the house is on the right. Call 072 2232 648 for more...
JHB: Coal Stove Awards – Invest in SA Film
We’ve been supporting Coal Stove since we met the boys Scottness and Wandi back at the Loeries in 2005.. they were just finishing their film studies that year (they shared a blurry golden moment with us never to be forgotten 😉 ) … Anyway point is they’ve come a long way since that starry-eyed Margate weekend … their production company Coal Stove, together with their friends and firm collaborators (like our favourite inner city venue Private Practice) have put together the SECOND year of Coal Stove film screenings fondly known as ‘Off the Shelf’ events. Their bottom-up non-wavering efforts towards uplifting the SA film-making industry culminates in the COAL STOVE award ceremony taking place next Sunday, where guests are ingeniously asked to pay R100 entrance fee which will enable ‘ordinary people to participate in the empowerment of the South African movie business‘ … HOW? Because the winner of the Coal Stove Audience Choice Award on the night will receive all the monies collected to make their movie. Read all about it below. Get to the ceremony on Sunday. And support young SA film makers. NOW. Coalstove SUNDAY MARCH 8TH 2009 6:30 PM TILL LATE CELEBRATING AND ACKNOWLEDGING THE VERY BEST WORK SCREENED AT OFF THE SHELF IN 2008. Most Dramatic Moment, Most Awesome Animation, Outstanding Editing, Best Cinematography, Most Impressive Acting, Most Experimental Experimental, Best True Life, Coolest Special Effects, Flyest Title Sequence, Most Original Script , Funniest Moment and The Coal Stove Audience Choice Award. FEATURING DJS and LIVE PERFORMANCES History will be made in downtown Jo’burg’s PRIVATE PRACTICE on March 8th. Why? Because the 2nd Annual Coal Stove Awards® will be held in celebration of the newest and freshest locally created films of 2008/9. On the last Sunday of every month, Coal Stove Pictures, a Johannesburg film production company, screens movies by independent and student filmmakers at an event dubbed Off The Shelf™. To celebrate its second year of screenings, Off The Shelf™ will host the 2nd Annual Coal Stove Awards®. Awards will be given for the Most Dramatic Moment, Most Awesome Animation, Outstanding Editing, Best Cinematography, Most Impressive Acting, Most Experimental Experimental, Best True Life, Coolest Special Effects, Flyest Title Sequence, Most Original Script , Funniest Moment and the Coal Stove Audience Choice Award. But that’s not all. The 2nd Annual Coal Stove Awards® is also the launch of M.E.E Movies®. M.E.E. stands for Movie Economic Empowerment. M.E.E Movies® represent an opportunity for ordinary people to participate in the empowerment of the South African movie business. This is how it works… On the 8th of March each attendant of the Coal Stove Awards® will be issued...
JHB: Cartoon theatre to blow your mind
Theatre lovers, creative directors, event conceptualisers, directors and animators, make sure to Czech this out! The Black Light Theatre of Prague is bringing Life is Life, its madcap ultra-violet cartoon spectacular, to Johannesburg in March, giving audiences a mind-altering visual treat that will be hard to forget. Bookings at computicket or the theatre office. This acclaimed “cartoon theatre” show from the Czech Republic will be staged at the University of Johannesburg’s Arts Centre from 18 to 22 March 2009, for five shows only. František Kratochvil’s Black Light Theatre of Prague features a 10-member company from the Divaldo Metro, based in Prague, which is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful and culture-rich cities in the world. Using simple graphic lines, created with special ultra-violet light effects, Life is Life engages and challenges the imagination for 90 minutes, astounding, surprising and delighting with its ingenuity. A single line can become a chair, a car, a cloud or a horse – without using a single word, the Black Theatre performers magic up a wonderland of poetry, humour and irony. The show has its origins in the “black cabinet” tradition, which involves characters dressed in black moving against a black background and therefore becoming imperceptible to the human eye. Among Czech theatre practitioners, this illusionist practice has evolved into an artform that strives to express messages in an unusual way. Recognising the potential of the black cabinet technique, sculptor and graphic designer František Kratochvil incorporated drawing with comedy to free the line of its creator and take on a life and personality of its own. The result is cartoon theatre – a non-verbal form of stage craft that enchants children and adults, intellectuals and ordinary people in search of out-of-the-ordinary entertainment. If you loved the quirky Swiss illusionists Mummenschanz at the same venue last year, chances are the interactive animations, dance and pantomime of Life is Life will be right up your alley. Catch this family-friendly show at the UJ Arts Centre in Auckland Park, on 18, 19, 20 and 21 March at 8.15pm, and on Sunday, 22 March, at 2.30pm. Tickets are priced from R150, with discounts for students and senior citizens. Book at the theatre box-office or at...
FANTASTIC Free concert in Newtown – New Years
As part of improving the quality of lives of its citizens, and ensuring a safe and happy new year, the City of Johannesburg, annually hosts a carnival parade through the streets of the inner city. This parade culminates in a huge party on the Mary Fitzgerald Square. Once you’ve enjoyed the pulse of Joburg’s own Rio Carnival, join us for a world class African party. The celebrations begin at 6pm on New Year’s Eve and goes on until 2am on 1 January 2009. Experience the city at its best: the sounds of South Africa’s finest against the inspiring backdrop of our truly world African class city.2008 will end on a high note as Newtown, Johannesburg’s cultural hotspot, readies itself for the last big-bash concert of the year. Hosted by the City of Johannesburg and SABC 2, the “New Year’s in Newtown” concert at the Mary Fitzgerald Square continues the tradition of ringing in the year with a bang. More than 30 000 party goers are expected to attend the New Year’s party, which includes a massive stage for live performers. The concert is free of charge, courtesy of the City of Johannesburg and SABC 2. on December 31st. The evening will be an explosion of sights and sounds, as the City welcomes in 2009 to the beat of Joburg’s top performers and the skyline lights up with the sparkle of an electrifying fireworks display. The concert brings together some of the South African music industry’s greatest talents. Expect to see: Freshlyground, KB, Gang of Instrumentals, Wonderboom, MXO, Bleksem, Howza, Fikile Mlomo, DJ Zan D, and DJ Zee. If you are not able to actually be there you can experience the party in the comfort of your own home on the television. The event will be telecast live by SABC 2. Feel connected to your fellow South Africans and welcome in the new year as you watch the party and enjoy the sounds of really fine South African music. No alcohol or weapons will be allowed into the venue. However there will be a beer garden for those who’d like to welcome the New Year with a toast. The law enforcement agencies and Emergency Management Services will be present to maintain law and order, and attend to all emergencies on the night. For the artists too, this is a night of fun, a moment to relax and let the worries of the year wash away, and the excitement for a New Year bubble. Freshlyground shared their enthusiasm for the party by saying: “This is the first year we will start in JHB! We are super excited to do this concert,...
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