Aweh! Find out what’s popping in Durban
Here are some of the events happening around Durban in the next few days.
ARE you looking for something to do this weekend? Well, look no further – here’s a list of events happening in Durban and surrounds.
Thursday, July 13
Bible-story play kicks off at the Playhouse
The 2023 annual Young Performers Project (YPP) has the biggest cast yet: 167 children, aged from 5 to 19 years, from more than 50 schools throughout KZN, participating in the production of the fabulous, iconic musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, showing at the Playhouse Opera. The show kicked off on Saturday, July 8 and will run until Sunday, July 16.
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is a sung-through musical with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible’s book of Genesis. The show boasts some fabulous musical-theatre numbers sung in a variety of styles: from Elvis-themed rock ’n roll to country and western, jazz, Charleston and 70s go-go. Stand-out numbers include Any Dream Will Do, Close Every Door and One More Angel in Heaven.
Tickets are priced from R150 to R250. To book your tickets, visit Webtickets.
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Friday, July 14
Father and son team up for a night of jazz and poetry
IAIN ‘Ewok’ Robinson and his father, Jeff Robinson, find their shared groove in an upcoming show titled Dubious Gurus. The performance is a unique blend of poetry and music that is aesthetically aligned with their combined jazz and hip-hop roots, being staged for one night only at St Clement’s Restaurant in Musgrave Road on Friday, July 14 from 18:30.
With the Dubious Gurus project, Ewok brings it all the way back home to his earliest influence and most faithful mentor, together on stage with his father, Dr Jeff ‘The Jazzman’ Robinson, who is also a familiar face doing the Durban rounds. An adept multi-instrumentalist and artist, his primary platform for performance is with the jazz flute and alto saxophone. Playing as part of the Melvin Peters Quartet that travelled to the Nantes Rendezvous de L’Erdre (2004) and featuring regularly with the Platform Jazz ensemble, Dr Robinson was formerly a lecturer in Music Education at UKZN and has been involved with the CJPM since 1998 under its first director and good friend, Darius Brubeck.
His work as both an educator and a performer is an inherent part of his ‘musicing’, and his doctoral thesis, The Darwinisation of Music Education, is a deep dive into the adaptive origins of the human brain and its capacity for both music-making and music appreciation. A lover of lyric and poetic literature, Robinson Senior sets the mic alight with the language of his instrumental soloing, creating the space for the heart to meet the mind and together find the soul.
Tickets for the show are priced at R75 and will be available at the door.
Saturday, July 15
National Dance Competition
The South African Dance Foundation will host its Second Super Series on Saturday, July 15 at the Pinetown Civic Centre. The Second Super Series is one of four national dance competitions where dancers can earn points to possibly be awarded South African colours.
On the day, there will be various dance styles, including hip-hop, show dance, line dance and Latin and ballroom. There will be dancers from all age groups coming from Limpopo, Gauteng, Western Cape, Lesotho and, of course, KwaZulu-Natal.
The competition starts at 10:00 with registration at 09:00. Spectators are welcome – it will cost R120 for an unreserved person, R150 for reserved and R100 for pensioners.
KZN Koi Show
KOI enthusiasts and lovers will be spoiled for choice at this year’s KZN Koi Show in Shongweni.
Umgeni Park resident Gerard Loumeau, who is a member of the KZN Chapter of the South African Koi Keepers Society (SAKKS), has been keeping koi for more than 20 years and is one of this year’s organisers and exhibitors.
He is aiming to showcase some of his prized koi at this year’s show.
The event, hosted by the Koi KZN Chapter, takes place at the Shongweni Club on Saturday, July 15 (08:00 to 17:00) and Sunday, July 16 (09:00 to 15:00). The club is situated on the corner of Cliffdale Road and Kassier Road.
Sunday, July 16
Book and Bear Sale
A Book and Bear Sale is being hosted on behalf of Ray of Hope Babies’ Home this Sunday, July 16 from 09:00 to 11:30, at Immanuel Church, in commemoration of Mandela Day!
There will also be good quality lipsticks available for sale, the proceeds of which will also go to ROH. Come along and support this amazing fundraising initiative.
For enquiries, contact Dawn at 076 109 1216 | Sharon at 072 421 9855
Also read: Registration for the Manufacturing Indaba KZN is now open
Coming up
Decorative Arts Society presentation
The Decorative Arts Society will host a presentation on Tuesday, July 18 from 12:30 to 13:30 at the Visitors’ Centre, Durban Botanic Gardens. The presentation by John Aitchison, Prof Emeritus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, is on Stained Glass Messages in a 100-Year-Old Church. The fee is R50 for members and R70 for visitors. Tea and sandwiches will be served after the lecture. Contact Lynne on 083 281 2994.
Durban City Orchestra presents classical concert
Music Lovers are invited to an afternoon concert in the company of the Durban City Orchestra (DCO) as they perform a magnificent programme of Classic and Romantic pieces at St Agnes Church in Kloof on Sunday, July 23 and again at St Thomas Church on the Berea on Sunday, August 6, both at 14:30.
The programme is comprised of three pieces: Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony, Francois Borne’s Fantaisie Brillante sur Carmen from Georges Bizet’s opera, Carmen, and Finlandia by Sibelius.
Tickets for the concerts are R150 and R120 for pensioners and students (excluding Computicket surcharge). All bookings are through Computicket. It is advisable to pre-book tickets.
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