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HELPMANN AWARDS
As expected the British musical, 'Billy Elliot', was the big winner at the annual Helpmann Awards for music and physical theatre, dance and classical and contemporary music. It topped seven of the eleven categories it was nominated for, including best director for Stephen Daldry and best actor in a musical, the awards being shared by the four boys who rotate in the role of Billy Elliot.
Neil Armfield was judged best theatre director for 'Toy Symphony' and the play's author, Michael Gow, won the prize for best new Australian work.
Dance company Chunky Move won awards for dance and physical theatre and best female dancer went to a member of the company, Sarah Black.
Shane Jacobson, star of 'Kenny', won best supporting actor for his performance in 'Guys and Dolls' and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra was recognised for 'Classical Connections - Sir Charles Returns'. More details of the Awards are at www.helpmannawards.com.au.
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ADELAIDE FRINGE
The Adelaide Fringe is inviting entries for the official poster of the 2009 festival.
The winning image must be iconic and strong and may reflect qualities of light-hearted fun, frivolity and spontaneity. In addition it must be effective against a variety of settings or backdrops.
According to organisers, the image should not be made of art symbols such as happy/sad drama masks or made of montages of images usually associated with artistic pursuits such as paint brushes and violins, the common cliches of festival posters.
Entries must be two-dimensional, A2 hard copies. There is no entry fee for the competition, but all poster entries become the property of Adelaide Fringe. The deadline is 5pm, Thursday 18 September.
And the winner will receive 2 return flights to Bangkok and 4 night's accommodation. More details at www.adelaidefringe.com.au.
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SYDNEY BIENNALE
The Sydney Biennale committee has announced that the respected British curator David Elliott will be its artistic director for 2010.
Elliott, a former director of Tokyo's Mori Art Museum and the Istanbul Modern Art Museum, will spend the next two years on a global hunt for the world's most interesting contemporary art.
The 2010 biennale has the working title "The Beauty of Distance: Songs of Survival in a Precarious Age".
Elliott said the title obviously (referred) to a situation in Australia where distances are large, but it's more about art, how it functions and how it relates to the world."
The biennale chairman, Luca Belgiorno-Nettis, described Elliot as "the Marco Polo of the curatorial world", who has worked in many countries over his 30-plus year career.
Elliott said he plans to move to Sydney for four months at the start of next year, and then return for six months closer to the 2010 opening.
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MAN BOOKER PRIZE
Australian authors Michelle de Kretser, Steve Toltz and Aravind Adiga have been named alongside Salman Rushdie and Amitav Ghosh in the long list for the £50,000 Man Booker literary prize.
De Kretser's novel 'The Lost Dog' won two NSW Premier's Literary Awards this year.
Toltz, a Sydney screenwriter, was nominated for his first novel.
Aravind Adiga was born in Madras, educated in Australia and lives in Mumbai, but holds Australian nationality. He is nominated for 'The White Tiger'.
Last year's Man Booker was awarded to Irish novelist Anne Enright for her book 'The Gathering'. A short list for the prize, drawn from the 13 entries named last week will be announced on September 9, and the winner on October 14.
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BOOKS ALIVE
50 titles have been chosen for this year's Books Alive, the majority on the list being by Australian authors.
Research commissioned for Books Alive 2008 has found that Australia is already a nation of book lovers, with around 92% of people reading for pleasure in the past month and 63% going into a bookshop.
200,000 copies of Michael Robotham's new adult crime thriller 'Bombproof' will be given away with the purchase of any of the 50 titles selected for Books Alive.
Books Alive will run from Sunday 27 July to Sunday 31 August.
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ROCK DRUMMERS PHYSIQUE ANALOGOUS TO SPORTSPERSONS, SCIENTISTS CLAIMED
It's been scientifically proven. Drummers may now be regarded as paragons of physical virtue, according to a report in The Times.
After an eight-year study of Clem Burke, the veteran drummer of the group Blondie, sports scientists have concluded that drummers are comparable with world-class sportspersons in their physical prowess.
Marcus Smith of the University of Chichester said: "For me, as a sports scientist, he is no different to (sic) the Olympic athletes I have worked with."
Dr Smith and Steve Draper, of the University of Gloucestershire, monitored Burke's oxygen intake, blood lactate and heart rate in rehearsals and live performances.
Restoring the honour of the rock drummer has been a labour of love for Dr Smith, a lifelong Blondie fan, and according to drummer Bourke "There is a lot more to it than having a beer and walking on stage for two hours." Burke told The Times, Even if that was how he used to do business, "at this point in my career, I'm conscious of needing to be prepared".
He does not think, however, that he is the only one who requires the services of a sports scientist. "Rock and roll music is in middle age now," he added.
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