Rising Festival
Hamer’s odyssey: Voyage of an eel lights up Melbourne landmark
A digital projection of a huge eel will weave its way along the facade of Hamer Hall, after the first unveiling was marred by a pandemic lockdown.
- by Jack Latimore
Latest
So that was our first Rising arts festival. Did it live up to the hype?
Dance lovers had plenty of reasons to kick up their heels, the music program was expansive – but theatre was patchy and the White Night side was a damp squib.
- by Cameron Woodhead
★★★★
Arts
Manifesto: when high-concept contemporary dance meets cheerleading
This dancing manifesto created by Melbourne-based choreographer Stephanie Lake is a call for more flash and more sizzle. And it’s thumping good fun.
- by Emma Sullivan, Carla Jaeger, Andrew Fuhrmann and Cameron Woodhead
An ‘invisible opera’: Witness the absurd, dramatic choreography of bustling city square
The Invisible Opera at Federation Square will leave its audience wondering about the line between the bizarrely real, and the really bizarre.
- by Nick Miller
Hip-hop’s original outsider is here to talk about guns and black holes
Palaceer Lazaro, from New York art-rap duo Shabazz Palaces, has ditched the computer to bring a “very physical” show to the Rising festival.
- by Mikey Cahill
This must-see Rising show will probably be the most difficult to watch
A new work from Broome-based company Marrugeku was inspired by a conversation with deep-thinking Indigenous senator Patrick Dodson.
- by Nick Miller
From Melbourne to New York to London, the ‘nerds who want to make things’
Tin & Ed, the artists whose work populates Rising festival hub The Wilds, use technology to give us a new perspective on the world.
- by Nick Miller
Human sculpture keeps footballers in suspense at the NGV
A spectacular mark re-created in the form of AFL players suspended by ropes inspired conversations about AFL’s role in society.
- by Kerrie O'Brien
The ‘other virus’ playing havoc with major Australian festivals
Event organisers are dealing with both COVID chaos and a rise in lethargy as ticket sales remain “patchy” across the industry.
- by Meg Watson
Sick of our crunch and grind work culture? These artists think there’s another way
Balancing eight hours work, eight hours rest and eight hours play might be the ideal, but how many of us live it? This show explores an alternate reality.
- by Kerrie O'Brien
‘It challenged my brain and body’: How theatre’s hardest role came to be shared
When Nikki Shiels signed up as ‘alternative performer’ in The Picture of Dorian Gray, she found a role where millimetres divide success and failure.
- by Nick Miller