Puffio

In a press release just received, and confirming news which has been making the rounds of the Adelaide arts community for a couple of weeks, it can now be confirmed that the Festival Centre's Programming Executive, Nick Skibinski has left the building and is gearing up for his new job as the new Executive Director at the Australian Dance Theatre. "ADT's standing as an internationally respected force in contemporary dance is fully deserved and I'm really thrilled to take on this important leadership role with the company," he said. Skibinski takes up his appointment in mid-January, and he replaces General Manager Louise Fox, who resigned some weeks ago.

News from the Feast Festival office, where all staff currently appear to be on holidays, although Director Daniel Clarke was delayed for just long enough to confirm a coup following last month's three weeks of fun. After a stellar season at the recent Feast Festival, the Wau Wau Sisters are set to return to Adelaide in March for a full season of performances at the Fringe Festival. They liked it, Adelaide liked them, and so a bond was formed. Whilst their globe-trotting and name-dropping lifestyle no doubt allows them the opportunity to count many 'celebs' as fans, there can be none so regal as two guests at a performance they gave last week in London. In the audience were two little princes - real ones - William and Harry, in fact.

Actually, there's probably heaps of good results come from the fertile and febrile atmosphere of the Feast Festival; one of them is that Stephen House' photographic exhibition 'Men Of India' has been selected to be part of the brave new world exhibition at Sydney's Tapp Gallery as part of Mardi Gras for 2008. Not bad for what is something of a side-project for the Adelaide based playwright.

If you need to know what is just around the corner in 2008 at the Experimental art Foundation, their entire season of programming is available online now for downloading. Grab the PDF from http://eaf.asn.au/index.html and start transferring dates into your personal organizer, Blackberry, or scrawl it onto a piece of paper. But of course, being a caring sharing and righteous kind of person, you wouldn't dare print out that PDF without first checking that the carbon footprint was not of rainforest size, eh? In any event, EAF's programming kicks off from Thurs 24 Jan with an exhibition of work from Canadian artist Risa Horowitz, a show that promises to be thoughtful, uncomfortable, and a lot of fun. Later in the year the work of German artist Mischa Kuball will be exhibited as part of the Festival of Arts 'Speed Of Light' visual arts program.

The Mercury Cinema kicks off their 2008 season very early on, so there's no lounging around on the metropolitan beaches for those little bunnies. In January the Mercury Cinema screens five stunning new Canadian films, starting from Fri 4 Jan as it hosts the final leg of 'Possible Worlds - the Canadian Film Festival on Tour'. The screenings run until Mon 14 Jan.

Should you be considering making a funding application to ArtsSA in 2008, the following is critically important. Due to new organisation and new categories for funding, it is strongly recommended that anyone applying attend an arts grants information sessions, which are an opportunity to get practical advice on which program best fits your project and how to prepare an application. Each session will focus on a specific artform and arts practice, but general information will apply no matter what your artform. The info sessions are to be held from Mon 4 Feb at various locations in the city, so you should check out the ArtsSA website for which session is applicable, and other information.

Here's another early one: the Adelaide Festival Centre's Summer Family Fun program presents 'Special Delivery', a children's theatre show from Patch Theatre. This is a performance for kids aged from 4 to 8, and comes to the stage as part of the Adelaide Festival Centre's Summer Family Fun program, brought back by popular demand after its short season at the 2006 Fringe Festival. Performances run in the Space Theatre from Wed 9 to Sat 13 Jan. 'Special Delivery' tells the story - as a comic fable - about a busy deliveryman, a trolley load of boxes and the world that opens up when a door stays shut.

'Raw Comedy 2008' is calling for entries for the South Australian Heats of the country wide competition to find new talent for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Do you know any annoying people, or amateur comedians who you can shop as revenge for them trying out their lines at family dinners, nights out with the girls/boys, on unsuspecting shop assistants? The Adelaide heats of 'Raw Comedy 2008' are scheduled in the Rhino Room (Frome Street, city) from Wed 16 Jan, and the finals will be held at PJ O'Briens from the end of Feb. For more information, and to register, have a look at www.rawcomedy.com.au