Recreating the Sea!

Just a bit of sharing as a word of encouragement to all of you who are so graciously contributing and reflecting our City’s creative energy and spirit! Shaping the CAPE TOWN CARNIVAL!

Group A – Storyline: THE SEA have had their brainstorm session!!

Illka Louw (our very own international award-winning stage designer and costume maker), Koos Marais(set and prop designer for the Baxter) and Illette Stapeberg, another renowned costumier have together given shape and depth in sketching their storyboard!

Sharing pizza’s and ideas, one of the many highlights of Thursday evening was the way in which folklore was interpreted into something visually innovative… guaranteed NEVER to have been seen before. Stories of Van Hinks duelling with the devil on top of Table Mountain, our first drag queen - Antjie Somers, Woltemade’s tragic tale of heroism portrayed so tenderly. The costumes are cleverly designed in such a way that there is always something new to look at. Don’t expect the usual maritime imagery. If there are any penguin lovers out there, you’re in for a treat.

Critical to the session was the concept of the float. The floats, 5 metres high, are basically the crowning glory of each group. What we’re trying to achieve is an unexpected sensory treat with a great ol’ dollop of excess on top. For this group in particular, the float is a summary of all the achievements and defining moments in the Cape Town saga.

These are all the first moments of fleshing out this group’s story. They’re the piece of the puzzle that indicates the rest. And it’s a hopeful puzzle!

AND the 20 voluntary music composers under the keen ear of Clive Ridgway and supportive eye of Peter Theunissen are also fast working at creating 5 BRAND NEW songs!

Thank you for your work, time and efforts - I’m sure many of you are at the developmental stage like that of Group A… pulling your various team members inputs together and soliciting even more ideas and time from your many friends, colleagues, and networks. And for those of you who have not yet got actively involved, its not to late – your team would love to have your energy and ideas!!

Make this our moment for us as Cape Town Creative’s to shine and reflect our love for our city!

Thank you for being part of something extraordinary!

All systems go....

Life at the Carnival is running at an incredible pace at the moment! In the past week I've watched the team all up their energy levels another notch with the realisation that we're moving into crunch time... the last 6 month stretch.

People we've seen over the last 2 weeks:
MPRPA, Good Hope Ward, MXiT, Cape Consumers, BWASA, ENS, 24.com, Winelands Film Festival, a PR company, SAA, Globeflight, the City of Cape Town etc. etc. in this was in a quiet week.

Kelli has been running full out in getting more media set-up, assisting with our web redesign, setting up photoshoots etc. Edmund has had his hands full in planning for our first rehearsal date end of November. Robert & Stephen has been meeting and meeting and meeting community leaders. Richard, Debbie and Sandy have been getting up to speed with everything and Dezre has been filling up my diary with appointments....

We're still looking for some serious sponsors, but in return they will be getting about R20 - 30 million in media value... Now that's what I call a bargain... :)

Looks like I'll be off to Jozi three times in the next three weeks... YAY!.... not... speaking of which they've just had their carnival for the fourth year... nope, I didn't know that either.

So Cape Town, let's get ready to show the world what a real carnival in Africa looks like! The world is coming here to watch the soccer, let's make sure they take note!

Rhythm, Roots and Boots: Richard Loring's onboard as artistic director & producer

Rhythm, Roots and Boots: Richard Loring's onboard as artistic director & producer

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Richard Loring's onboard as artistic director & producer

Richard Loring, one of the most acclaimed and successful theatre producers in South Africa, has come onboard as the overall artistic director and producer of the inaugural Cape Town Carnival 2010.

Loring will oversee the creative execution of the event that is set to take the Mother City by storm from 18-20 March 2010. The producer is most well known for the locally and internationally mega successful production African Footprint.

The Carnival, which will become an annual highlight on the local calendar, is designed to be an all-inclusive, cultural expression of Cape Town, bringing together the diverse communities of the city through universally expressive forms such as music, dance and visual arts.

“I am delighted to be associated with such an ambitious project that focuses so strongly on the expression of all forms of local culture,” says Loring. “I can’t wait to get started. It will be the inaugural Cape Town Carnival, so all eyes are going to be on us, especially with 2010 being such a momentous year for all South Africans. We need to get it right from the outset and give people something authentic and memorable so that anticipation will mount for the following year’s event almost immediately after the first one ends. We see this as a long-term investment.”

Loring was born in Guernsey in the Channel Islands. Starting out with the famous George Mitchell singers in the Ken Dodd show in Manchester, Loring went on to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and while working and paying his way through college, joined the Windsor Repertory. In 1970, he accepted an invitation which was to change the direction of his life drastically. He travelled to South Africa to play Tony in The Boyfriend; Tony in West Side Story and numerous other productions. But it was Loring strutting onto the stage in high heels and odd socks as the Narrator in Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat that firmly established him as a top favourite in the musical field.

The journey of Loring’s most iconic work, African Footprint began as his dream to empower South African youth, especially talented young black dancers, through theatre. His vision evolved into a determination to create a unique song and dance experience as a platform to showcase emerging talents. Since its inception the production has been televised around the world and seen by more than 250 million viewers.
Carnivals are not unfamiliar territory to theatre veteran, Richard Loring. In 1986 and 1988 he was contracted to produce and co-ordinate the Carnival International for the City of Johannesburg. This event hosted 26 communities featuring a 5 kilometre Float Parade, a Cultural Village showcasing food and culture and 2 000 artists performing on a nightly basis.
Isabel Meyer, the CEO of the Cape Town Carnival says “We are ecstatic to have someone of Loring’s calibre on board as producer and artistic director, and believe we will be growing the Carnival into a carnival that will be able to compete with some of the best in the world. Having Debbie Batsofin, his associate producer onboard as well really strengthens our confidence that with the team and our amazing communities, we are creating something spectacular. And of course, the fact that Richard has been looking at how he can spend more time at his Cape Town home that he has had for more than 20 years is a bonus.”

She adds: “We are delighted that the main objective of the Carnival to build social cohesion and community esteem is already being partly achieved as we have seen new friendships made and partnerships forged in the short time that we’ve been working with the groups. We are also focusing on how the new platform to showcase Cape Town’s rich plethora of talent, can create positive spin-offs for the local economy, communities, related creative industries and tourism. It is indeed very exciting times for the team and all our most valued partners and stakeholders.”

Stories from Cape Town for Cape Town!

The Cape Town Carnival and its participating stakeholders recently completed an exciting phase of the Carnival. Over the past few weeks focus group workshops were held with creative representatives from the larger cultural groupings, which are already on board with the Carnival as well as professional individuals from the creative industries that volunteered their services.

Five electrifying group storylines were created, each storyline comprising 6 different sections referred to as chapters. The chapters will be represented and interpreted by 2 or more performing genres drawn from the membership of the formal organisations and their representatives of particular regions. These genres will form the anchor of each chapter, as well as guide the creation of individual songs, costumes and floats for each of the five groups.

Each group, tasked with creating stories that speak to the purpose, intent and overall theme of the Cape Town Carnival, conceptualised the elements of each storyline.

“Our stakeholders were amazing! Watching the stories unfold, and hearing the imaginative interpretations of how one could represent them confirmed what we have known all along: Cape Town has immense talent and the Carnival is excited to showcase this to the world. It was also awesome to see how performers and creative industry experts brain-stormed together to create something new, a step closer to bringing our communities closer together,” commented Isabel Meyer, the CEO of the Cape Town Carnival.

The storyline titles are “The Missing Pieces”, “Stories of the Sea”, “Children of the Winds of Change”, “Postcards from Cape Town” and “The Streets of Cape Town”. These are currently being refined and will influence elements like costume and prop design, music, puppets and floats. Feedback sessions to the main leaders of the five main groups are to follow shortly. The exciting rehearsal period will commence in October 2009.

Where specific artistic influences are required, smaller groups will be invited to supplement the chapters. A number of smaller groups have already volunteered themselves, and where appropriate space will be found for these individual groupings to work with the larger genres.

Stakeholders already committed to participating to make the Cape Town Carnival the highlight of Cape Town’s Art and culture calendar include the Cape Town Minstrels Carnival Association, Kaapse Klopse Karnival Association, Cape Malay Choir Board, WC Drumline Association, Cape Music Industry Commission, AmaAmbush Marimbas, Federation of Dance Sport South Africa, WC Marching Bands Association, South African Christmas Bands Board, WC Drum Majorettes, Community Plough Back Movement, Western Province Dance Teachers Association and various other community organisation from in and around the city.

Here’s what some of them had to say:

“I am impressed with the multi-cultural support and fun had by all! I find this is what Cape Town has lacked and I believe that The Cape Town Carnival will bring our Community together and for WPDTA it’s a wonderful experience to support and to give our dancers, from all genres and races a chance to participate and give something back to our wonderful City!”
- Paul Johnson, Western Province Dance Teachers Association

“This event has the potential to bring together musicians and artists from around the Cape, and is already creating new opportunities and relationships for all involved. The planning for the Carnival is being run ethically and professionally, and we are proud to be associated with the event.”
- Ross Johnson MD amaAmbush Productions

“The Western Cape Marching Band Association and South African Marching Show Band love the idea of the Cape Town Carnival to build community and stimulate development through creatively combining Cape Town. This atmosphere will bring different cultures together, celebrating as one nation.”
- Fadiel Gasant, South African Marching Show Band Association

“Cape Town Carnival will fuse many genres, and for our Kaapse Klopse Karnival this is a blessing and will add value to the people of Cape Town. The talent showcased, management, and the contribution to the private sector for the funding of specific aspects of the Carnival, will be transferred both ways. The unexplored potential of The Cape Town Carnival in Cape Town will become visible. The Cape Town Carnival has the know-how necessary for how Carnival should be in South Africa.”
- Melvyn Matthews, Kaapse Klopse Karnival

An invitation is extended to all creative industries, performing groups and anyone else that would like to volunteer for this event to contact the Carnival office on info@capetowncarnival.com or to join the Facebook group “Cape Town Carnival” for more information on how the community can be involved.

M-Net joins CTC in the biggest party in Africa!

The Cape Town Carnival is proud to announce their newly-formed strategic partnership with Africa’s biggest pay-TV channel, M-Net. The broadcast company will be an official media sponsor of the Carnival in the lead-up to the event. The culmination of the partnership will be a dedicated channel on DStv that will cover the parade on 20 March 2010, as well as advertising airtime on all M-Net channels to promote the Carnival.

The Carnival promises to give Capetonians and visitors to the City a true taste of Cape Town’s unique, diverse and vibrant cultures, creative and performing arts, like never before, presented in a spectacular format similar to such world-renowned events as the Rio Carnival and the Mardis Gras in New Orleans, but maintaining a distinctive flavour found only in the Mother City.

M-Net Corporate Marketing & Communications Director, Koo Govender says the channel is delighted to be able to play a role in the inaugural Cape Town Carnival and to become a long-term strategic partner. “M-Net is really looking forward to bringing the magic of the Carnival to viewers across the country on DStv,” she says. “It’s going to be a huge event and we are excited to be able to help share it with the whole of South Africa”.

The parade event will be broadcast in its entirety, live on the dedicated DStv channel, ensuring that the excitement and scope of the Carnival will not be limited only to those fortunate enough to participate in it in person or who are not in Cape Town. “This is our first step in truly creating a national and international event,” says Isabel Meyer, CEO of the Cape Town Carnival Trust.

“The Cape Town Carnival is about public-private partnerships, about partnerships between communities, corporate sponsors, government and the media,” says Meyer. “It is up to all of us to make the Carnival a success that will eventually compete with the best carnivals in the world, ultimately to the benefit of all South Africans. The media will play a very important role in this. We are therefore delighted that M-Net has decided to partner with us on this event. They are making an investment upfront, saying: ‘Cape Town, we believe in you!’”

The broadcast will also incorporate an interactive element for viewers who can’t be there to experience the extravaganza in the flesh. “It is fantastic to be partnering with people that share our passion and vision for the Carnival,” adds Meyer. “Partnering with M-Net also extends our reach to across South Africa, giving audiences the opportunity to also become involved via SMS voting and viewer competitions. We will also be providing international news agencies with footage, starting to speak to international tourists.”

The Cape Town Carnival is taking place from 18 – 20 March 2010, bringing Capetonians, South Africans and the rest of the world a visual and cultural feast, with groups comprising, in total, more than 10 000 participants. An event definitely not to be missed! Stay tuned to M-Net for more details.