Saplings, sticky slopes and African beats fill final weekend of Sydney Festival

Mo Laudi, the closing act of Sydney Festival 2024 on Sunday night, is an odd mix: a DJ and an academic.

On Saturday the Paris-based, South African-born self-described multi-hyphenate – also MC, artist, composer and curator –will deliver a three-hour lecture at Woolloomooloo’s Artspace, delving into the archives to explain the history of Afro-electronic music cultures.

Mo Laudi, South African DJ who is playing the closing night party at the Sydney Festival, and delivering a lecture on Saturday. Credit: Louie Douvis

The Stellenbosch University research fellow, who also runs his own nightclub and record label, will explain the role that music plays in the African diaspora.

Then he’ll hit the dance floor at the Moonshine Bar, the festival hub at the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct, as DJ for the closing night party of the 23-day festival.

“He’s a culturally diverse musician and composer, a compelling visual artist, with an infectious joy so that’s a high point to end on,” said festival director Olivia Ansell.

As January rolls to a close next week, so too does the Sydney Festival this weekend.

Before midweek, when school uniforms will need ironing, lunches will be packed, and the Rozelle Interchange hits its full return to work/school throttle, the final weekend of the 23-day celebration of art, performance and big ideas offers a last dash of summer escapist entertainment.

The hit of the final week at the Roslyn Packer Theatre has been Scandi dance stars GöteborgsOperans Danskompani’s production which finished up on Sunday.

Skid, by Belgian and French choreographer Damien Jalet from the GöteborgsOperans Danskompani, involves 17 dancers performing on a sloped stage.Credit: Wolter Peeters

Skid, the smash hit by French-Belgian choreographer Damien Jalet which has toured extensively, is performed on a giant shining white stage tilted steeply at 34 degrees to make it look like a ski slope.

“It’s about battling with gravity and the importance of letting go, which is an important lesson to remember all through life,” said Katrin Hall, the Icelandic artistic director of GöteborgsOperans Danskompani, which is based in Sweden.

“It’s very exciting and nerve-racking for the audience to watch the dancers perform on such a steep slope … the beauty of dance is that everyone has an interpretation as to what it means,” she said.

Hall first came to the attention of singer Shakira when the choreographer was working in her home town of Reykjavík, and asked her to work on the music video for her song Did it Again. She was then recruited as a choreographer for the British version of BBC’s popular television show So You Think You Can Dance.

She now heads the hugely popular contemporary dance company in Sweden’s second-biggest city, Gothenburg. Since she’s been at the helm, it has become renowned for pushing the boundaries, attracting 1423 applicants this past year – including several dancers from Australia – for 18 coveted positions in its dance program.

Grammy Award winning-chanteuse Rizo performs a cabaret show at the Sydney Theatre Company’s Wharf Theatre, which finishes up Saturday night.

Raised by a troupe of Oregon theatre hippies, trained as a classical actress and once a teenage punk rocker, Rizo (Amelia Zirin-Brown) is a festival cult favourite returning after a sold-out season in Sydney Festival 2018.

Nyasha Ogden stars in Saplings.Credit: ATYP

At The Rebel Theatre, the HQ of Australian Theatre for Young People, Yuwaalaraay playwright Hannah Belanszky and Kalkadoon director Abbie-lee Lewis present Saplings, a collection of humorous and heartbreaking stories born from workshops with young people experiencing the youth justice system across the state from Marrickville to Moree.

Four ATYP actors – Maliyan Blair, Nyasha Ogden, Ioane Sa’ula and Wesley Patten – take on multiple roles in this very personal production that asks questions about the criminal justice system for young people. Our critic has raved about the show, which continues until February 4.

Wesley Patten in Saplings.Credit: ATYP

Set to a soundtrack of rap and hip-hop music made by young people in the youth justice system, four young actors provide a raw look into the adult consequences faced by some of our most vulnerable.

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