Milk Bar’s guide to Melbourne Festival

Melbourne’s festival journey continues through October with the eponymous Melbourne Festival. Electrify all the senses, this unique arts event presents 17 days of dance, theatre, film, music, visual arts and outdoor activities for all ages, budgets and tastes.

So whether you count yourself part of the arty-farty crowd or just enjoy a night on the town, there is an event on the menu for every taste palate. Here are some of our faves…

DANCE: Chunky Move An Act of Now
Isolation clashes with allegiance as dancers negotiate their confines through an exquisite series of movement in the latest work by legendary dance company Chunky Move. Exploring the themes of co-existence, community and culture-clashes, An Act of Now follows the dancers’ battle between independence and the larger community. The audience is invited to sit on the stage itself and will watch and listen intimately on headphones, in their own little bubble of thought and reflection.
WHERE: Sidney Myer Music Bowl
WHEN: 18 – 27 October, 8pm
TICKETS: www.ticketmaster.com.au/artist

FILM: Coral Rekindling Venus
Brought to you from the depths of the ocean, this mesmerising documentary by Australian film-maker Lynette Wallworth explores the creation of the world’s largest living organism- coral. This kaleidoscopic journey of colour and light travels through the majestic oceans of Australia, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia and features jaw-dropping cinematography and a soundtrack by legendary composer Max Richter.
WHERE: The Planetarium at Scienceworks
WHEN: Mon 15 October
TICKETS: www.ticketmaster.com.au

VISUAL ART: Destroyed Word
A global art phenomenon culminates in a fiery finale at the Melbourne Festival as Spanish artist Santiago Sierra brings his DESTROYED WORD to the National Gallery of Victoria. Sierra, who has been travelling the world since 2010, constructs letters from materials of local importance and destroys them in a fiery blaze. Each destruction captured on film, climaxing in Sierra’s final work which explores our collective fascination with creation and destruction.
Exhibition: NGV International, Level 3, Wed 17-Sun 28 October, 10am-5pm
Destruction: ACCA, forecourt, Wed 10 October, 8.15pm
WEB: www.melbournefestival.com.au

MUSIC: Thurston Moore
No name gets the hearts of fans of alternative rock racing more than Thurston Moore. Touring off the back of his 2011 solo album, the Sonic Youth frontman and ground-breaking songwriter makes his way to Melbourne for the festival to perform an acoustic and very raw set, of folk songs, backed by harps and violins. Fans would have to be bat-shit crazy to miss this once-in-a-lifetime performance from and American legend.
WHEN: Thurs 25 October, 8pm
WHERE: Hamer Hall, Arts Centre, 100 St Kilda, Melbourne
TICKETS: www.ticketmaster.com.au/event

THEATRE: La Soirée
The stars of La Clique shimmy their way back on to the Melbourne stage after entertaining audiences around the world, with the mind-blowing revelry of La Soiree. Featuring a bold mix of theatre, circus, cabaret and burlesque, La Soiree is a beguiling concoction that has left audiences around the world spellbound, titillated and amazed.
WHEN: Thurs 11 October – Sun 18 November
WHERE: Forum Theatre, 154 Flinders Street, Melbourne
TICKETS: www.ticketmaster.com.au/artist

Melbourne Festival runs from October 11 – 17.
For  full event listings and tickets visit melbournefestival.com.au.