www.ak05.co.nz

AK05 is coming upon us fast. The man in the hot seat Director David Malacari they say is a real talker, has developed a solid passion for taking the festival forward and has deported his entire family from Adelaide to Auckland for the fun of it. So we fired off a few questions and this is what he said....

tbi: What do you like the most about Auckland?
I love the feeling of being on an unstable volcano in the middle of the South Pacific in one the most culturally diverse communities I have ever encountered

tbi: What's the daily motto for getting things done?
Work out what's important and never panic.

Image: Director's choice the Three Furies at AK05www.ak05.co.nz

AK05 is coming upon us fast. The man in the hot seat Director David Malacari they say is a real talker, has developed a solid passion for taking the festival forward and has deported his entire family from Adelaide to Auckland for the fun of it. So we fired off a few questions and this is what he said....

tbi: What do you like the most about Auckland?
I love the feeling of being on an unstable volcano in the middle of the South Pacific in one the most culturally diverse communities I have ever encountered

tbi: What's the daily motto for getting things done?
Work out what's important and never panic.

Image: Director's choice the Three Furies at AK05tbi: Are there too many art festivals in the world?
Certainly not. Festival's are a wonderful opportunity for artists to experiment and for audiences to see things that would never otherwise come to their city.

tbi: What's your festival highlight?
The Three Furies

tbi: What's the most memorable performance of your lifetime?
A performance in Calcutta in 1996 of the Sruthi Laya Quartet and the Australian Art Orchestra combining to present a concert of Indian ragas transposed into jazz idiom.

What do you like least about Auckland?
The traffic

What do you want AK05 to be remembered for?
I want everyone to be completely enthralled by at least one performance so that in ten years they will say, "I remember AK05! That was the festival year that I saw "Vula" or "Bangarra" or "The Three Furies" or "Def Poetry Jam" or "The Death of Klinghoffer" or "Mixed up Childhood" (or any one of a number of other fantastic shows or exhibitions.)"

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The holidays are over but the
party is about to begin -

So unpack your bags and get ready to support Auckland's biggest festival ever!

This summer AK05 offers 17 continuous days of festive activity with more than 60 events filling parks, theatres, galleries, cinemas, clubs and beaches.

Fourteen international acts are supported by 50 local gigs.

Amongst the festival line-up are major theatre and dance works, led by Australia's hottest dance company Bangarra Dance Theatre who bring their production of Bush to the stage after a sell-out season at the Adelaide Festival. New Zealand's most revered dancer Michael Parmenter is joined by 18 of the country's most admired dancers, many who have returned to New Zealand especially for Parmenter's two hour retrospective show Commotion.

Hot on the heels of rave reviews from this month's Sydney Festival is Three Furies, Stephen Sewell's controversial portrayal of painter Francis Bacon's life. "Exciting, absorbing and brilliantly performed - it is audacious, angry, desperate, brutal, loving and mad..." Sydney Morning Herald.

Rap recording guru Russell Simmons, who has taken America by storm with his Broadway hit Def Poetry Jam, brings eight poets to Auckland who will mesmerise crowds with their social outpours, rapping about everything from love and sex to McDonalds and George W. Bush. And don't miss Steven Berkoff's rendition of Shakespeare's Villains.

New Zealand plays Strata, Vula, and Clockwork Orange are some of the local theatre stunners.

Music lovers have a score of talent to choose from, including Japan's Tao Drummers who debuted at last year's Edinburgh Festival to sell out crowds and rave reviews. The New Zealand Opera and New Zealand Symphony Orchestra present a concert performance of John Adam's controversial opera The Death of Klinghoffer, American bass Kevin Maynor recites speeches from freedom fighters Malcolm X, Ghandhi and Paul Robeson and leader of world music, Zakir Hussain plays for one night only.

Cabaret Decadanse brings a true festival feel to AK05 with its cabaret style puppet show for adults. Also a sell-out at last years Edinburgh Festival this is one act not to miss! Book a table for six and have some serious laughs.

With internationally renown Stalker Theatre Company performing six free events around the city there's no shortage of free events and each Festival weekend showcases musicians such as Nesian Mystic, Golden Horse, Baitercell, Joel Haines and King Kapisi.

So start booking now, before tickets sell out and summer is over!

For more information check out:
www.ak05.co.nz