THE 59th annual Ararat Eisteddfod will commence at the Ararat Performing Arts Centre tomorrow with the dance sections followed by the vocal sessions on Sunday September 28 and the piano sessions on Monday September 29.
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The Ararat Eisteddfod committee is extremely pleased at the growth of the Eisteddfod in recent years and the number of visitors it brings to the city of Ararat over the week of the competitions.
Students from local dance schools Ararat Dance Centre and Dynamic Dance will be joined by students from all around Victoria. The Ararat Eisteddfod is known around the Victorian competition circle as the friendly eisteddfod and many students and their families return year after year. Competitions are a way for students to meet others who enjoy the same interests and many make lifelong friends.
Many talented students will grace the stage over the nine days of competitions in all disciplines and will receive critiques of their performance from our experienced adjudicators. These critiques offer comments and advice on technique and presentation, which the student and their teacher can discuss and work on to develop self improvement.
The dance adjudicator this year is Antoinette Debden from Melbourne. Miss Debden has been involved with dance all her life. She attended the Australian Ballet School and has danced with various classical and contemporary companies overseas. Music sections will be adjudicated by Dr Kevin Cameron from Geelong who has a wealth of experience in the music world and is currently a teacher at Geelong Grammar. The accompanist this year is Tanika Richards.
The Eisteddfod receives a grant from the Victorian Government through Arts Victoria towards the costs of the adjudicators. Adjudicator costs are a huge expense for Eisteddfod committees and this grant has assisted committees greatly for the past four years, however at the present time 2014 is the final year of this grant program.
Many Ararat businesses have been extremely supportive of the Eisteddfod offering sponsorships and donations to provide prizes for individual sections throughout the program. The Ararat Rural City have again provided a grant through its community grants program with the grant going towards hire of the Performing Arts Centre.
This year the troupe day on Friday September 26 has attracted record entries.
"This year we have attracted 100 entries for troupes, something that has not occurred at our Eisteddfod before. Friday will be an extremely busy but very enjoyable day for performers and audience," Chris Harris the Eisteddfod organiser said.
The Eisteddfod welcomes new dance schools Dance Capital from St Arnaud, Start Studio from Bendigo and Creswick Dance who will compete against returning dance schools Ballarat Ballet Centre, CV Dance Studio, Bendigo, Dance Struck, Terang, Beaufort and District Centre of Dance and the two local dance schools.
The troupe day commences at 9.15 am with the younger aged troupes (under eight and under 10); under 13 and under 17 in the afternoon session and concludes in the evening session with more under 17s and the open age groups which includes three adult troupes. The troupe sessions have been the most popular sessions of the Eisteddfod in past years. Tickets are on sale 30 minutes prior to the commencement of the session in the Ararat Performing Arts Centre foyer (you may have to queue). Tickets to the troupe sessions are a flat $10 rate for each session.
One Ararat resident last year said it was the best value for $10 she had ever had and returned to watch the evening session!
Members of the Ararat community are welcome at any of the sessions throughout the week and may pop in to the Ararat Performing Arts Centre at anytime where one of the friendly volunteers will assist with any enquiries you may have.
The committee invites everyone to be part of the 2014 Ararat Eisteddfod.