NEWS

MILLENNIUM ROUTES

The Visual Voice Collective is drafting preliminary outlines for the new Millen-nium Routes which create six cultural adventure trails linking KZN with Mozambique, Swaziland, Mpumalanga, Free State, Lesotho and the Eastern Cape. These will be inaugurated by the Journey of the African Chariots as they set out on their voyage of collective discovery at first light on New Year's Day 2000.

The steering committee for the Millen-nium Routes includes Ansuya Chetty (Audio Visual Alternatives), Lungile Mbongwa (Black Gospel Productions), Mikhail Peppas (Visual Voice), Develop-ment Communication specialist Emmanuel Kasongo, Rob Papini (Local History Museum) and James Seymour (KZN Tourist Authority).

If you wish to contribute suggestions for sites of cultural significance, please phone Mikhail Peppas on 082-755 6322, or write to the Millennium Project, Box 10372, Marine Parade, 4056.

METROBEAT

CityBeat, the newsletter received by residents of the North and South Central local councils is to be replaced by a new 48-page magazine called MetroBeat.

Once again produced by the Durban Metro Communications and PR department, it will be distributed to all residents receiving an electricity bill and will contain feature articles as well as those municipal information. Also included will be a lifestyle and entertain-ment section and a diary of events.

Anyone wishing to publicise an event in the diary should contact Sohana Singh on 300-6194 or fax 304-2880 or email: metinfo@iafrica.com.

THURSDAY FUN

Mr No No, Mr Rooster and Mr Time-Out as well as Rico the clown, welcome children to a clean beach at the regular Durban Thursday night Beachfront Family Fun Fiesta held next to Seaworld.

Other attractions are gumboot dancing, drummies, a puppet show with "Sonny" the sax player as well as fashion shows and Latin American rock 'n roll dance.

Seaworld offers half-price admission including an 18h30 dolphin show.

To book a craft stall, contact Lynelle on 701-4697/8.

HILTON DATES

Dates for the next Natal Witness Hilton Festival have been set for September 17 to 19, 1999. Details from 082 882 9869.

ENGLISH CENTRE

The English Centre offers a TEFL qualification (teaching English as a foreign language) and the Cambridge/ RSA certificate in CELTA (English lan-guage teaching to adults) and claims that this can be achieved in four weeks.

No previous teaching experience or for-mal entrance qualifications are required. Acceptance onto the course is dependant on an interview to assess language awareness and potential teaching flair.

This is an ideal qualification for anyone planning to work in different parts of the world, as CELTA graduates are highly sought after.

The demand for English language skills is continually increasing worldwide, just as being able to use English well is the key to job advancement and knowledge for the majority of South Africans.

In addition to language courses, the Centre organises excursions to give stu-dents insight into local history and cul-ture while, at the same time, allowing them to practise speaking English in an enjoyable environment. To find out more, phone 306-5192 or visit the web site - www.englishgcentre.co.za

ELEGANCE

Watch SABC-1's Elegance lifestyle programme on Tuesdays at 18h30 to find out about the Elegance Lisof Back to the Street Competition. This offers a bur-sary prize of R50 000 at Gauteng's Lon-don International School of Fashion. Entries close on November 20.

DECORATIVE ARTS

On November 17, the Decorative Arts Society hosts the Hon. George Plumptre, director of Sotheby's SA, who discusses Goodnestone - The Making of a Garden: 250 years of gardening at my family home. The talk takes place in the Green Jacket Room, DLI Hall in NMR Avenue, from 12h30 to 14h00.

This talk will be repeated the following day, November 18, in Pietermaritzburg at the same time in the Chamber House, Royal Showgrounds. To book contact Lynette Pittaway on 86-5528.

GERMAN QUILTS

An exhibition of contemporary German quilts will be held at the Alliance Française, 22 Sutton Crescent, from November 19 to 27, with walkabouts on November 21 and 25 at 12h00.

LIFE-SAVING VENUE!

The City of Durban Surf Lifesaving Club offers its club premises for small art presentations, book launches, poetry readings or any arts-related activity.

Situated behind the life-savers' tower on South Beach the Club is a 11 x 8m room with two fixed counters and a small area suitable for a dressing room. There is also a bar counter/serving hatch and electric plug points are well-placed. While there are ceiling fans, there is good ventilation and two access doors provide a through draught.

A paved outdoor area has braai faci-lities. The venue can accommodate about 50 people seated and there is space for a small stage to hold one or two musicians, a racounteur or guest speaker.

Hire fees are R100 per night negotiable. Security, waiters or catering as well as light or sound hire can be arranged. Phone Kirk Brummer on 337-2721 or Anton Lasich on 337-6038.

LIBERACE'S

You'd think that actor and director Peter Court, also artistic director of the Creative Madness Puppet Company and soon to be appearing in the pantomime Robin's a Cruise Ou has got enough on his plate without looking for more.

However, this energetic personality is about to open a new entertainment venue called Liberace's.

Designed as a dessert-cum-coffee lounge it will host live pianists at least three nights a week. He's also throwing caution to the winds by choosing to open on November 13 - "which is also Friday the 13th so it's win or bust!" says Peter.

Liberace's will be open from 11h00 until 02h00 from Tuesday to Sunday, provi-ding a perfect after-show meeting place. The ambience will be one of gentle and discerning sophistication while retaining the essence of Liberace's flamboyant personality and musical style.

WICKED

"Food will all be snack based,' adds Peter. "Things like tuna mousse with port and bramble jelly, quiches, cakes - all the deliciously wicked things in life!" The house has a pool and changing. facilities are available. Peter adds: "The idea is to make it Continental in that you can sit outside with an Irish coffee and a confection of light pastry and then work it off in the pool!"

Liberace's is situated at 469 Berea Road between Manning and Sylvan Roads. For more details, phone 082 461-0136.

ADMIN WORKSHOPS

"Calling all arts administrators and arts project managers - how do you deal with the chaos?" So asks Uffe Elbek and Andrew Storkolm from the KaosPilot University in Denmark who will offer two workshops on November 5.

Based in Denmark and San Francisco, KaosPilot is a unique educational insti-tution that teaches project management in modules over three years. The school has a reputation for producing highly skilled, original thinkers.

Workshop A (10h00-12h30) - is for administrators and managers with less than three years' experience. (Easy-to-move in working clothes are essential)

Workshop B (16h30-18h00) - is for those with three or more years' experience.

The fee for both workshops, which take place in the Playhouse Alhambra Room, is R5 pp. Space is limited to 25 partici-pants per workshop (only two represen-tatives permitted from any organisation.)

To book for either one or the other workshop, phone Nicky 082 901 0735.

These workshops form part of `Shuttle 99' a two-year cultural exchange pro-gramme between the Nordic countries and South Africa.

ML SULTAN FASHION

The ML Sultan Technikon fashion design department's show last month was titled Amasiko Amaningi (Many Cultures) and required students to provide ranges reflecting the current state of the economy. This called for an innovative approach to fashion. Garments had to be accessible and affordable to people from all walks of life without losing sight of global trends in the fashion world.

While two awards were presented to second year students Rishana Naidoo (most promising) and Lindiwe Madondo (bursary), the show belonged to the third year students. Carmen Govender won the award for best design student with Simon Mthethwa achieving the honours as best technical student.

Best range on show went to Sinomzi Abraham with Nancy Mfene collecting the award for most innovative range.

FLORAL ART

One of the best-known outdoor artistic features in Durban is the floral `carpet' at the Musgrave end of Jamieson Park created by the Durban parks and gardens department. Each month, these ingenious designs and installations portray a prominent local event.

In September the Durban Branch of the SA Guild of Speech & Drama Teachers was so favoured. This is the 50th anniversary year of the branch - 50 years of providing first-class instruction in speech and drama.

Originally students were taught `elocu-tion' but the `How Now, Brown Cow' idea changed with the changing years and nowadays emphasis is on communi-cation, with public speaking playing a large part.

For more details about the Guild, contact Jessica Perritt on 72-5062.

DOG AND CAT ART

The Durban Exhibition Centre will host the highly popular World of Dogs and Cats Exhibition from November 13 to 15. The popular Friskies Art Compe-tition which attracts hundreds of school pupils will be on show.

Entrance to the World of Dogs and Cats Exhibition is R15 (R8 for pensioners and scholars. Children under 6 free).