Ballina Film Club’s Spring Programme commences this month with a screening of the Jean Cocteau classic Orphée, on Tuesday February 10 at 8pm. A poet, novelist, painter and playwright, as well as a filmmaker, the breadth of Cocteau’s talent finds full expression in Orphée, re-imagining of the classical Greek mythological story of Orpheus.
Hades looks like occupied Paris; messages from the after-life are broadcast from car radios; and Death drives round in a vintage Rolls Royce accompanied by leather-clad bikers. Strikingly visual and darkly enigmatic, Orphée features memorable performances from Jean Marais and the muse-like Maria Casarès, and is famed for its optical effects and breathtaking cinematic illusions. Cocteau's playful use of the fantastical, the mythical, and the avant-garde set him apart from his contemporaries and still defines his unique brilliance today.
Trihornophone — great jazz at Ballina Arts Centre
On Thursday February 12 at 8pm, Ballina Arts Centre will host on of Irish jazz’s most innovative exciting ensembles, Trihornophone. Recent winners of Music Network's Youngmusicwide Award, Trihornophone — Bill Blackmore (trumpet ), Seán Óg (alto saxophone ), Kelan Walsh (baritone saxophone ), and Dennis Cassidy (drums ) – is a novel quartet dedicated to performing original music for trumpet, two saxophones, and drum kit.
Chief composer Sean Óg liberally takes influences from pop, European folk, and contemporary jazz, creating three-minute epics that underline a playful approach to improvised music, while the instrumentation yields new timbres and textures. Trihornophone’s second album, Breathing, Time was released by Diatribe Recordings, in October 2008. By turns playful and colourful, virtuosic and complex, this album does that rare thing of balancing uncompromising improvised music with an openness and accessibility which crosses the usual divides between serious new music and exploratory pop music. Presented in association with Music Network. Adm: €12 / €10 (concession ). Booking essential.
Poet Kevin Higgins for Ballina reading
Expect the surreal, observational, and poignant when Galway-based poet Kevin Higgins reads at Ballina Arts Centre on Thursday February 19 at 8pm. Kevin Higgins is the author of the poetry collection The Boy With No Face (2005 ) and he was shortlisted for the 2005 Hennessy Award for Poetry and awarded a Literature Bursary by the Arts Council. Kevin teaches poetry workshops at Galway Arts Centre. Adm: €5 / €3 concession.
Light Shifts — Bernie Garvey O’Mara at Ballina Arts Centre
Ballina Arts Centre presents Light Shifts, an exhibition of paintings by Crossmolina-based artist Bernie Garvey O’Mara. Her work is initially an inner response which materialises in different media. The medium she chooses to relate that response – be it oil or watercolour – is merely the vehicle which depicts the response most profoundly. Her work is influenced by light and colour. The moments in time when all seems to stand still, or a shaft of light that transforms the seemingly ordinary. These light shifts are at the core of her work and are the inspiration for this exhibition. Runs until February 28. Free admission. All are welcome to attend.
Ballina Arts Centre is open from 10am – 5pm Monday to Friday, and 10am – 3pm on Saturdays. For information / booking, contact Ballina Arts Centre, Barrett St, Ballina, Co Mayo. Tel: 096 73593, e-mail: [email protected]. www.ballinaartscentre.com
