Review: Dada Masilo’s ‘The Sacrifice’

Megan Amato reviews dancer Dada Masilo’s The Sacrifice. AS SOMEONE without an ounce of rhythm, I am always awed by the ways in which the human body can move and, in award-winning South African choreographer and dancer Dada Masila’s The Sacrifice, she uses an international blend of dance and instrument to showcase the diverse flow…

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Scottish Opera prepares for Il Trittico

Ahead of tomorrow’s performance of Puccini’s Il Trittico, Simone Waters speaks to Scottish Opera designer Charles Edwards. IF DESIGNING the set for one opera is a challenge then designing the set for three operas together is something on a whole different scale. Designer Charles Edwards has been faced with exactly that task as Scottish Opera…

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Book Review: ‘One Hungry Dragon’

Megan Amato reviews One Hungry Dragon, the new children’s book from Edinburgh-based author Alastair Chisholm. IT’S no secret that Edinburgh-based children’s author Alastair Chisholm loves dragons as his early reader series, The Dragon Storm, is full of lore and popular amongst children ages six to eight. In One Hungry Dragon, he takes on a younger…

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Royal Highland Hoolie adds extra date

AN EXTRA date has been added to the “Royal Highland Hoolie”, a Scottish and Irish music festival running alongside the Royal Highland Show. Musicians will now take to the stage on both Friday 23 and Saturday 24 June. The line-up already includes Derek Ryan, Skerryvore, and Lisa McHugh. Jim Warnock, chairman the Royal Highland &…

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Record audience for Granite Noir festival

A RECORD 15,000 people visited Aberdeen over the weekend for the Granite Noir crime writing festival. The festival’s seventh outing attracted almost 11,500 people to its shows, with a further 3,000 or so visiting the “Curriculum of Crime” exhibition at the city’s Music Hall. Highlights of this year’s festival included author Val McDermid in conversation…

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Joy Dunlop unveils Gaelic solo album

GAELIC singer Joy Dunlop is preparing to release her first solo album in a decade. Dunlop, who also presents the weather for BBC Scotland, will unveil Caoir on 24 March, featuring fresh recordings of traditional Gaelic songs. “I’ve always loved music that pushed the boundaries of what was considered ‘trad’, without losing the soul of…

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Venison canapé selected for Eat Game Awards

A “SHOW-STOPPING venison anticucho with nori and puffed wild rice” canapé has won the top prize at the Colleges’ Cookery Competition. The contest, organised by the British Association for Shooting & Conservation (BASC) and Highland Game, was won by George Oakes, a third year student at Westminster Kingsway College. More than 70 students entered their…

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River Tweed fishing season begins in Kelso

ANGLER Kent Håkansson from Sweden yesterday cast the first line of the River Tweed salmon fishing season in Kelso. The River Tweed Commission (RTC) hosted its official opening of the season in the Borders for the first time more than 30 years. Peter Straker-Smith, the RTC’s chairman, said: “The Tweed provides fantastic fishing opportunities [that]…

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Cairngorms star in new Markus Stitz bike film

A NEW film about a 165-mile bike journey through the Cairngorms has been released online for free. The film, made by biking veteran and author Markus Stitz, documents the connection between the environment of the national park and its residents, along with the businesses they run. “Home Is Where The Trails Take You” captures a…

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Book review: ‘Confessions of a Highland Art Dealer’

Confessions of a Highland Art Dealer Tony Davidson Woodwose Books SPRINKLED with anecdotes of a life in the north, art dealer Tony Davidson paints a portrait of his colourful existence with local artists. He gives the reader an equal sense of times past and a true love for the creative community that he hosted at…

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