Having Some Laughs

Ten laughter-loving members recently tried their hand at cartooning, under the watchful eye of local cartoonist Sheila Hollingworth. Over five weeks they explored various aspects of cartooning, from facial expressions and body actions to perspective and physical humour.

There were lots of cartoons to laugh at and analyse, plus numerous non-threatening activities to get everyone drawing and having fun. Many discovered that you really don’t need to be a great drawer to be a cartoonist – you just need a sense of fun. Who knows… the next Leunig may even have been among them!

Sensational Zelman

‘Electric’ was the way an audience member described the recent Zelman Symphony Orchestra’s performance in the Daylesford Town Hall. The 57 member symphony from Melbourne performed a rich and moving program including Elgar’s Cello Concerto and Vaughan Williams Symphony No.5 One of the highlights was the virtuoso cellist, Charlotte Winslade, pictured, playing Elgar’s Cello Concerto. This event was sponsored by U3A Hepburn Shire who supplied everything to make it a memorable occasion. Volunteers sold tickets, ushered, served, set up and cleared up. Audience members came from as far afield as Canberra and the far eastern suburbs of Melbourne, as well as Geelong, Avoca, Malmsbury and Woodend.

This was a true community venture with members from the Daylesford Swing Band, the U3A choir and U3A members giving freely of their time. Local U3A member Jade McCutcheon talked with Mark Shiell, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor, after the concert asking him if he rehearsed the music in his head when preparing for a concert. Shiell responded, ‘There are many layers to my preparation, once the technical difficulties have been resolved I visualise and hear the music.’ He spoke about the challenge of dividing his consciousness between the small details and the overall sound as a conductor, noting that ‘staying with the flow’ was the greatest task. He has an ongoing passion for encouraging young musicians and there were a number of them in the orchestra including a violinist who was performing with the orchestra for the first time. After finishing with an encore performance of Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance orchestra members joined the audience to enjoy cheese and wine.

Zelman Symphony

Travels With A Donkey

Digital art by Fran Sbrocchi, a participant in an online version of the art writing course being offered to U3A members.

Those brave souls who have chosen to Travel with a Donkey and Heather Blakey on Friday afternoons at 2.00 pm can download a copy of of Robert Louis Stevenson’s famed journey. It is in PDF format and easy to print.

Travels with a Donkey is one of Stevenson’s lesser known works but it is an enchanting read.

Participants can also gain inspiration by visiting and reading of the experiences of others who have chosen to travel with donkeys.

 

Hey Twinkle Toes

If exercise was on your New Year’s resolution list and you’ve already discovered that was a bad idea you might like to think again.

Learning to do sequence dancing . . . and going to dances . . . is fun and fantastic for the mind, body and spirit. It’s wonderful exercise.

The brain is agile as the feet go into action, it’s great socially and it’s popular with both men and women.

Each week throughout Victoria countless dances are held and thousands of people travel, often for many kilometers, to join in.

The quarterly tea dances at the Daylesford Town Hall, presented by U3A Hepburnshire under the inspiration of Cynthia Heider, are a must for many and an opportunity for everyone.

To the special blend of nostalgic dance tunes played by the Adrian Holmes trio, men and women chasse and glide around the floor doing such dances as the Merrilyn, Barclay Blues, Carousel and Alpha Modern Waltz with an added touch of Tango and Rumba.

If the dances are new to the dancers they do not need to remain a mystery. Cynthia takes weekly beginners classes in New Vogue and Old Time Sequence Dancing.

*The next Tea Dance is in the Daylesford Town Hall on Sunday 13 February from 5.30pm to 10.30pm. Entry is $10 and supper is provided. Other dancers are scheduled for 22 May and 13 November.

*Cynthia’s dance classes are held weekly in the Senior Citizens’ Rooms, at the rear of the Daylesford Town Hall, on Mondays from 6pm to 7.30pm from 31 January.

For further information contact Cynthia Heider on 5348 4741.