Arts news – Santa Ponsa comedy sequel will pack 'em

SURVIVING Santa Ponsa is the second part of the trilogy of shows which secured funding from all five Dragons on Dragons Den and plays at the Town Hall Theatre this Thursday and Friday, August 30 and 31. The sequel to Santa Ponsa or Bust, which had a hugely successful run at the Town Hall last year, Surviving Santa Ponsa charts the adventures of two families. Wide boy, Finbarr, while working on his ninth FAS scheme, is approached by a mysterious stranger and in return for taking a sealed package to Santa Ponsa, the stranger offers Finbarr and Carmel along with their friends and neighbours two weeks in the renowned Hotel Del Mar. What follows is the holiday from hell. John and Finbarr are arrested and banged up in prison while their women escape back to Cork with two million in hot money. Will the boys survive on the inside? Will their women wait for them on the outside? And will the notorious drug baron Hans Von Snicht give up without a fight? Only time will tell. Book at the Town Hall Box Office, by phone at 091-569777 or on the web at www.tht.ie. If you feel like singing ... join GCA PEOPLE who love to sing, but think not being able to read music disqualifies them from joining a choir should think again. The Galway Choral Association, Galway's largest community choral group, is currently seeking new members for the coming season. Male singers are particularly welcome. You don't have to be able to read music â€â€ if you have a real love of singing, and have a couple of free hours on a Sunday evening, then the Galway Choral Association would like to hear from you. The 50 strong adult choir has an exciting programme of varied choral works planned for the coming year including choral arrangements of Lennon & McCartney hits and Gershwin favourites. A highlight will be the Galway Choral Association's performance of the Vivaldi Gloria under the baton of musical director Norman Duffy in St Nicholas' Collegiate Church in January 2013. One of the most popular works in the choral repertoire, Vivaldi's Gloria RV589 has been beloved of choirs since its composition and has even featured on the silver screen in the 1996 Scott Hicks film Shine and the 1985 Andrei Konchalovsky film Runaway Train. GCA Chairman Michael O'Hare is encouraging anyone with an interest in choral singing to come along to the first rehearsal this Sunday September 2 in St Patrick's Band Hall, beside Ceannt Railway Station, from 7.30 to 9.30 pm. The Association has a strong commitment to local charity and has donated over €10,000 in the last five years to local charities from concert revenues. Most recently, the choir's chosen charity was the National Council for the Blind which received a donation of €1,200 from the Galway Choral Association's Summer Concert in memory of former choir member the late Monica Narciandi Junco For information on membership please contact Niamh on 087-3651397 after 6pm or email admin@galwaychoral.ie. Learn to dance Sean-Nós CONRADH na Gaeilge's popular sean-nós dancing classes return on Monday September 17 under the expert and patient tuition of Conamara sean-nós dancer Pádraig Ó hOibicín. For anyone who hasn't already been hooked on sean-nós, it's an ad-hoc style of solo Irish Dancing popular in Conamara, that survived the strict regulation of Irish dance in the 1930s. Sean-nós is rapidly catching on again; it is individual, very stylish and great to watch or to learn a few steps! Classes are being offered to the complete beginner at 7 pm, a class for the improvers at 8 pm and one for the more experienced learners at 9 pm. The classes cost only €90 for ten weeks. Early booking is advised as to ensure a space on the course. Further information is available from Conradh Na Gaeilge, 45 Sráid Doiminic, Gaillimh, phone 091 567824, e-mail conradh@bradan.iol.ie or visit www.arasnangael.ie Workshops for writers IF YOU would like to write creatively, in prose or in poetry, Galway Arts Centre can show you the way this autumn. Aspiring poets have a choice of three poetry workshops, all facilitated by poet Kevin Higgins, whose best-selling first collection, The Boy With No Face, published by Salmon Poetry, was short-listed for the 2006 Strong Award for Best First Collection by an Irish poet. Kevin is an experienced workshop facilitator and several of his students have gone on to achieve publication success. Each workshop will run for ten weeks, commencing the week of September 24. They will take place on Tuesday evenings 7-8.30pm (first class September 25), Thursday afternoons, 2-4pm (first class September 27); on Friday afternoons, 2-3.30pm (first class September 28). The cost to participants is €110, with a concession rate. Places must be paid for in advance. Prose writers who are working in isolation could benefit from another course being run by Susan Millar DuMars. Have you got pages in a drawer you've been wanting to show someone? This course is for writers who are at work on a project. This could be a novel, short story, collection of stories, sequence of poems, or even a play or film script. Participants' only homework each week will be to read two 15-page extracts from other students' manuscripts and be prepared for a 20-30 minute discussion on same. The course is takes place on Tuesdays (2 to 4 pm) starting on Tuesday September 25 and runs for ten weeks. Places must be booked in advance. The cost to participants is €120 with a concession rate. To register for any of these courses contact Galway Arts Centre, 47 Dominick Street, Galway. Telephone 091-565886. Email: info@galwayartscentre.ie.