“To me, the arts community really is the soul of a community… We love the idea of contributing to the arts community and contributing to the soul of Brisbane.”

Paul Taylor is the Head of Investments at global funds manager Fidelity International and a member of Brisbane Festival’s Giving Committee.

His family’s patronage and passion for the arts runs deep, and they are motivated to support local artists to produce new works and assist Brisbane Festival to deliver significant works developed elsewhere – giving the people of Brisbane the opportunity to experience artistic works they may not see otherwise.

In this podcast, Paul discusses Australia’s unique culture of philanthropy, his personal ‘why’ for giving, and the reasons that Brisbane Festival is a sure-fire bet for an investor.

“It’s about participation. Everything makes a difference. You don’t have to donate thousands of dollars - a donation of $100 is a great way to make a contribution.”

Brisbane Festival returns to fill the city with three weeks of wonder, delight and celebration from 2 – 24 September 2022. For information and tickets, visit brisbanefestival.com.au

Beginners’ Call records on Turrbal and Yugerra country in Meanjin, Brisbane. Brisbane Festival recognises the integral role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples play in our creative, artistic and celebration spaces and pays respect to Elders past, present and emerging.

Podcast Curator: Louise Bezzina (Brisbane Festival)

Podcast Guests: Paul Taylor (Brisbane Festival Giving Committee)

Podcast Host: Adam Brunes (Aruga)

Podcast Producer: Gilberto Castillo (The Podcast Boss)

“There’s something really transcendent about dancing so badly that you break through that shell of having to take yourself seriously and you can just exist in your body in this really beautiful, joyful way.”

Whether you’re a Rock Eisteddfod reject or a retired dancer, there is joy and exhilaration to be found in unencumbered shimmying and shaking.

The all-ages, all-abilities Common People Dance Eisteddfod brings the moves, the laughs and the ‘80s and ‘90s bangers when the leotard-clad juggernaut returns to Brisbane Festival for its fourth blockbuster year.

“Common People Dance Eisteddfod’s main point of difference to a normal eisteddfod is the teams can cheat, they can bribe the judges, they can also sabotage the other teams.”

An antidote to the ‘No Lights, No Lycra’ dance movement, Common People Dance Eisteddfod is an exercise in brash dance moves, bold costumes, big performances and body positivity.

In this episode, Common People Dance Project co-founder, choreographer and theatre maker Neridah Waters is joined by dance devotees and sequinned warriors, Amanda Dell and Bryony Walters.

They speak with humour and heart about the power of the dance project to boost body confidence, self-expression and personal empowerment and how making a conscious decision to be brave and try something new can prove life-changing.

“I have seen people’s attitudes to their bodies change, I have seen what they wear in everyday life change because they are just proud of themselves and they are like, ‘look at me, I’m amazing’.”

On the eve of yet another over-the-top dance battle between amateur hot-steppers from the North, South, East and West of Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, the trio body roll and fist-pump their way through competition tactics, dirty tricks and the optimum ratio of props per dancer (spoiler alert: it’s three).

“As adults, we forget to play and have fun. In Australia, in dance and sport, you’re told by some teacher at some point you don’t have the right physique or the right body to be a dancer or a cricket player and it really crushes that teenager at that point and they never do it again in their life.”

Brisbane Festival returns to fill the city with three weeks of wonder, delight and celebration from 2 – 24 September 2022. For information and tickets, visit brisbanefestival.com.au

Beginners’ Call records on Turrbal and Yugerra country in Meanjin, Brisbane. Brisbane Festival recognises the integral role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples play in our creative, artistic and celebration spaces and pays respect to Elders past, present and emerging.

Podcast Curator: Louise Bezzina (Brisbane Festival)

Podcast Guests: Neridah Waters, Amanda Dell and Bryony Walters (Common People Dance Eisteddfod)

Podcast Host: Adam Brunes (Aruga)

Podcast Producer: Gilberto Castillo (The Podcast Boss)

“(Ballroom) came off the blood, sweat and tears of trans women of colour and has survived and thrived throughout the years.”

The House of Alexander is limbering up to dance, dazzle and draw on a 60-yearlegacy of queer black ballroom communities across two huge productions at Brisbane Festival.

Injecting sparkle and substance into the 2022 program, Meanjin's trailblazing ballroom house celebrates self-expression, identity and family as it showcases the city’s thriving ballroom scene.

“Ballroom was that one space where we could help young trans women gain confidence to even just walk out the door, something as simple as that.”

The world premiere of The House at South Bank Piazza weaves the cultures of 26 Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) artists with the highly stylised art form of voguing.

Then, The House of Alexander closes out the Festival in glamorous style when The Alexander Ball returns to The Tivoli for a night of extravagance, fierce competition and jaw-dropping runways.

“We are talking as loud as possible and walking as proud as possible because there are communities that heavily rely on us.”

In this episode, House of Alexander “mother and father” Ella Ganza and Joshua Taliani share their motivation for founding the House in 2019 to create a family for Meanjin’s queer BIPOC community.

They draw parallels between ballroom’s underground roots in Harlem, New York and the new culture the movement is creating locally; the sense of responsibility they feel to empower and nurture their young, queer BIPOC “children”; and how ballroom is bringing greater visibility to “the minority of the minorities”.

“It’s about opportunities and representation, that’s the big part. In order for our community to be uplifted, we need to see ourselves reflected.”

Brisbane Festival returns to fill the city with three weeks of wonder, delight and celebration from 2 – 24 September 2022. For information and tickets, visit brisbanefestival.com.au

Beginners’ Call records on Turrbal and Yugerra country in Meanjin, Brisbane. Brisbane Festival recognises the integral role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples play in our creative, artistic and celebration spaces and pays respect to Elders past, present and emerging.

Podcast Curator: Louise Bezzina (Brisbane Festival)

Podcast Guests: Ella Ganza and Joshua Taliani (The House, The Alexander Ball)

Podcast Host: Adam Brunes (Aruga)

Podcast Producer: Gilberto Castillo (The Podcast Boss)