TASTE OF OZASIA 2018 Lineup Announced Today!

THREE Australian premieres in dance, music and theatre are some of the incredible shows exclusive to Adelaide as Adelaide Festival Centre's OzAsia Festival releases a sneak peek into its 2018 program today.

Prolific Korean choreographer Eun-Me Ahn brings glitter balls, grooves and grandmothers to Adelaide, transforming the Dunstan Playhouse stage into a giant dance floor with the Australian premier of international hit Dancing Grandmothers from Thursday 25 October to Saturday 27 October.

After journeying to meet the women who founded modern Korea, Eun-Me Ahn documented their love of dance in a vibrant contemporary performance inspired by the energy of the women she met. Everyday Korean grandmothers join an impressive lineup of professional dancers, bridging the generation gap.

In another Australian premiere, War Sum Up leaps into 21st century opera with an innovative production inspired by Japanese expressions of poetry, pop, precision and brutality from Monday 5 November to Tuesday 6 November.

Newly composed classical music is infused with chamber pop and electronica, immersing the audience in a powerful, extraordinary soundscape - the ultimate audio-visual requiem on destruction and loss.

For theatre lovers, the legendary Chinese playwright and director Stan Lai's beloved modern classic Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land comes to Australian shores for the first time, with performances at Dunstan Playhouse from Friday 9 November to Sunday 11 November.

A masterwork of contemporary Chinese theatre, this hilarious yet poignant production tells the story of two drama troupes who are booked mistakenly into the same theatre space.

Two mega-stars of Japan's contemporary art scene Ryoji Ikeda and Chiharu Shiota join OzAsia Festival's celebrated visual arts program. Ikeda's data.tron (3k version) will be an Australian premiere installation and Chiharu Shiota will create a brand new installation commissioned by the Art Gallery of South Australia along a retrospective of her earlier works.

Festival favourite, the Moon Lantern Parade, will take over Elder Park with an explosion of colour and lights on Saturday 27 October from 3pm to 9pm. With the largest venue capacity to date, this year's event will give festivalgoers more vantage points to view the parade than ever before.

Australia's biggest lantern parade will feature more than 40 different handmade lanterns including nine brand new giant lanterns, plus community and roving performances, a trail of 32 exquisite lanterns placed throughout the park for families to explore, and plenty of amenities and food trucks in Elder Park and the Lucky Dumpling Market. The night will finish with a bang with an impressive fireworks display over the Torrens.

In a massive coup for Adelaide, OzAsia Festival builds to a spectacular final weekend with the Jaipur Literature Festival - an international feast of cultural connections and new perspectives -showcasing the artistic, literary and culinary heritage of South Asia and the world with books, ideas, food, music, dialogue and debate from Friday 9 November to Sunday 11 November.

OzAsia Festival Director Joseph Mitchell said: "With the biggest ever OzAsia Festival program due to be released in August, we couldn't contain our excitement and are releasing information about six major events. We are thrilled to announce an early release of selected shows for those who want to get in for some of the most Popular Productions."

Adelaide Festival Centre CEO & Artistic Director Douglas Gautier AM said: "This year's OzAsia Festival line-up is shaping up to be our most extensive and impressive yet, with some incredible world and Australian premieres. Bringing the very best of art from across Asia to our shores, Adelaide Festival Centre's OzAsia Festival connects audiences with an outstanding array of theatre, music, dance, visual arts, film and food."

The 12th OzAsia Festival will run from 25 October - 11 November 2018. The full program will launch 14 August. Tickets for Dancing Grandmothers, Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land and War Sum Up can be purchased here: www.ozasiafestival.com.au.

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