The Australian Ballet: Oscar review – much to love in this blend of classical and contemporary dance

The act two pas de deux between Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas (known familiarly as Boise) in Christopher Wheeldon’s new ballet Oscar deserves to take its place in the pantheon of great romantic balletic pairings.Theirs was a tumultuous relationship. Not only because Wilde was married. Not only because, at the time of their tryst, sex between men was illegal in England. It was a relationship marked by big personalities and artistic dreams

‘Confronting and compelling’ artefacts from ancient Pompeii to go on show in Canberra blockbuster

A cataclysmic natural disaster, death on a mass scale, an ancient city frozen in time, artefacts considered too lewd for display, biblical allusions to Sodom and Gomorrah; the story of Pompeii has engrossed, thrilled and titillated the world for two centuries.For many, the opportunity to relive the terrifying eruption of Mount Vesuvius – every 15 minutes thanks to modern technology – will be too enticing to resist.This is what the National Museum of Australia is banking on when it launches its blockbuster summer exhibition, Pompeii, this December in Canberra.With all the bells and whistles audiences have come to expect from immersive and multimedia exhibitions, Pompeii, direct from the Grand Palais in Paris, is expected to be a must-see on the cultural calendar this summer.To imbue the museum with a measure of scholarly endeavour, the moving soundscapes and floor-to-ceiling digital projections (360 degrees when Mt Vesuvius does its thing) will be accompanied by more than 90 objects from the Archaeological Park of Pompeii itself, including frescoes, mosaics, jewellery, sculpture and everyday household objects, all of them almost 2,000 years old

Justin Timberlake pleads guilty to impaired driving in Hamptons case

Justin Timberlake accepted on Friday a reduced level of traffic offense, resolving his drunk-driving criminal case in the Hamptons, the upscale coastal area east of New York City.He pleaded guilty to impaired driving.The singer-songwriter and actor entered Sag Harbor village court late in the morning and was to formally enter a new plea.Police officers escorted Timberlake as he left his lawyer’s office and crossed a street to the courthouse as a crowd, including journalists, surrounded him.During the proceedings, Timberlake remained standing throughout and gave a statement in which he expressed remorse for his actions

The Guide #156: Why ER still gets my heart racing

This week I’ve spent a good chunk of my downtime rewatching Industry, BBC and HBO’s high-tension, high-finance drama, which returns for a third series in the UK on 1 October (American viewers are already charging through it). Watching it a second time, is just as intense as a first: the pace, the jargon-filled crosstalk, the queasy, quick-cut camerawork … I’ve never had a speedball, but this seems like the televisual approximation of what taking one might feel like.Another show I’ve been revisiting this week is ER. Not, alas, because there’s another season coming but because the medical drama celebrates its 30th birthday this month, and that seemed excuse enough to dive back in. And, rewatching the first series, what struck me was just how much like Industry it seemed

Kimmel on Trump post-debate: ‘trying to convince the Maga-verse he didn’t blow it’

Late-night hosts continued to look at the fallout from the debate and Donald Trump’s attempts to spin his poor performance.On Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the host said that after the debate, Trump is “still trying to convince the Maga-verse that he didn’t blow it”.The Republican presidential candidate had also showed cowardice after Kamala Harris suggested a rematch, refusing to agree to a second debate with her. “I guess when you eat as many buckets of chicken as Donald Trump does, eventually you turn into one,” he said.Kimmel compared the rightwing refusal to admit it was a bad night for Trump to what happened “when Joe Biden slipped into a coma” during the previous debate

Doors reopen at East London Black Women’s Organisation 20 years after devastating fire

A historical black women’s community centre is reopening 20 years after a blaze destroyed the building.ELBWO, the East London Black Women’s Organisation, first opened its doors in the 1970s and provided a range of services, including domestic violence support and family aid, counselling, education and training, a Saturday school, outreach and befriending.It was forced to put these on hold after an extensive fire destroyed its newly refurbished building in October 2004.While ELBWO operated from different sites, offering some vital services, the loss of its base significantly hampered its ability to continue some operations.Myrtle Noble, one of the founding members and chair of ELBWO, said it took two decades to be able to return and rebuild on theoriginal site because of the prohibitive costs involved