In 2000, Uri Caine's bold transformation of Bach's Goldberg Variations into a vibrant encyclopedia of styles blew welcome raspberries into complacent ears.

Our new literary heroines are dark, twisted - and a little closer to home. Kim Knight talks domestic noir with Paula Hawkins, ahead of the British author's Auckland visit.

The curtains lift, revealing a dancer seated solemnly to one side. All is quiet barring the sound of audience members settling into their seats.

This excellent one-man show is not chatty or casual. Tight, dramatic spotlights focus sharply on the orator in the dark.

Booker and Pulitzer Prize-winning authors and standout New Zealand writers are lined up for the Auckland Writers Festival.

The Great Downhill is about a boy who leaves his single mother to see the sea, riding downhill on his bike and encountering rag-tag characters.

If one of the roles of an arts festival is to present genre-blurring work, then the Auckland festival is doing its job with a show that opens this week.

A good part of the excitement at Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra's latest dance project was experiencing our city's favourite orchestra in the faux-Egyptian temple of The Civic.

Overall, I enjoyed the production but, on reflection, would probably only give the performance six out of 10, writes Peter Bromhead.

The PM's daughter is known for Big Mac bras and provocative art but she says she's quite shy in real life.

Emily King music is described as existing "where the cafe meets the dancefloor" - understated pop and soul.

An artist wants to get her fish sculpture out of Fonterra's soon-to-be vacated Auckland head office.

The makers of this show have given themselves a challenge: they've attempted to adapt what is primarily adult literature for 4-8-year-olds.

The National Theatre of Scotland offers both history lessons and captivating drama in its trilogy of plays about the country's early kings being staged at the Auckland Arts Festival.

New Zealand's brightest acting and dancing talents have been pirouetting and singing their way around the stage in Auckland today.

If you stand on the edge of Danica Pond and start digging a tunnel straight through to the other side of the globe, you'll be in Spain.

A post-postmodern diva is about to take over the Auckland Arts Festival's Spiegeltent with her take on a Hans Christian Andersen folk tale.

The five featured women dance, create pretty moving tableaux and briefly sing songs. From the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Fiji, Samoa, and Aotearoa, they're great, well-rehearsed performers.

Old-world charm, juggling and a virtuoso display of clowning makes this big top performance a must-see.

The centrepiece of new artistic director Francesco Ventriglia's first mixed bill programme for the RNZB is said to have changed ballet forever.

Four powerful local vocalists and a red-hot band take us on a journey through Dusty Springfield's remarkable life.

No one gets beheaded; some readers are displeased.

More than 10,000 tickets have been sold to the opening night of one of the hottest events on the Auckland Arts Festival calendar.

New Zealand Post, struggling with falling mail volumes, has put its art collection up for sale.

Auckland Arts Festival is a celebration, a time to come together each year as a community to share in the spirit and creativity of artists, and to celebrate our place in the world.

It's a dog-eat-dog world in this uncompromising reworking of John Gay's 1728 The Beggar's Opera.

Clearly, those who enjoy what Auckland has to offer in the arts - and 91 per cent of Aucklanders say they attend at least one event a year - are spoiled for choice.