• COLOMBIAN Salsa dancers Edwin Villalobos Martinez and Leidy Carolina Giraldo are coming to Australia. Both are part of “Swing Latino”, which works with socially excluded young people. On November 23, the duo will run workshops for senior citizens, at NewActon Backyard, corner Marcus Clarke Street and Edinburgh Avenue at 10.30am and an introduction to Salsa, Garema Place, Civic, at 5pm. Free entry.

• FIGURES for the just finished Canberra International Film Festival show that attendances were just under 16,000 people, up 15 per cent on last year.

• SCHOOL’S nearly out, so it’s time for end-of-year shows, concerts and exhibitions:

• DIRECTOR Nina Stevenson, of Pied Piper Productions, is about to stage Malcolm Sircom’s “Nutcracker” play with music by Tchaikovsky, at Paul’s Anglican Church Hall, Manuka, 10am, November 23-24 and 6pm, November 26-27. Tickets at the door but bookings are essential for school groups to 6286 9122 or info@ pied-piper.com.au
• THE bells of the National Carillon will be ringing at a novel recital featuring winning and highly commended entries in a competition jointly mounted by the Wesley Music Foundation and the Carillon Society of Australia to highlight music by young Australian student composers from the ACT and NSW. At the National Carillon, 2pm, Saturday, November 26. Free, no bookings required.
• KARABAR High School and Distance Education Centre presents the annual Years 7-12 art exhibition “Framed”. They’re promising “ceramic cakes good enough to eat, angst-ridden paintings and whimsical portraits”. At The Q, Queanbeyan, 10am-4pm, Monday-Friday, and Saturday, 10am-3pm, until November 20.
• “THE Sound of Music” is the inspiration for the Classical Ballet Centre’s concert featuring more than 170 students from the centre aged 4-18 in ballet, contemporary, modern, jazz and tap. “The Hills are Alive” is at The Playhouse, 7pm, Friday, November 25 and 2pm, Saturday, November 26. Bookings to 6275 2700.

• TWO Canberra comedians are getting in early to preview their Melbourne International Comedy Festival show “Figments and Fragments”. Cy Fahey uses traditional joke-telling, while Frederich Jones specialises in the deadpan style. At the Tuggeranong Arts Centre, 8pm, November 25-26.

• CAPITAL Queers is a local group hoping to get to the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi-Gras next year. A jazz fundraiser will be held at the Kremlin Bar, Northbourne Avenue, Civic, 7pm, Wednesday, October 26. Bookings to www.daisytickets.com