What’s what and who’s who in the arts this week? Here’s HELEN MUSA‘s weekly “Arts in the City” column.

ALL-female percussion group, the Drummer Queens are coming to Canberra in a display of girl power. Created and composed by Joe Accaria, with direction by Nigel Turner-Carroll and choreography by Peta Anderson, the group is described as a “powerhouse of pure entertainment” with uplifting beats and raw energy. Canberra Theatre, July 2-3, book here or 6275 2700. 

AN excited email has arrived from The Q telling us of Queanbeyan’s new civic and cultural precinct which will have community spaces, gallery linkages to The Q and The B (The Bicentennial Centre), basement parking and “an extra outdoor performance space for those cruisey summer nights”. There will be limited parking around The Q from mid-July while construction takes place. 

CANBERRA REP’s fourth production for this year will be Australian writer Beatrix Christian’s “The Governor’s Family”, which was first performed at the Australian National Playwrights Conference at the ANU in 1996. Directed for REP by Tony Llewellyn-Jones, the play explores family secrets and the manner in which the Governor of NSW, circa 1897, handles the outcome of a rape case. Canberra REP Theatre, Acton, July 2-17. Book here or 6257 1950. 

AUSDANCE ACT is partnering with Dance Hub SA to present “Dance.Focus 2021”, a dance film project designed to help choreographers with a track record in dance filmmaking to engage with screen dance. Two dance artists from SA and two from the ACT, yet to be selected, will be awarded $1,000 each to assist with the costs. The four commissioned dance films will premiere online in September. Watch this space.

BUNGENDORE artist Kerry McInnis has once again made it into the Salon des Refusés, the alternative Archibald and Wynne Prize selection, this time for her portrait of Jude Rae. Rae, a former Canberran, was highly commended in the Archibald for her self-portrait “Inside Out”. We note that Luke Cornish (ELK) was also selected into the Salon for his portrait “Claudia and Tumble in the Garden”. The exhibition runs at S.H. Ervin Gallery in Sydney until August 15.

A PROGRAM developed by the Art Gallery of NSW, Health Infrastructure, and Murrumbidgee Local Health District (MLHD) has been launched to provide aged-care residents living in three new, multi-purpose service sites in the region with access to arts experiences, including reproductions of famous artworks from the gallery’s collection in residents’ living rooms.