1.
Australian Football League
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The Australian Football League is the pre-eminent professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the governing body. The league was founded as the Victorian Football League as a breakaway from the previous Victorian Football Association, the league currently consists of 18 teams spread over five of Australias six states. Matches have been played in all states and territories of Australia. The AFL season currently consists of a competition, followed by a 23-round regular season. The top eight teams play off in a four-round finals series, culminating in the AFL Grand Final. The winning team in the Grand Final is termed the premiers, the current premiers are the Western Bulldogs. The six clubs invited two more VFA clubs – Carlton and St Kilda – to join the league for its season in 1897. In 1908, the league expanded to ten teams, with Richmond crossing from the VFA, Port Adelaide was the most successful club of the competition winning three titles during the period along with an earlier victory. In 1925, the VFL expanded from nine teams to twelve, with Footscray, Hawthorn, North Melbourne and Hawthorn remained very weak in the VFL for a very long period. Between the years of 1927 and 1930, Collingwood became the first, in 1952, the VFL hosted National Day, when all six matches were played outside of Melbourne. Matches were played at the Sydney Cricket Ground, Brisbane Exhibition Ground, North Hobart Oval, Albury Sports Ground and Victorian country towns Yallourn, Footscray became the first of the 1925 expansion teams to win the premiership in 1954. Melbourne became a powerhouse during the 1950s and early 1960s under coach Norm Smith, the club contested seven consecutive grand finals from 1954 to 1960, winning five premierships, including three in a row from 1955 to 1957. Television coverage began in 1957, with telecasts of the final quarter permitted. At first, several channels competed through broadcasting different games, however, when the VFL found that television was reducing crowds, it decided that no coverage was to be allowed for 1960. In 1961, replays were introduced although direct telecasts were rarely permitted in Melbourne, in 1959, the VFL planned the first purpose built mega-stadium, VFL Park, to give it some independence from the Melbourne Cricket Club, which managed the Melbourne Cricket Ground. VFL Park was planned to hold 155,000 spectators, which would have made it one of the largest stadiums in the world – although it would ultimately be built with a capacity of 78,000. Land for the stadium was purchased at Mulgrave, then farmland, the VFL Premiership Trophy was first awarded in addition to a pennant flag in 1959, essentially the same trophy design has been in use since
2.
Joel Selwood
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Joel Anthony Selwood is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League. A midfielder,1.83 metres tall and weighing 86 kilograms, a standout junior track and field athlete and footballer, Selwood entered top-level football early, joining the TAC Cup competition as a bottom-aged player. Despite a serious injury during his final year of junior football, Selwood was selected with Geelongs first pick. Selwood made his AFL debut in 2007, winning the AFL Rising Star Award, Selwood holds one of the highest winning–percentage records of any player in VFL-AFL history, helping the club reach three successive AFL Grand Finals from 2007–2009 and another in 2011. After serving one season as the club vice-captain in 2011, Selwood was appointed as the captain of Geelong at the beginning of 2012, Joel Selwood was born to Bryce and Maree Selwood in the country town of Bendigo, Victoria. He was raised in a family of sportspeople and his mother Maree was a top runner and tennis player, and elder twins Adam and Troy were identified as talented footballers at a young age. As a two-year-old, Selwood was forced to wear splints on his leg to help overcome a walking disability, Selwood displayed athletic talent from an early age. He was the state hurdling champion from under-10s through to the under-15s, growing up with his older brothers, Selwood was accustomed to playing with bigger teammates and opponents. By the time he was eight years old, he had played his first competitive game of football, against children four years his senior, and had kicked three goals. Selwood attended Catholic College Bendigo and played football with the Sandhurst Football Club. Although his age made him ineligible to enter the 2005 AFL Draft, Bendigo Pioneers regional manager Ray Byrne noted that ability-wise, Joel was streets ahead of everyone. Even at an age, he was a standout. Byrne praised Selwoods professionalism, noting that he had never seen a kid prepare in the TAC Cup like Joel and he had a fantastic football brain, he could sort it out within 10 minutes of a game who should be where and what. Selwood received an array of accolades and honours as a bottom-aged player and his performances in the championships earned him end-of-year All-Australian honours and the Most Valuable Player award for Victoria Country. His performances in Ireland earned him the Ron Barassi Medal, as the adjudicated Most Valuable Player of the tour, Selwoods achievements in local football were recognised when he was listed as a finalist in the 2006 Bendigo Sports Star of the Year Award. Returning in 2006 with the Pioneers, Selwood entered his final year of football as one of the top rated prospects in his age group. His achievements at the level were recognised early by the AFL Players Association, when he was awarded the Mike Fitzpatrick Scholarship. Rewarded with the captaincy of Bendigo for his season, Selwood again won mid-year State honours for Victoria Country
3.
2007 AFL Grand Final
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It was the 111th annual Grand Final of the Australian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 2007 AFL season. The match, attended by 97,302 spectators, was won by Geelong by a margin of 119 points, the victory marked Geelongs seventh premiership win, and ended its 44-year premiership drought. Geelong entered the season after finishing 10th in 2006, Geelong had lost only one game since Round 5, by five points to Port Adelaide at Skilled Stadium in Round 21 when Domenic Cassisi goaled with 3 seconds remaining. The grand final was Geelongs first appearance in a premiership decider since losing the 1995 Grand Final, Geelong won a tight contest with the Magpies by 5 points in front of a crowd of 98,002. Port Adelaide, having finished 12th the previous season, rose an amazing 10 places to become 2nd on the ladder in 2007, with a 15–7 record and a percentage of 113.54. Port Adelaide had hosted reigning premiers West Coast Eagles at AAMI Stadium in their qualifying final, having also earned a second week bye, they proceeded to the third week and hosted the Kangaroos in a preliminary final at AAMI Stadium, winning by 87 points. The 2007 AFL Grand Final was Port Adelaides first since winning the 2004 Grand Final and this was the first Grand Final fought between two teams that missed the finals the previous year since 1997. The Cats outscored the Port Adelaide Power 5.7 to 2.2 in the opening term, Geelong excelled in their defence - which had been the best in the competition all season - keeping the Power to their lowest score of the year. The backlines, led by Matthew Scarlett at fullback, repeatedly turned defence into attack, half-forwards Paul Chapman and Steve Johnson kicked four goals each and set up numerous others. Johnson was awarded the Norm Smith Medal for best-on-ground in the Grand Final after the Cats’ triumph, chapmans day included a sensational high mark over Port Adelaide captain Warren Tredrea during the third quarter. Key forwards Cameron Mooney and Nathan Ablett also performed strongly, Power players Kane Cornes and Domenic Cassisi performed reasonably well against Geelong stars Jimmy Bartel and Gary Ablett, Jr. The match ended with Geelong winning by the score of 24.19 to 6.8, recording the greatest winning margin in AFL Grand Final history,119 points. This broke the record of 96 points set by Hawthorn against Melbourne in the 1988 VFL Grand Final, it was also, at the time. Geelongs 417 disposals was also a Grand Final Record, meanwhile, Port Adelaide became the only finals side in history to have more handballs than kicks. Geelong scored 17.10 from Port Adelaide turnovers, while the Power scored just 1.2 from the Cats, the Cats win ended a 44-year premiership drought for the club. The last flag had come in 1963, and since then the club had lost five Grand Finals and it was also the first premiership won by a team from Victoria since Essendons 2000 victory. MCC Chairman Nickolas Daskalou was quoted Half the MCC members departed long before three quarter time in what was seen as the most one sided Grand Final in history,2007 AFL season 2007 AFL Finals Series Match stats at AFL Tables AFL Website
4.
Melbourne Cricket Ground
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The Melbourne Cricket Ground, also known simply as The G, is an Australian sports stadium located in Yarra Park, Melbourne, Victoria. The MCG is within walking distance of the city centre and is served by the Richmond railway station, Richmond, and it is part of the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct. Since it was built in 1853, the MCG has been in a state of almost constant renewal and it served as the centrepiece stadium of the 1956 Summer Olympics, the 2006 Commonwealth Games and two Cricket World Cups,1992 and 2015. The annual Boxing Day Test is one of the MCGs most popular events, the stadium fills to capacity for the AFL Grand Final. Concerts and other events are also held at the venue. The MCG is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register and was included on the Australian National Heritage List in 2005, journalist Greg Baum called it a shrine, a citadel, a landmark, a totem that symbolises Melbourne to the world. Founded in November 1838 the Melbourne Cricket Club selected the current MCG site in 1853 after previously playing at several grounds around Melbourne, the club’s first game was against a military team at the Old Mint site, at the corner of William and Latrobe Streets. The area was subject to flooding, forcing the club to move again and it was not long before the club was forced out again, this time because of the expansion of the railway. The South Melbourne ground was in the path of Victoria’s first steam railway line from Melbourne to Sandridge and this last option, which is now Yarra Park, had been used by Aborigines until 1835. Between 1835 and 1853 it was an agistment area for colonial troopers’ horses, in 1850 it was part of a 200-acre stretch set aside for public recreation extending from Governor La Trobe’s Jolimont Estate to the Yarra River. By 1853 it had become a busy promenade for Melbourne residents, an MCC sub-committee chose the Richmond Park option because it was level enough for cricket but sloped enough to prevent inundation. That ground was located where the Richmond, or outer, end of the current MCG is now, at the same time the Richmond Cricket Club was given occupancy rights to six acres for another cricket ground on the eastern side of the Government Paddock. At the time of the grant the Government stipulated that the ground was to be used for cricket and cricket only. This condition remained until 1933 when the State Government allowed the MCG’s uses to be broadened to other purposes when not being used for cricket. In 1863 a corridor of land running diagonally across Yarra Park was granted to the Hobson’s Bay Railway, the area closest to the river was also developed for sporting purposes in later years including Olympic venues in 1956. The first grandstand at the MCG was the original wooden stand built in 1854. It was during this tour that the MCG hosted the worlds first Test match, in 1881 the original members stand was sold to the Richmond Cricket Club for £55. A new brick stand, considered at the time to be the world’s finest cricket facility, was built in its place, the foundation stone was laid by Prince George of Wales and Prince Albert Victor on 4 July and the stand opened in December that year
5.
Deakin University
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Deakin University is an Australian public university with approximately 50,644 higher education students in 2014. Established in 1974, the University was named after the leader of the Australian federation movement and it has campuses in Geelong, Warrnambool and Burwood, Melbourne and learning centres in Dandenong, Craigieburn and Werribee, all in the state of Victoria. It was formally established in 1974 with the passage of the Deakin University Act 1974, the sale of Stonnington Mansion by Deakin provoked public outrage as it involved the mansion which was at risk of redevelopment by property developers. Deakin is one of Australias fastest growing research universities and its combined research funding had increased from A$4.5 million in 1997 to A$43.4 million in 2014. Deakin University was formally established in 1974 with the passage of the Deakin University Act 1974, Deakin was Victorias fourth university, the first to be established in regional Victoria and the first to specialise in distance education. Deakin Universitys first campus was established at Waurn Ponds, the University was the result of a merger between State College of Victoria, Geelong and the higher education courses of the Gordon Institute of Technology. Deakin enrolled its first students at Waurn Ponds in 1977, the Burwood campus is on the site of the former Burwood Teachers College, and also takes in the former sites of the Bennettswood Primary School and the Burwood Secondary School. The teachers college conducted two-year training courses for Primary School teachers and it provided live-on-site accommodation for country students. The Rusden Campus was closed in 2003 and all courses were transferred to the Melbourne campus at Burwood, Rusden subsequently acquired by Monash University for its student accommodation purposes. The former Toorak Campus, located in Malvern, was offered for sale in 2006 as the University considered the surplus to its requirements. The courses and resources were relocated to the Melbourne campus at Burwood in November 2007, the main building on the site is the 116-year-old historic Stonnington Mansion It is located amongst traditional gardens. The Stonnington Stables art gallery and the Universitys contemporary art collection were located here, the universitys action of offering the campus, including the mansion, provoked public outrage over the potential privatization of what had been public space. In December 2006, the three-mansion was sold for $33 million to a joint venture between Hamton Property Group and Industry Superannuation Property Trust, the Deakin University Council is the governing body of the University and is chaired by the Chancellor, David Morgan. Council is responsible for the direction and oversight of the University and is publicly accountable for the Universitys actions. The Vice-Chancellor is the Chief Executive Officer of the university and is responsible to Council, Professor Jane den Hollander is Vice-Chancellor and President of Deakin University and is Deakins 6th Vice-Chancellor. Professor den Hollander is a cellular biologist turned university administrator and was previously Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Curtin University in Western Australia, the university is divided into four faculties, covering arts and education, business and law, health, and science, engineering and the environment. Within the arts faculty, the three schools cover education, social sciences, humanities, communication and the creative arts, along with the research institutes, there are 13 strategic research centres, Deakin Motion. Originally built as the Dalgetys Woolstores in 1893, the buildings have been renovated to create a modern campus centre
6.
Australian rules football
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The main way to score points is by kicking the oval-shaped ball between the two tall goal posts. The team with the score by the end of the match wins unless a draw is declared. During general play, players may position themselves anywhere on the field, the primary methods are kicking, handballing and running with the ball. There are rules on how the ball can be handled, for example, throwing the ball is not allowed and players must not get caught holding the ball. A distinctive feature of the game is the mark, where players anywhere on the field who catch a ball from a kick are awarded possession, possession of the ball is in dispute at all times except when a free kick or mark is paid. Players can tackle using their hands or use their body to obstruct opponents. The game features frequent physical contests, spectacular marking, fast movement of players and the ball and high scoring. The sports origins can be traced to matches played in Melbourne, Victoria in 1858. Its annual Grand Final is the highest attended club championship event in the world, the sport is also played at amateur level in many countries and in several variations. The games rules are governed by the AFL Commission with the advice of the AFLs Laws of the Game Committee, there is evidence of football being played sporadically in the Australian colonies in the first half of the 19th century. The earliest such match, held in St Kilda on 15 June, was between Melbourne Grammar and St Kilda Grammar. Born in Australia, Wills played a nascent form of rugby football whilst a pupil at Rugby School in England and his letter is regarded by many historians as giving impetus for the development of a new code of football today known as Australian football. Two weeks later, Wills friend, cricketer Jerry Bryant, posted an advertisement for a match at the Richmond Paddock adjoining the Melbourne Cricket Ground. This was the first of several kickabouts held that year involving members of the Melbourne Cricket Club, including Wills, Bryant, W. J. Hammersley, trees were used as goalposts and play typically lasted an entire afternoon. Without an agreed code of laws, some players were guided by rules they had learned in the British Isles. Another significant milestone in 1858 was a match played under experimental rules between Melbourne Grammar and Scotch College, held at the Richmond Paddock. This 40-a-side contest, umpired by Wills and Scotch College teacher John Macadam, began on 7 August and it is commemorated with a statue outside the MCG, and the two schools have competed annually ever since in the Cordner-Eggleston Cup, the worlds oldest continuous football competition. Since the early 20th century, it has suggested that Australian football was derived from the Irish sport of Gaelic football
7.
Geelong
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Geelong is a port city located on Corio Bay and the Barwon River, in the state of Victoria, Australia,75 kilometres south-west of the state capital, Melbourne. It is the second largest Victorian city, with an urban population of 191,440 as at June 2016. Geelong runs from the plains of Lara in the north to the hills of Waurn Ponds to the south, with Corio Bay to the east. Geelong is the centre for the City of Greater Geelong municipality. Geelong was named in 1827, with the derived from the local Wathaurong Aboriginal name for the region, Jillong. The area was first surveyed in 1838, three weeks after Melbourne, the post office was open by June 1840. The first woolstore was erected in this period and it became the port for the industry of the Western District. During the gold rush, Geelong experienced a boom as the main port to the rich goldfields of the Ballarat district. The city then diversified into manufacturing, and during the 1860s, it one of the largest manufacturing centres in Australia with its wool mills, ropeworks. Population increases over the last decade were due to growth in service industries, redevelopment of the inner city has occurred since the 1990s, as well as gentrification of inner suburbs, and currently has a population growth rate higher than the national average. It is known for being home to the Geelong Football Club, today, Geelong stands as an emerging health, education and advanced manufacturing hub. The area of Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula was originally occupied by the Wathaurong Indigenous Australian tribe, the first nonindigenous person recorded as visiting the region was Lt. John Murray, who commanded the brig HMS Lady Nelson. After anchoring outside Port Phillip Heads, on 1 February 1802, led by John Bowen, they explored the immediate area, returning to the Lady Nelson on 4 February. On reporting favourable findings, the Lady Nelson entered Port Phillip on 14 February, during this time, Murray explored the Geelong area and, whilst on the far side of the bay, claimed the entire area for Britain. He named the bay Port King, after Philip Gidley King, Governor King later renamed the bay Port Phillip after the first governor of New South Wales, Arthur Phillip. Arriving not long after Murray was Matthew Flinders, who entered Port Phillip on 27 April 1802, in October of the same year, the HMS Calcutta led by Lieutenant Colonel David Collins arrived in the bay to establish the Sullivan Bay penal colony. Collins was dissatisfied with the chosen, and sent a small party led by First Lieutenant J. H. Tuckey to investigate alternate sites. The party spent 22 October to 27 October on the shore of Corio Bay
8.
Essendon Football Club
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The Essendon Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League, the sports premier competition. Formed in 1871 as a club and playing as a senior club since 1878. It is historically associated with Essendon, a suburb in the north-west of Melbourne, dyson Heppell is the current team captain. A founding member club of both the Victorian Football Association, in 1877, and the Victorian Football League, in 1896, the club claims to have over at least one million supporters Australia wide. Essendon has won 16 VFL/AFL premierships which, along with Carlton, is the most of any club in the competition, the club was founded by members of the Royal Agricultural Society, the Melbourne Hunt Club and the Victorian Woolbrokers. The Essendon Football Club is thought to have formed in 1872 at a meeting it the home of a well-known brewery family, the McCrackens, whose Ascot Vale property hosted a team of local junior players. Robert McCracken, the owner of several city hotels, was the founder and first president of the Essendon club and his son, Alex, Alex would later become president of the newly formed VFL. Alexs cousin, Collier, who had played with Melbourne, was the teams first captain. The club played its first recorded match against the Carlton second twenty on 7 June 1873, Essendon played 13 matches in its first season, winning seven, with four draws and losing two. The club was one of the junior members of the Victorian Football Association in 1877. During its early years in the Association, Essendon played its matches at Flemington Hill. In 1878, Essendon played in the first match on what would be considered by modern standards to be a field at Flemington Hill. In 1879 Essendon played Melbourne in one of the earliest night matches recorded when the ball was painted white, in 1883 the team played four matches in Adelaide. In 1891 Essendon won their first VFA premiership, which they repeated in 1892,1893 and 1894, one of the clubs greatest players, Albert Thurgood played for the club during this period. Essendon was undefeated in the 1893 season, at the end of the 1896 season Essendon along with seven other clubs formed the Victorian Football League. Essendons first VFL game was in 1897 was against Geelong at Corio Oval in Geelong, Essendon won its first VFL premiership by winning the 1897 VFL finals series. Essendon again won the premiership in 1901, defeating Collingwood in the Grand Final, the club won successive premierships in 1911 and 1912 over Collingwood and South Melbourne respectively. The nickname first appeared in print in the local North Melbourne Advertiser in 1889 and it was known firstly as Essendon Town and, after 1905, as Essendon
9.
Melbourne Football Club
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The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is an Australian rules football club, playing in the Australian Football League. It is named after and based in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Melbourne is the worlds oldest professional club of any football code. The clubs origins can be traced to an 1858 letter in which Tom Wills, captain of the Victoria cricket team, Melbourne has won 12 VFL/AFL premierships, the latest in 1964. The club celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2008 by naming 150 Heroes as well as creating a logo which appeared on its official guernsey. The football club has been a section of the Melbourne Cricket Club since 2009. In the winter and spring of 1858, an organised football team known as Melbourne played in a series of scratch matches in the parklands outside the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Other figures associated with this embryonic Melbourne side include cricketers Jerry Bryant, William Hammersley, Thompson, and teacher Thomas H. Smith. During meetings held on 17 and 21 May 1859, Wills, Hammersley, Thompson and Smith met near the MCG at the Parade Hotel, owned by Bryant, the resulting ten codified rules are the laws from which Australian rules football evolved. The first mention of a match played under the new code was between Melbourne and South Yarra in July 1859, with Hammersley as Melbournes inaugural captain. In 1861, Melbourne participated in the Caledonian Societys Challenge Cup, the club pushed for its rules to be the accepted rules, however many of the early suburban matches were played under compromised rules decided between the captains of the competing clubs. By 1866 several other clubs had adopted an updated version of Melbournes rules, drafted at a meeting chaired by Wills cousin. Harrison was a key figure in the years of the club, he often served as captain and, in later years. Due to his reputation and administrative efforts, he was officially named Father of Australian Football in 1908. During the 1870s, Melbourne fielded teams in the Seven Twenties, after a visit to England by one of the clubs officials, the colours of red and green were officially adopted by the club. Shortly following, the club wearing a predominately red strip. The name Redlegs was coined after a Melbourne official returned from a trip to England with one set of red, Melbourne wore the red set while the blue set were, allegedly, given to the Carlton Football Club. This may be the source of Carltons nickname, The Blueboys, in 1877, the club became a foundation member of the Victorian Football Association. During the same year the took part in the first interstate football match involving a South Australian side, Victorian
10.
Black cat
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A black cat is a domestic cat with black fur that may be a mixed or specific breed. The Cat Fanciers Association recognizes 22 cat breeds that can come with black coats. The Bombay breed is exclusively black, all-black fur pigmentation is slightly more prevalent in male cats than female cats. Their high melanin pigment content causes most black cats to have yellow eyes, any cat whose fur is a single color, including black, is known as a solid or self. A solid black cat may be black, grayish black. Most solid-colored cats result from a gene that suppresses the tabby pattern. Sometimes the tabby pattern is not completely suppressed, faint markings may appear in certain lights, a cat having black fur with white roots is known as a black smoke. Black cats can also rust in sunlight, the coat turning a lighter brownish shade, in addition to the Bombay, the Cat Fanciers Association allows solid black as a color option in 21 other breeds. The color description for those breeds is, Black, dense coal black, free from any tinge of rust on the tips. The exceptions are, Oriental – Ebony, dense coal black, free from any tinge of rust on tips or smoke undercoat. One level tone from nose to tip of tail, the folklore surrounding black cats varies from culture to culture. The Scots believe that a strange black cats arrival to the home signifies prosperity, in Celtic mythology, a fairy known as the Cat Sìth takes the form of a black cat. Black cats are considered good luck in the rest of Britain. Furthermore, it is believed that a lady who owns a cat will have many suitors. In Western history, black cats have often looked upon as a symbol of evil omens, specifically being suspected of being the familiars of witches. Most of Europe considers the cat a symbol of bad luck, particularly if one walks across the path in front of a person. In Germany, some believe that black cats crossing a path from right to left, is a bad omen. But from left to right, the cat is granting favorable times, in the United Kingdom it is commonly considered that a black cat crossing a persons path is a good omen
11.
Corio Bay
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The Corio Bay is one of numerous bays in the southwest corner of Australias Port Phillip, and is the bay on which abuts the City of Geelong. The nearby suburb of Corio takes its name from Corio Bay, the names Corayo and Jillong had since been Anglicised to Corio and Geelong. The Port of Geelong is located on the shores of Corio Bay, before the initial settlement of Geelong, a sandbar across the bay from Point Lillias to Point Henry prevented ships from entering the inner harbour. Ships were required to anchor in the bay, and cargo was brought into Geelong on small barges. At times it was possible to walk across the bay on the sandbar at low tide, the first channel through the sandbar was started in 1853, providing less than 4 metres draught for ships. This channel was straightened out and dredged at a depth of 6 metres in the 1860s, in 1881 a new channel started that took 12 years to complete. It was named the Hopetoun Channel after Lord Hopetoun who opened it on December 20,1893, management of the channels and port was the responsibility of the Geelong Harbour Trust that was formed in December 1905. In 1981, the Port of Geelong Authority took over from the trust, the authority was privatised by the State Government in mid 1996, being sold to TNT Logistics for $49.6 million. It was later re-branded as GeelongPort, the shores of Corio Bay have been a popular playground for Geelong residents. Since the 1930s Eastern Beach has been a swimming location. Boating is also popular, with a number of boat ramps. The bay is also the home of the Royal Geelong Yacht Club that was established in 1859, sometimes, whales and dolphins can be seen in the bay. Eastern Beach Waterfront Geelong Limeburners Bay Timeline of Geelong history Freedom bay cruise, Corio bay
12.
Carmen
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Carmen is an opera in four acts by French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on a novella of the title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed at the Opéra-Comique in Paris on 3 March 1875, Bizet died suddenly after the 33rd performance, unaware that the work would achieve international acclaim within the following ten years. The opera is written in the genre of opéra comique with musical numbers separated by dialogue and it is set in southern Spain and tells the story of the downfall of Don José, a naïve soldier who is seduced by the wiles of the fiery gypsy Carmen. José abandons his sweetheart and deserts from his military duties, yet loses Carmens love to the glamorous toreador Escamillo. The depictions of life, immorality, and lawlessness. After the premiere, most reviews were critical, and the French public was generally indifferent, Carmen initially gained its reputation through a series of productions outside France, and was not revived in Paris until 1883, thereafter it rapidly acquired popularity at home and abroad. Later commentators have asserted that Carmen forms the bridge between the tradition of opéra comique and the realism or verismo that characterised late 19th-century Italian opera. The opera has been recorded many times since the first acoustical recording in 1908, in the Paris of the 1860s, despite being a Prix de Rome laureate, Bizet struggled to get his stage works performed. The capitals two main state-funded opera houses—the Opéra and the Opéra-Comique—followed conservative repertoires that restricted opportunities for young native talent, Bizet was delighted with the Opéra-Comique commission, and expressed to his friend Edmund Galabert his satisfaction in the absolute certainty of having found my path. It was Bizet who first proposed an adaptation of Prosper Mérimées novella Carmen, Bizet may first have encountered the story during his Rome sojourn of 1858–60, since his journals record Mérimée as one of the writers whose works he absorbed in those years. Cast details are as provided by Mina Curtiss from the original piano, the stage designs are credited to Charles Ponchard. Place, Seville, Spain, and surrounding hills Time, Around 1820 Act 1 A square, on the right, a door to the tobacco factory. A group of soldiers relax in the square, waiting for the changing of the guard, moralès tells her that José is not yet on duty and invites her to wait with them. She declines, saying she will return later, José arrives with the new guard, which is greeted and imitated by a crowd of urchins. As the factory bell rings, the cigarette girls emerge and exchange banter with young men in the crowd, Carmen enters and sings her provocative habanera on the untameable nature of love. The men plead with her to choose a lover, and after some teasing she throws a flower to Don José, as the women go back to the factory, Micaëla returns and gives José a letter and a kiss from his mother. He reads that his mother wants him to home and marry Micaëla
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