Events in Dorset in April 2012

Two artists who share a studio have joined forces to show their work together at The Cartshed Gallery in Semley, near Shaftesbury.

Joanna Sims works in pastels and oils, capturing the chalk downland around Salisbury Plain and the sea and cliffs of Cape Cornwall. Sculptor and printmaker Olivia Clifton-Bligh is showing bronze sculptures of dogs, monkeys, cats and people. Each sculpture takes over a year to complete and this exhibition spans a decade’s work.

The gallery, in Chaldicotts Courtyard, is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm. Details from thecartshedgallery.co.uk or 01747 862005.

Charity golf day

Dorset charity Diverse Abilities Plus, which provides care for children and adults with disabilities, is holding its first annual golf day at Rushmore Golf Club in Salisbury on Tuesday April 24, starting at 11.30am with registration and refreshments. The game will begin with a shotgun start at 1pm and there will be on-course competitions throughout, followed by a two-course meal with team prizes and a charity auction.

Entry is £295 for a team of four and the maximum handicap is 36 for ladies and 28 for men.

To take part or to offer an auction prize, call Sharon Wells on 01202 711502, or visit diverseabilitiesplus.org.uk /events/charity-golf-tournament-2012.

The Met Opera Live, via satellite

Manon by Massenet will be transported direct from the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden to the Lighthouse in Poole on Saturday April 7 at 5pm.

Anna Netrebko dazzles in her portrayal of the tragic heroine in Laurent Pelly’s new production, with Piotr Beczala and Paula Szot also starring, with the Met’s principal guest conductor Fabio Luisi on the podium.

La Traviata by Verdi is to be shown in the cinema at 6pm on Saturday April 14. Natalie Dessay will put on the red dress in Willy Decker’s stunning production in her first Violetta at the Met.

Admission for both showings is £23, £21 for members and £22 for concessions.

Further details from 0844 406 8666 or lighthousepoole.co.uk

A cabaret dinner

Dorset children’s hospice Julia’s House is holding a fundraising cabaret dinner on Saturday April 21 at the Carrington Hotel in Bournemouth.

Tickets cost £39.50 a head, from 01202 607400 or juliashouse.org.

My Fair Lady

The picture of the model said to be the inspiration behind George Bernard Shaw’s Professor Higgins and Eliza Doolittle in the play Pygmalion is on show at the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery.

Clytie (1896) is part of the In The Footsteps of Gods & Heroes at the Bournemouth gallery, which runs until June 11. The picture was acquired by Leighton House Museum in 2008 with a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £337,500, which also helped fund a programme of exhibitions, events and activities designed to share this significant painting with the nation.

It is displayed in the exhibition together with related treasures from the Leighton House Collection, including detailed studies for Clytie, sculpture and a self-portrait.

The exhibition compares and contrasts the image of Clytie with work by contemporary artist David Brooke and draws out the similarities between the great houses of Lord Leighton in London’s Holland Park with that of East Cliff Hall, now the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum.

The model for Clytie was Leighton’s favourite and model and muse Dorothy Dene. Some 30 years her senior, Leighton acted as Dorothy’s benefactor and encouraged her to pursue her acting dreams.

Woofers’ Woodland Walk

Man’s best friend is being asked to put his best paw forward and help Poole’s Forest Holme hospice.

Dogs and their owners are invited to take part in the Woofers’ Woodland Walk on Sunday April 29 in Wareham Forest. Registration costs £5 and proceeds from the gentle, two-mile, circular sponsored walk will go to the hospice.

To register and receive a sponsorship pack, call the fundraising office on 01202 670644, email fundraising @friendsof forestholme.org.uk or visit friendsof forestholme.org.uk.

Dance to entrance

For Richard Alston’s eagerly awaited return to Lighthouse on April 27 and 28 he has chosen a diverse collection of composers.

Shimmer is danced to the music of Ravel, played live. Julien Macdonald’s fabulous, jewel-encrusted cobweb costumes illuminate dazzling streaks of limpid choreography in a ravishingly beautiful piece of theatre.

In Memory is an intimate and quietly intense piece for six dancers, choreographed by Robert Cohan at his most succinct and powerful. The music is Hindemith’s spare and expressive Sonata for unaccompanied viola.

Shuffle It Right features private recordings made by the American songwriter Hoagy Carmichael, who himself sings, whistles and plays piano on them.

The songs scurry along with wry little licks and punched out syncopated rhythms.

The programme is completed by a new duet Other Than I to music by Francois Couperin and choreographed by Martin Lawrance.

Visit lighthousepoole.co.uk for further details and bookings.