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What's on this week: 27 January-2 February

22:35 25/01/2017
Joseph, Chinese New Year and a celebration of sound - here's our pick for this week

Green Parrot Productions' first show of 2017 is Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s unforgettable Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, with well-known hits such as Any Dream Will Do. Joseph has a cast of about 120, of whom about 50 are children. Some of the cast of this production remember performing it in school when they were young and are thrilled to get the opportunity to perform it again together with their children.
27-29 January, Théâtre Saint-Michel, Brussels

Chinese New Year is 28 January this year and it's the Year of the Rooster. Celebrations will start on the Grand' Place with the parade leaving at 14.00 with a dragon dance, a lion dance, folk dances, wushu, Peking opera, cheongsam, fusion music and more. The parade will makes its way to the Monnaie and then down the boulevard to the Bourse where there will be a show. Altogether more than 400 performers from Belgium and China will take part. Manneken-Pis will be dressed in his traditional Chinese costume and the facade of the City Hall will be lit up in the Chinese colours. For those looking for something a little different, the 2017 Chinese New Year Parade will extend to Dinant, the city of saxphone, on 29 January. Besides the parade, there will be Chinese traditional performances, and saxophone music jointly played by musicians from China and Belgium.
28 January 14.00-18.00, downtown Brussels

Starting this Sunday is the seventh edition of the Semaine du Son/De Week van de Klank, Brussels' contribution to an international movement that wants to expose the general public to all the aspects of sound and to promote a high-quality sound environment. Concerts, master classes, and other sound related events will take place across town including at Flagey, La Centrale for Contemporary Art, the Gothic Room of Brussels City Hall, the MIM, Watermael station, the Bruegel Cultural Centre, the Botanique, Cinématek and many more with more than 40 different events, all free but reservations are highly recommended.

With the chilly weather, now is the time to enjoy a hearty Alsatian meal - maybe a flammekueche or even a choucroute garnie, all washed down with a glass of spicy Gewürtztraminer. For two weeks, Alsatian cooking will be coming to Brussels with the Quinzaine Alsacienne. And to make things even better, the restaurants will be turning over a percentage of the proceeds to Nativitas, a Brussels organisation that helps the most destitute among us.
27 January-12 February, seven restaurants in Brussels

New York sextet The Klezmatics celebrate 30 years of music-making with a new album and world tour. Led by accordionist Lorin Sklamberg, The Klezmatics were at the forefront of the klezmer revival of the 1980s. The musical form is, of course, much older. Klezmer has its roots in the folk songs of the Jewish diaspora, particularly the itinerant Yiddish musicians of Eastern Europe. Waves of immigration would bring these performers and their culture to New York, where their descendants would ultimately fuse this traditional music with postmodern sensibilities. The concert is preceded by a master talk on the history of klezmer.
30 January, 20.00, Bozar, Brussels

This is the final weekend of Djangofolllies, an annual festival honouring Belgium-born gypsy jazz pioneer Django Reinhardt featuring concerts by international artists Vano Bamberger Quintet and Florin Niculescu Trio as well as Flemish quartet Lamoral.
Until 29 January, various venues

The Brussels Jazz Orchestra and KVS inaugurate a new series of improvisational jams, Wow: We Orchestrate Words, meant to facilitate exchange between artists on the urban music scene. This first session stars singer/multimedia artist Laryssa Kim, DJ duo FutureFantastic and more.
28 January 20.30, KVS, Quai aux Pierres de Taille 7, Brussels

With Valentine's Day coming up, Brussels' Chocolate Weeks is here to help. From 1-15 February, chocolate aficionados can indulge even more than usual. For a mere €5 you can arm yourself with a Chocolate Pass good at 37 locations spread out over eight Brussels districts and involving 20 chocolatiers. The pass allows for free sampling or purchasing discounts, depending on the location.

Written by Richard Harris, Georgio Valentino, Noreen Donovan, Paul McNally