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maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 14 JANUARY 2026
CULTURE
Mediterranean music and dance take centre
stage with Bodyterranean at Teatru Manoel
THIS February 7 and 8, Teatru
Manoel welcomes a ground-
breaking performance featuring
an ensemble of Greek and Italian
dancers, accompanied by two
Maltese singers, for Bodyterra-
nean: A dynamic dance show
where rhythm and movement
take centre stage.
Bodyterranean is a unique
dance and music performance
that embraces Mediterrane-
an culture and bodies. Led by
Simone Mongelli, who is an
Italian music artist based in
Greece, Bodyterranean high-
lights the most primal musical
instrument: the human body
itself. Combining tradition-
al Greek and Southern Italian
songs with body percussion
and choreography, the en-
semble will use their bodies
and voices only to create their
soundtrack.
Joined by local vocalists Do-
reen Galea and Mariele Żam-
mit, the troupe will tell stories
of joys and sorrows, of love, ex-
ile, motherhood, and diversity;
stories which people of all cul-
tures and backgrounds can rec-
ognise and relate to. The songs
in Bodyterranean, stripped
down to their purest form of
body and voice, tell stories that
erase differences and cry out
for equality and peace.
Described as creating "mu-
sic without instruments", Si-
mone Mangelli and the cast
of Bodyterranean have been
performing across Greece and
the Mediterranean since 2017,
resulting in an extremely fine-
tuned piece of dance theatre
that is sure to delight music
and dance lovers alike.
Bodyterranean will run for
two shows only, on Saturday
7 and Sunday 8 February at
19:30pm. Tickets can be pur-
chased at https://teatruma-
noel.mt/event/bodyterrane-
an/ or by calling the Teatru
Manoel Box Office at (+356)
21246389
