Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1542822
2 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 25 JANUARY 2026 THEATRE Mediterranean culture takes the stage this February at Teatru Manoel with Bodyterranean HOW do you make music with- out instruments? This Febru- ary, Teatru Manoel welcomes a groundbreaking performance featuring an ensemble of Greek and Italian dancers, accompa- nied by two Maltese singers, who will do exactly that. Body- terranean is a dynamic dance show where rhythm and move- ment take centre stage. Created by Simone Mongelli, an Italian music artist based in Greece, Bodyterranean is a unique dance and music per- formance that embraces Med- iterranean culture and bodies. It does this by highlighting the most primal musical instru- ment: the human body itself. Mongelli is also an ethnomu- sicologist, meaning he studies music within their specific so- cial and cultural contexts, and he has been interested in Mal- tese music as part of a wider Mediterranean culture for sev- eral years. In fact, his Masters research was about the tradi- tional Maltese għana, in par- ticular the spirtu pront style. Combining traditional Greek and Southern Italian songs with body percussion and cho- reography, the ensemble will use only their bodies and voic- es to create their soundtrack. "We can identify two main ele- ments in this project," explains Mongelli, "on one hand there is my research about tradition, about the universal themes that generate in people from all over the world and their same need to tell stories, to express themselves. On the other hand there is the challenge of using exclusively a single musical in- strument, and a very particular one indeed: the body." Bodyterranean began its life as a studio album back in 2016, but it soon after transferred to stage, which Mongelli believes is where the project truly be- longs, "because body music is something to be both heard and seen, since it involves per- forming and choreography and needs the energy of a live show, of the interaction with the au- dience." Simone Mangelli and the cast of Bodyterranean have performed in Greece, Italy, and Cyprus, and they are excited to bring this show to Malta for the first time. "I've been to Malta several times before and I have loved it each time," Mongel- li tells us. "I am sure that this next experience will be a pos- itive one!" "I hope that in Malta we will create the same touching feel- ing that we have been experi- encing every time we get on stage and perform: a special level of communication and bonding with the audience that is created by this special body-to-body emotional inter- change," says Mongelli. "There is no such experience as feeling your body vibrate in response to another body moving and producing sounds." Local vocalists Doreen Galea and Mariele Żammit will join the troupe of dancers to tell stories of joys and sorrows, of love, exile, motherhood, and diversity, stories which people of all cultures and backgrounds can recognise and relate to. The songs in Bodyterranean, stripped down to the purest form of body and voice, tell stories that erase differences and cry out for equality and peace. And Simone Mongel- li has promised a few surprise additions to the repertoire that are sure to please local audi- ences. Bodyterranean will be per- formed at Teatru Manoel on Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th Februarry at 19:30. Tickets can be purchased at https:// teatrumanoel.mt/event/body- terranean/ or by calling the Teatru Manoel Box Office at (+356) 21246389.