Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/560195
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 23 AUGUST 2015 39 This Week Sleeping Beauty gets the Royal treatment from Erico Montes BRAZILIANBORN Royal Ballet dancer and choreographer Erico Montes was recently in Malta, where he spent two weeks work- ing with the students and staff of the Brigitte Gauci Borda School of Dance. The classes (pictured) marked the start of rehearsals for the School's upcoming Christmas production, Sleeping Beauty, which will take place on 5 and 6 December. "It's been a wonderful two weeks in Malta, albeit intensive," says Erico, who is a First Artist at London's prestigious Royal Ballet. "While here, I worked with over 200 students from the School; the standards are very high and some students have exceptional talent. I'm incredibly impressed and very happy to have had the opportu- nity to work with Brigitte Gauci Borda and her students." Erico is one of the artists in charge of choreographing and staging the Brigitte Gauci Borda School of Dance's production of Tchaikovsky's iconic Sleeping Beauty, which will mark a quar- ter of a century since the school's opening. The show will be staged at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta, on 5 and 6 De- cember. "It's a fairy tale with a strong message," explains Erico, "but while there are parts of it that I'm adapting and rearranging, the ballet and the score dictate how the story goes, and it is a fantastic map to this timeless fairy tale." The staging of Sleeping Beau- ty by the Brigitte Gauci Borda School of Dance will also coincide with world-round concerts and productions marking Tchaiko- vsky's 175th birthday. The Rus- sian composer, legendary among connoisseurs and in popular cul- ture, was born in 1840. More information on, and tickets to, Sleeping Beauty will be released soon The Culture of Ageing: A multi-faceted VIVA project THE Culture of Ageing, a multi- faceted project exploring how dif- ferent cultures look at ageing, will be opening at St James Cavalier on the 31 August as part of the Valletta International Visual Arts (VIVA) Festival. The project is divided into vari- ous strands including a collective exhibition, free film screenings, a lecture series, and an artist ex- change programme. Curated by Dutch curators Lennard Dost and Mare van Koningsveld, the Cul- ture of Ageing is a joint project between Valletta 2018 and Leeu- warden 2018, the two cities that will be hosting the European Cap- ital of Culture title during the year 2018, and Fondazzjoni Kreattività. The project features in the Vallet- ta 2018 Cultural Programme. Sharing their inspiration, cura- tors Lennard Dost and Mare van Koningsveld said, "Malta was the first country to address the inter- national consequences of an in- creasingly ageing population with- in the United Nations in 1968. In that regard, Malta had foresight. Today, this ageing of society is a very relevant topic. You see the same developments everywhere. But there are differences… This made us wonder: how do societies deal with an ageing population? And what role do seniors have in various societies?" This project is a testament of Valletta 2018's commitment to celebrating culture through an inter-generational and inclusive approach where all members of the community, from all walks of life, are invited to contribute and engage in the cultural festivities before, during and beyond 2018. The Culture of Ageing is a prominent project in VIVA, now a budding visual arts festival that is attracting local and internation- al audiences while also providing local artists with a platform to showcase their work. The exhibi- tion, featuring both local and in- ternational artists, will run till the 27th September. The film programme comprises three screenings: 'Young @ Heart' at Camarata Building, Merchant's Street on the 2 September at 8pm, 'Robot and Frank' at St James Cavalier Cinema on the 4 Sep- tember at 8pm, and 'Boyhood' at St James Cavalier Cinema on the 5 September at 3pm. A free public lecture titled 'The End of the World as We Know It! The Coming of Population Age- ing' is set for the 16th September and will be delivered by the Direc- tor of the International Institute on Ageing, United Nations Malta, Dr Marvin Formosa, at St James Cavalier Cinema at 7pm. To reserve your place for the free film screenings and the free public lecture, please visit www. viva.org.mt. For further details contact the Valletta 2018 Founda- tion on info@valletta2018.org or 21242018.