Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/670480
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 24 APRIL 2016 40 This Week International dance and music added to this year's Arts Festival A performance by BalletBoyz is the highlight of this week's events announced by Arts Council Mal- ta as part of the Malta Interna- tional Arts Festival (MIAF). This, together with another two events launched this week – a perfor- mance of The Rite of Spring by the RNCM Big Band directed by Mike Hall, and a concert of clas- sical guitar and bandoneon by Simon Schembri and Gilberto Pereyra – adds to the variety of this year's programme. BalletBoyz is the brainchild of Michael Nunn and Billy Trevitt who founded the company in 2001. They danced all over the world for ten years and won nu- merous awards and accolades working with leading dancers, choreographers and designers. In 2010, they retired from the stage and launched the first edition of the groundbreaking project the TALENT. Michael and Billy selected eight young male dancers from a vari- ety of backgrounds and worked with them closely, mentoring and coaching them to create a compa- ny of first-class performers. The company has now expanded to 10 dancers and regularly tours the UK and internationally. In 2013, BalletBoyz won the National Dance Award for Best Independ- ent Company. BalletBoyz will be performing at Pjazza Teatru Rjal on July 15 and 16 at 21:00. On July 9 at 21:00, the Roy- al Northern College of Music (RNCM)'s Big Band directed by Mike Hall, will be entertaining audiences at Fort St Elmo. They will be playing Darryl Brenzel's arrangement of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, bringing out the freedom, the crude rhythmic, ir- regular pulse, the primeval na- ture of this great rite to the fore. The concert will also include other Big Band numbers, such as Heated Think Tank by Col- in Towns, Goodwin's Hunting Wabbits, a bit of samba with a Claudio Roditi long-time favour- ite The Monster and the Flower, an experimental 'Country Roads' by Maria Schneider called The Pretty Road and Bob Mintzer's Elvin's Mambo. The third event launched this week will take place at Fort St Elmo on July 11 at 21:00, when Simon Schembri and Gilberto Pereyra will perform works for classical guitar and bandoneon. Simon Schembri completed his studies with Alexandre La- goya in Paris where he won first prize unanimously at the Con- servatoire Supérieur de Musique of Paris. Acclaimed solo vir- tuoso, he is invited to major in- ternational festivals performing alongside renowned musicians. Schembri will be playing works from the Spanish Suite by Isaac Albeniz. For the second part of the concert, Schembri will be joined by Gilberto Pereyra, who will be playing the bandoneon – the historical instrument of Ar- gentian tango. Pereyra has performed in the greatest tango halls in Buenos Aires together with the most prestigious Argentinian musi- cians. He has collaborated with soloists from the Royal Opera House and participates in numer- ous festivals alongside other well- known artists. More events for the MIAF, held between July 8 and 18 in various locations, will be announced next week. For more information, log on to: www.maltaartsfestival.org. Early bird tickets will be avail- able from May 4 up to June 7, and regular tickets will be available thereafter BalletBoyz, RNCM Big Band and a concert of classical guitar and bandoneon continue to build this year's Malta International Arts Festival calendar – with the annual celebration of arts and culture taking place across various venues between July 8 and 18 BalletBoyz Heritage Malta hosts Gulja Holland's debut solo show HERITAGE Malta is currently hosting the first solo exhibition of emerging local artist, Ġulja Hol- land, at the Malta Maritime Mu- seum in Birgu. Launched last Friday, Altered Egos showcases the artist's latest work, which examines the theme of identity through a dynamic combination of paintings, prints and photo paintings. In her own words, Holland's work is, "Concerned with representing identity as a tangible extension of one's outward appearance. Com- bining photographic and painted code in an attempt to fuse these outward and inward dimensions of the self in a compelling and dy- namic manner". Holland is currently living in Malta following her completion of a BA (Hons) Fine Arts from the Leeds College of Art. She has re- cently exhibited at the Leeds Col- lege of Art degree show, the Free Range degree show in London and The Mdina Cathedral Contempo- rary Art Biennale. Altered Egos is curated by Jus- tine Balzan Demajo and runs until May 22 at The Malta Maritime Museum, Birgu. Opening hours are Monday to Sunday 09:00-16:30. For more information log on to: www.guljaholland.com