Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/829524
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 28 MAY 2017 47 This Week CHARLOTTE STAFRACE OPENING Doors is about pro- moting and actively involving adults with learning disabilities in the artistic and creative sector across Malta and Gozo. It never stands still, but keeps evolving and creating opportunities for our group of 30 performers. This upcoming performance, which was already staged in small- er venues during the year, has been reworked but for the first time too. Our three core groups and disciplines are collaborating with others in the field, which include Theatre Anon Arts Foundation as well as with performers like The Tailors (with Gianluca Bezzina), The Ranch and Alegria Dance Company. Both our performers and crew have been growing sub- stantially with each performance. They also have an interesting story to tell, which should appeal to all people. Aħdar id-Deżert fol- lows the journey of the main char- acter called Gilbert and his best friend, a puppet, called Mik. Gil- bert is a young Maltese man, living with his very protective family in Malta. Of course his family loves him dearly, but Gilbert feels quite stifled and wants to travel, make new friends and form new experi- ences. We follow the journey, all the characters he meets and the challenges he faces on his adven- tures. Apart from being a fulfilling evening of music and theatre for the entire family, Aħdar id-Deżert will also shine a light on the Disa- bility Arts genre. We hope to stim- ulate, encourage, open up dialogue but also empower the groups and individuals we engage with, thus opening several more doors and opportunities to people with intel- lectual difficulties within the arts sector. Ahdar Id-Deżert will take place at the Salesian Theatre, Sliema on June 9-11, with different pro- grammes for each of the days. For more information log on to www. openingdoors.org.mt or https:// shop.trackagescheme.com/event/ ahdar-id-dezert/. Parking for the event is free. Opening doors As- sociation is supported by Arts Council Malta through a Cultural Partnership Agreement. This event is funded through the Malta Arts Fund. Special thanks to our pro- ject partners: Greenpak Malta, P. Cutajar Foundation, St. Michael Foundation & St. Michael School for their donations through our Crowd Funding Campaign Encouraging arts for all HONESTY, EXPERIENCE AND DEDICATION 'MODERN DECISION MAKING, BASED ON INTEGRITY, HONESTY, AND EXPERIENCE' CONTESTING DISTRICT 9 GHARGHUR, MSIDA, SWATAR, SAN GWANN KAPPARA, SWIEQI, MADLIENA, TA' XBIEX . DISTRICT 10 GZIRA, NAXXAR (PART OF), BAHAR IC-CAGHAQ PEMBROKE, ST.JULIAN'S, PACEVILLE, SLIEMA . . . Exploring diaspora through dance Contact Dance Company returns with a new work at the Valletta Campus Theatre on June 10 CONTACT Dance Company pre- mieres Disapora – a full evening work. This project is in collabo- ration with Arts Council Malta and the 2017 Maltese Presidency of the Council of the EU. Dias- pora will also be presented at the Michael Cacoyannis Foundation Theatre in Athens, Greece on June 13, to celebrate the events of the Maltese EU Presidency in conjunction with Export Malta cultural projects. Contact Dance Company has been established since 1998, the first Contemporary Dance Com- pany that contributed widely to the development of the Mal- tese dance scene enjoyed to- day. Founded by choreographer Francesca Abela Tranter, a re- spected Maltese dance artist/ practitioner who has thrived, per- severed and struggled in believing that this art form would one day reach professional levels of dance. She is a key player in creat- ing a multitude of international exchanges, platforms, perfor- mances over the years which has encouraged serious dance makers to reach their dreams and goals in this genre, performing on par at professional levels with the rest of the globe. Thirty years of hard work coaching and dance-making ex- perience has allowed Francesca to remain relevant, current and a leader in her field. Her doors are always open to those who wished to challenge themselves in new approaches and learning while developing a wide national and international network of collabo- rators. Contact Dance Company, now project-based, continues to investigate current global trends and issues – most recently the importance of longevity, herit- age, and legacy serving our so- cieties and communities both in professional performance and education. Tranter collaborates with established musician Renzo Spiteri with an original score, continuing their long-standing professional body of work created over the years together. Diaspora investigates migra- tion from a different perspec- tive questioning living with duality. In collaboration with experienced Dance Artists Kos- tas Papamathaikis, Lucas Roque, Rochelle Gatt, Elise Ellul, Ste- fania Catarinella and Moritz Van Stoeckle we ask ourselves where are we now and how does it feel? Where has our life journey begun and what are our roots? Where does our heart continue to live? Tranter leads this international team on an interesting journey. "While creating is inventing, we begin to explore – this uncovers, discovers and unravels a process of making work through the hu- man body and its imagination and individual history," Tranter says. "It allows me to develop a vision which then makes it visible and alive. As we do this together, we approach it by looking at things with an acceptance that things are already there. Logic is ex- posed, while the mechanisms of our embodied history structures our story and a body of work is absorbed and emerges telling our stories. Renzo Spiteri's magical original score inspires this imagi- nation. I almost never start from an emotional place when I create, I feel this blocks my process, it is the simplicity of tasks that generates and engages unbelievable com- plex structures from this beautiful team of dance artists," she contin- ues, adding that, "it is almost frus- trating to ourselves when we are faced with the volume of choices we make together about people, distances and interdependent. It almost resembles a game, some- how you know the rules, but you do not know how it will develop. This man-made reality gives us and rewards us with the humani- tarian aspect of our daily questions and life. At the end of the day my pleasure is that the dancers are people therefore how abstract can it possibly get? For me it is a play- ing field. I go to work and I get to play every day. Kostas, Rochelle, Elise, Lucas, Stefania, Moritz, Renzo and myself share our stories that reflect society, economics, politics, civilisation, creating ques- tions that revolve in the results of a choreographic mechanism. This is our story creating an environ- ment for it to happen, sometimes we find the answers sometimes we do not, but it's a way of how we perceive our surroundings, our life and the things that interest and af- fect us. We would love it if you join us and our story." Diaspora will be taking place on 10 June at the Valletta Campus Theatre (MITP), St Christopher Street, Valletta, with two perfor- mances – one at 18:00 and an- other at 20:30. Bookings: francesc- atranter@gmail.com, 7940 3588 PHOTOGRAPHY BY EMMA TRANTER THIS IS A PAID ADVERT PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEREMY DE MARIA