Third year Bachelor students of the Department of Dance Studies toured to France last week to present their latest project: an evening of dance and music addressing the timely theme of human conflict. Choreographers Francesca Abela Tranter (Malta), Niels Plotard (France/Malta), Emmalena Fredriksson (Sweden/Canada) and UM alumna Marie Keiser-Nielsen (Denmark/Malta) have devised new works to modern music for string quartet and percussion by Philip Glass, Norma Beecroft, Alfred Schnittke, and John Adams.
In France, UM Dance Studies students visited the premises of National Dance School of Marseille and were invited to classes and to see the ongoing research projects of the Ballet National de Marseille (BNM). They then presented their performance in the Cannes theatre of the Rosella Hightower Academy of Dance (PNSD) on 24 October, the University of Nice Dance Department at Sophia Antipolis on 25 October, and at CIAM Kashdance in Marseille on 26 October as part of this artistic exchange.
Dance Tour 2017 is a collaboration with Valletta 2018’s concert series Music in Motion. The Malta premiere with live music by the Zene Quartet will take place 10 and 11 November in Valletta Campus Theatre (former MITP) at 20:00.
Tickets are free and can be reserved via booking@teatrumanoel.com.mt or phoning +356 21246389.
In Malta, the UM Dance Studies group will visit to local schools to perform, including St Dorthy’s of Zebbug, St Monica’s of Gzira, St Michael Foundation of San Gwann, Sacred Heart College of St Julian’s, and Immaculate Conception Secondary School of Tarxien. The work will also feature as part of the MCC Dance Showcase on 16 December in Valletta.
The project’s focus helps set the stage for the upcoming international Dance Studies Association conference to be hosted by the University of Malta in July 2018, on ‘Contra: Dance & Conflict’ which seeks to draw hundreds of scholars from around the world to Valletta Campus to initiate conversations around how dance can be a metaphor and method for illuminating and resolving interpersonal and international conflict. In recognition of her willingness to face conflict in her dedication to illuminate controversial activities at local, national and international levels, the performances of Dance Tour 2017 are dedicated to the memory of Daphne Caruana Galizia.