Just over a week before ŻfinMalta National Dance Company leap to the boards at Teatru Manoel in Francis Ebejer’s Boulevard which starts tomorrow night, they stunned participants at one of Europe’s biggest dance platforms, Tanzmesse 2018 in Dusseldorf. There, they represented the island through their repertoire, which has marked them out as talent to watch across the continent.

The dance troupe, led by artistic director Paolo Mangiola, joined 1,900 professionals from more than 50 countries to present their choreography, style and movements to an international audience made up of the best in the business. “This experience surpassed all our expectations. Despite being a young company, we managed to generate interest through the dance language we use — this was considered to be fresh and novel,” Mangiola said.

Attendance was part of the ensemble’s programme to prioritise developing contemporary dance in the Euro-Mediterranean region, promoting itself as a hub to attract international professionals and increase collaboration. “This has been a very exciting experience and it puts ŻfinMalta on the map of the international dance scene, helping us to establish important contacts,” Mangiola continued.

And you’ll have the chance to watch their work in action from this weekend, as they collaborate with Teatru Malta and Teatru Manoel in Boulevard, also featuring a host of guest starring actors such as Antonella Axisa and Tom Camilleri. At the beginning of November, they will also put up a show called Voyager with Maltese-born visual artist Austin Camilleri, part of which was also presented to audiences at Tanzmesse 2018. Inspired by the sounds sent from earth in a time capsule on NASA’s mission, 41 years ago, which intended to communicate the diversity of Earth and human life to extra-terrestrials, the production reflects on what we would send today. 

For tickets to Boulevard, please click here. Tickets for Voyager are on sale here.