Maltese and Dutch dance companies newly-announced for Malta Arts Festival

Contemporary dance and music make up the two events launched this week by Arts Council Malta, as part of the Malta International Arts Festival (MIAF) launched last week, and taking place from July 8 to 18.

Together with the much awaited Grammy Award winner Arvo Pärt and the interactive installation BANDLI, audiences can also look forward to Tlieta(3) – a contemporary dance performance by Malta’s own national dance company, ŻfinMalta, and contemporary music by POW Ensemble.

POW Ensemble are a Dutch music group led by composer Luc Houkamp, and will be presenting a varied, light-hearted show with catchy songs and improvisations performed by five virtuoso musicians portraying an eclectic ensemble of instruments: tap dance, tuba, flute, game controllers and voices. 

POW Ensemble will be presenting a collaboration between Maltese poets and composers, in a song-cycle portraying a contemporary idiom in both verse and music, as well as a musical interpretation of the vivid, cryptic, humorous and rhythmic writings by Gertrude Stein set to music by Luc Houtkamp. The performance of POW Ensemble for the MIAF which will be held at Fortress Builders on July 12 at 21:00 is supported by the Netherlands Royal Embassy in Malta and the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds in the Netherlands.

ŻfinMalta will be presenting Tlieta(3), an evening of three works by female choreographers and composers, collectively engaging with notions of reflection, communication, construction, destruction and resistance at Pjazza Teatru Rjal on July 11 at 21:00. 

ŻfinMalta will be presenting the works of the emerging choreographer Rachel Calleja, established dance maker Francesca Tranter and internationally acclaimed dance artist Athanasia Kanellopoulou.

This trio of strong female voices will be reflected through their individual questons on identity, space, gender and their inherently Mediterranean sensibilities. The evening will also include sound scores by Jess Rymer (UK), Veronique Vella (Malta) and composer and sound designer Konstantina Polychronopoulou (Greece).

Details about these and other events can be obtained from www.maltaartsfestival.org