Dancers give visual form to inspiring poems

Poetry In Motion is the latest production being staged by The Dance Workshop at St Agatha's Auditorium, in Rabat between March 22-23.

The company was inspired to create this show by the works of numerous poets, both local and foreign, and interpreted a dance around the poems, setting the stage for a spectacular show.

Artistic director Theresa Lungaro-Mifsud spoke on her choice of theme and on the pieces she is working on - the thoughts, emotions and endless hours of physical effort that translate sentiments into visual experiences.

"For the past three years, I have tried to set a theme around which the choreographers base their work. At the studios we train our dancers in classical ballet and then encourage them to enhance their work by taking on additional classes in jazz dance, contemporary and Flamenco," she said.

Creating one story from these different dance disciplines is very difficult, so having a topic to base their work on gives the company a very strong sense of direction, Ms Lungaro-Mifsud said.

The first half of the evening is dedicated to younger theatre-goers with an original ballet especially created for children and the young at heart - The Pied Piper of Hamelin, Robert Browning's great classic which has enchanted children for years.

In the second half of the show, Ms Lungaro-Mifsud is presenting two other numbers in classical ballet. The first, Il-Kebbies tal-Fanali by Anton Buttigieg, will be performed by 13-year-olds who have studied this immortal poem at school.

The second number is based on Khalil Gibran's poem Beyond My Solitude. It was chosen by Ms Lungaro-Mifsud because it reminded her of her holiday in the Galapagos Islands - each island distant and individual with distinct features.

"However, as I developed the idea things changed radically as the art of writing - calligraphy - slowly but surely took over my thoughts. Lines and curves make up writing just as classical ballet is made up of creating beautiful shapes - lines and curves once again."

Ms Lungaro-Mifsud presented this idea to her senior dancers, who took on the challenge of using their bodies to "write" the beautiful words of this poem, which is set to a sonata by J.S. Bach.

Francesca Abela Tranter, Pamela Kerr, Claire Cassola, Jes Sciberras and Maria Louise Gingell shall also be presenting their choreographic work during this performance.

Tickets for Poetry In Motion, at Lm4 and Lm5, go on sale today and are available from The Dance Studio, Kappara or on ticket hotlines 2124 2465 and 9942 9233.