The Erasmusplus project entitled ‘Digital Interculturalism’ was concluded last week when St Thomas More College’s Ġużé Damato ALP Secondary School in Paola hosted a group of students and educators from Croatia, Turkey, Latvia and Greece.
Throughout the past two years, students from the project’s partner schools have met in the respective host countries to celebrate cultural diversity through activities that revolved around themes such as national culinary traits, sports and games, museums and street culture.
In Malta, the plan during the last visit was for the students to explore the notion of interculturalism through activities related to each country’s dance-and-music scene. Hence, the Maltese coordinating team ensured that the workshops, activities and excursions reflected Malta’s national heritage as regards traditional music and dance.
The week started with a team-building activity during which the students got to know each other and worked together on tasks requiring team effort and creative thinking. Eldridge Saliba Curmi from Paul Curmi Dance Company then presented the students with some historical information about Maltese dance and how it has evolved throughout the years; he then taught them some basic movements and performed them to the tune of Il-Maltija.
Traditional Maltese music was also explored in the surroundings of Gozo’s medieval Ċittadella. Here, members of the Ta’ Verna Folk Band dressed in traditional Maltese attire met the students and their educators provided them with detailed information about each musical instrument they use. The band gradually incorporated all sounds together to create the beguiling sounds of Maltese songs such as Lanċa Ġejja u oħra Sejra and Il-Vapur tal-Art.
The students were encouraged to join in and experience the different instruments, while the band members led the group around the fortified city and created a spectacle with their impromptu dancing.
At the Manoel Theatre in Valletta, the group was mesmerised by performances of current productions that intertwine with the classic.
While visiting several landmarks and renowned attractions around the Maltese islands, the students were invited to be constantly on the lookout for opportunities that allowed them to further explore the traditional or contemporary dance-and-music scene in Malta.
The students did not disappoint their educators when they were asked to find ways to amalgamate the scenic Popeye’s Village with the project’s theme.
Several students worked together to join in the entertaining numbers prepared by the animation team whose aim was both to captivate the audience’s attention while also giving them some insight about the attraction’s historical value.
By the end of the week, students from all the partner schools had shared movements and sounds that resonate their country’s traits through a diverse range of digital applications. This led the students to realise that despite the distance between one country and the other, we all seek to express ourselves and our cultural heritage through music and dance.
Moreover, the origin of most sounds and movements are untraceable particularly since, like Malta, most countries have experienced several different influences throughout the centuries.
Indeed, the week was an honest representation of the true meaning of being intercultural. Can one really draw fine lines between the cultural heritage of one nation and another?
Shanon Deguara Catania is an educator and dancer.