Following the production of ŻfinMade, the latest ŻfinMalta initiative, which saw seven choreographers create six solos over four days in November, Erica Giusta takes a critical look at the performances and reflects on the role of the dramaturgs involved during the weeks-long mentorship programme that led up to them.
With ŻfinMade, national contemporary dance company ŻfinMalta has made another step towards asserting itself as one of the most influential cultural institutions on the local scene.
The initiative, through which seven emerging Malta-based choreographers were invited to create six solos with dancers from the company, was a five-week-long experience that involved the participation of international dance dramaturgs Rodia Vomvolou and Thomas Schaupp.
The latter supported the creative process with constant questioning and dialogue – guiding, in so doing, the young choreographers towards a discovery of the dialectical value of contemporary dance as a form of contemporary art.
The dramaturgs, in their role as facilitators of the exchange of ideas and of the development of concepts, shifted the focus from the final performance – how movements and dancers look – to the process leading to it – why the dancers are moving in a certain way. Any residual formalism is, in this way, rejected, and the emphasis is shifted to the critical spirit at the base of the choreographers’ thoughts and approaches – all naturally very different from one another.
In this safe space created by ŻfinMalta, the emerging professionals were free to experiment with the whole spectrum of elements and techniques available to the performing arts: improvisation, sets of scores (dance jargon for verbal propositions imparted to dancers), structured instructions, texts, texts becoming part of the soundscape, lights, music (or the lack of it) and, most importantly, moving bodies.
ŻfinMalta’s dancers actively participated in the creative process throughout and, on stage, they succeeded in being as intense, nimble and generous as always.
Their agile bodies were certainly the most empowering and precious ‘tools’ lent to the choreographers.
Thanks to this complex and multi-layered collaboration, six different microcosms were born and took shape on the stage of Spazju Kreattiv. Each of these imagined worlds had its own distinctive language, syntax and complexity. Some were more sophisticated than others, but all were thought-provoking and provided an extremely valuable learning experience for the choreographers.
Six different microcosms were born and took shape on the stage of Spazju Kreattiv
Of the more fascinating ones was Her by Julianne Schembri and Deborah Falzon – the opening piece of the second night of the show. The duo’s work revolved around the most relevant and urgent theme of migration, seeking to provide an insight into a migrant woman’s resilience and bravery and echoing these qualities belonging to those real people living in our migrant communities.
The choreographers achieved the arduous task of translating feelings of extreme fear and desperation, unknown to most of us, into a moving and engaging performance. Amber Van Veen’s beautifully personal interpretation of a woman’s gasping and grappling with torment triggered empathy and offered the audience a glimpse of the great cathartic potential of the performative arts.
Tension and a strong sense of crisis – intended as a neutral moment of change which can develop either positively or negatively – were the guiding thread connecting all six microcosms. In some, the two elements were expressed through a combination of dancing, miming and acting. The result, at times slightly contrived and perhaps a bit too direct, conveyed easily recognisable messages to the audience.
All choreographers touched upon crucial aspects of contemporaneity: from the challenges presented by the development of personal identity (Me to Me, Diane Portelli) and the vulnerability to which it exposes the individual (Eeka, Gaby Davies), to explorations of the stereotypical relationship between space and gender (Not so Loud, Zoe Camilleri) and of the ubiquitous presence of technology and social media in our lives (This is Not a Solo, Rochelle Gatt), to more abstract reflections on contact, movement and stillness (Non Linear Body-ies, Maria Concetta Cariello).
The ambitious choice of such far-reaching topics is emblematic of the neophyte’s enthusiasm and must have rendered the exercise more challenging and the process even more enriching.
“We strive to provide the best conditions for dance-makers to continue developing their work, bringing a richness and variety of voices to the company’s repertoire, always reflecting the contemporary,” said ŻfinMalta’s artistic director Paolo Mangiola when presenting the debuting choreographers at the end of the show.
“Our main aim was to give a chance to young talents to experiment, take risks and expose themselves through their performative work, which can be very frightening” – and which therefore made the support of the company and of the audience, who turned up in good numbers notwithstanding pandemic-related difficulties and idiosyncrasies, very significant.
As world-renowned choreographer and upcoming artistic director of the Venice Dance Biennale Wayne McGregor said on more than one occasion, “with every new piece, you make mistakes and you learn. So, it’s important to get on, practise and have another go” – words of wisdom valid not only for contemporary dance but for all creative disciplines based on critical thinking, rigour and iteration.