ŻfinDays is an annual programme of works by choreographers who are currently in the spotlight on the international dance stage. Introduced in 2019 by ŻfinMalta’s Artistic Director Paolo Mangiola, ŻfinDays has become one of the national dance company’s annual signature programmes, exposing ŻfinMalta’s company dancers, and its audiences, to the extraordinary diversity of talent on the European choreographic scene. For the first time, ŻfinDays 2023 runs over two weekends, each weekend featuring the Marco D’Agostin / Paolo Mangiola double-bill on the first night, and one full length work on the following two nights.

A rising star in the European scene and currently Associated Artist at Piccolo Teatro in Milan, Marco D’Agostin describes OKOKOK as a general rehearsal for a nuclear variety show, a genetically modified musical, and a seductive choreography with the worst intentions that wants to conquer the record of stared stares.

Forming a double bill with OKOKOK, Nuova Figura presents the human gaze in a more reflective act, charting the choreographic journey of Paolo Mangiola and the dancers, and exploring the images we create of our world. First premiered in Gozo in 2021, the work takes as its starting point the world map of the cosmos drawn in 1582 by Gozitan cartographer, astronomer, and astrologer, Antonino Saliba.

On the first weekend of ŻfinDays audiences will be treated to the re-staging of Girls & Boys by award-winning, internationally acclaimed choreographer Roy Assaf, who turns gender dynamics and roles on their head. 

Closing the second weekend of ŻfinDays is the not-to-be-missed return of Weaving Chaos, by the inimitable Tânia Carvalho. Homer’s Odyssey is the driving force behind this piece, which summons its dancers to interpret the stubbornness, the pain, and the will of the epic hero returning home.

ŻfinDays 2023 is an opportunity to see the full breadth of ŻfinMalta’s repertoire through four very distinctive works. Book your tickets now on www.showshappening.com. 

OKOKOK. Photo: Alexandra Pace

• ŻfinDays – 1 double bill, 2 full length works on February 17/18/19/ 24/25/26 at 19:30 at the Valletta Campus Theatre
• Double bill – OKOKOK, Marco D’Agostin and Nuova Figura, Paolo Mangiola on February 17 and 24 at 19:30
• Girls & Boys, Roy Assaf - February 18 and 19
• Weaving Chaos, Tânia Carvalho – February 25-26

"ŻfinDays is for everyone, dance lovers and newcomers. Experience works that are physically challenging and emotionally charged; laced with irony and high on drama. Works that, above all, showcase the great versatility of our company dancers, through choreographers whose names are currently filling theatres across Europe. ŻfinDays is six nights of dance where audiences can expect to be inspired, entertained and above all moved."- Paolo Mangiola, Artistic Director

ŻfinMalta thanks MeDirect, Osteopathy Malta, the Italian Cultural Institute of Valletta, VAN, the Embassy of Portugal, the Ministry for Gozo, and the Ministry for National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government.