After her Athens experience Maltese dancer eyes Beijing

When Giselle Calleja received a text message on her mobile phone one hot evening last July she was so surprised she had to pinch herself to make sure she was not dreaming.

She was asked whether she would be available for a two-week stay in Athens to take part in the closing ceremony of the biggest sports show on earth - the Olympic Games.

"I could only stare at my mobile phone in disbelief. The Olympics ceremony! That's everybody's dream," the 29-year-old dancer said.

Her dream became reality when she received the formal invitation and certificate of participation from the Athens Games ceremonies' manager.

The opening and closing ceremonies of the Athens Olympics will go down in history as among the most lavish and spectacular ever staged. For the ceremony on August 29, the Athens arena was turned into a giant wheat field, as millions at home watched in awe.

Ms Calleja's road to the Olympics started last November, when she was invited for the Culture 2000 project in Portugal. There she met a Greek friend who later informed her about Nikos Touliatos, director of Echodrasi, a Greek percussion group, which was pencilled in to perform at the Athens Olympics.

Echodrasi wanted to create an international project composed of actors, dancers and musicians, fusing percussion with dance and movement. A video of her performance during the Culture 2000 experience was sent to Mr Touliatos.

Ms Calleja is an experienced dancer having tried her first steps at the age of three. Besides, her performance in Culture 2000, a concoction of percussion, dance and movement called Wok, fitted the Greek group's bill perfectly. With the help of the Culture Ministry, the Malta Tourism Authority and Allcare Insurance, she jetted off to Athens to meet her 35 colleagues in the group.

"I didn't really know what to expect. I just left with an open mind ready to take in a once in a lifetime experience."

Mr Touliatos came up with a very original theme to emulate different athletic disciplines in action through dance, movement and percussion.

Ms Calleja was given a fencing sword and, with another girl, assisted with the choreography of Hamilton Monteiro, concocting a piece accompanied to the thumping sound of drums. After four long days of rehearsals in a stadium two hours outside of Athens the piece was completed to satisfaction.

"The night before the closing ceremony, we went to watch the finals of the athletics. That was the first time I had stepped into the Olympic Stadium and it was amazing.

"Just hours before the show I still didn't know what to expect. But when we got to the stadium and you see trails of performers in the dressing rooms you start getting butterflies in your stomach. It happened so fast.

"I'm known for leaving things till the final minute but that day I was one of the first to get ready in costume and get my hair and make-up done! I had no trace of hunger, which meant that the excitement had started kicking in.

"So many things started racing through my mind. I wondered whether I was going to give a great performance, or blank out and forget everything - a kind of fear of the unknown.

"Then we entered the stadium, still walking behind the float, and it was amazing, I looked up around me and tried to take everything in. There were so many people, so many camera flashes. I had never seen something like that before.

"I couldn't believe I was there, the only Maltese performer, about to perform to spectators from all over the world."

The moment all the medal winners walked into the centre of the stadium was the signal for the group to start.

The 10-minute slot would be the most exhilarating for Ms Calleja and the rush of adrenaline was evident as the percussion band played up a storm and triggered off what many agreed was the highlight of the closing ceremony.

"I gave it all I could. It was a great moment of fun; it was the best party I've ever been to. But then it was over; they were the shortest 10 minutes in my life."

She is hoping the experience will open up a sea of opportunities. In fact, she has already had another invitation for a performance overseas in November.

Failing that, Ms Calleja is pinning her hopes on making a presence at the Beijing Olympics in 2008!