Easter Festival at St Catherine's

When a soul meets an angel Dancer Sandra Mifsud performed the sacred in the contemporary during the Passiontide Easter Festival of Performing and Visual Arts at St Catherine of Italy church, in Valletta, on Saturday.

Ms Mifsud's dance meditation, a gentle, solo performance (complemented by Kurt Castillo), weaves through the classical form provided by Mozart's Grabmusik, which can be translated as Cantata On Christ's Grave and takes the form of a dialogue between a soul which has passed beyond the grave and an angel. The performance during Holy Week of a scenic oratorio before an image or relief of the tomb of Christ is a convention of medieval origin.

The festival, the second of its kind, included music, theatre, dance and art with varying religious nuances and was organised by St James Cavalier and the Valletta Rehabilitation Project.

Funds raised from the festival are intended to go towards the restoration of this magnificent baroque church, which, though beautifully restored from the outside, remains bare inside.

The Passiontide festival draws to a close today, with the last opportunity to visit an exhibition of wax sculptures by Fr Charles Vella entitled Human And Divine, portraying moments from the passion of Christ. It will be open between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. and 3 to 6 p.m.