The 12th edition of Dance Hybrid Malta, an intensive workshop hosted by choreographer Francesca Abela Tranter, recently introduced the Gaga Movement to Malta for the first time.
Dance Hybrid Malta is an annual short but intensive platform offering dancers and teachers the opportunity to further explore their dance movement vocabulary and embody new ideas and styles. Abela Tranter, one of the leaders in the contemporary field on the island, has made it her mission to continually create opportunities that involve international collaborations for professional guest artists to share their work with Maltese dancers.
Gaga is a movement language developed by Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin and applied by the Bathsheva Dance Company.
The language of Gaga originated from the belief in the healing, and the dynamic, ever-changing power of movement. The language provides a framework for discovering and strengthening your body and adding flexibility, stamina and agility, while lightening the senses and imagination.
Gaga also raises awareness of physical weaknesses, awakens numb areas, exposes physical fixations, and offers ways for their elimination.
The work improves instinctive movement and connects conscious and unconscious movement, allowing the participant to enjoy an experience of freedom in the space, in comfortable clothes, accompanied by music, with each person working individually.
Israeli dancers Idan Porges (formerly of the Bathsheva Dance Company) and Barak Marwill conducted the workshop. The dancers covered daily sessions in the Gaga and included repertoire teaching excerpts from the work Kumayot, a piece created by Naharin for Bathsheva Dance Company. Porges also collaborated a new work in progress, Last One Standing, with Contact Dance Company. The work is expected to be premiered in the future.
www.dancehybridmalta.com