Dance to me is the most beautiful, relevant art form we have today. It speaks through movement and connects every kind of audience from different backgrounds, taking them to a deeper level. We all experience the world through movement, and to me dance allows us to reconnect to that primal need.

Dance is also a multilayered language that can evoke beautiful, emotional landscapes and propose, through the combination of movement in space and time (choreography), reflections on current contemporary topics that determine and impact society.

Dance is a response; an urgency that allows freedom to manifest itself, for both those who practise it and those who watch. This discipline is open to interpretation and provides spaces to each person interacting with it; the ability to explore the layers, offering a different experience every time.

Above all, I believe that dance can create value and help us look at the world in an unexpected and inspiring way.

Since taking up the position of artistic director of Malta’s national dance company - ŻfinMalta Dance Ensemble - I’ve set myself the very ambitious target of doubling dance audiences by the end of my three-year contract.

My mission for the coming years in Malta is to take the culture of contemporary dance to another level so that over time it positions itself as an important hub within our European and international art scene.

The appointment as artistic director arrived like a beautiful and challenging surprise, and comes after many years of working abroad, first as a dancer and later as a choreographer. To be leading an institution like ŻfinMalta is a huge responsibility that I’m fully embracing with commitment and passion.

My predecessor Mavin Khoo left behind a beautiful legacy, which I plan to continue developing, and nurturing through the implementation of events that, first and foremost, aim to foster a proud audience.

ŻfinMalta belongs to the Maltese and my ambition is to kindle a spark within them to take ownership of the company and become its proud ambassadors, in Malta and abroad. I appreciate that to do this we will need time and a wide-open mind - from the public, private institutions, and changes to our current infrastructure.

Over the next three seasons we will be planning numerous activities that will help us bridge the gap between contemporary dance and a wider audience.

I’m aware that our art form is a complex one, and when people tell me they don’t enjoy it because they don’t understand it, I say: “Perhaps you didn’t understand it, but did it move you?”

I’ve set myself the very ambitious target of doubling dance audiences by the end of my three-year contract

This is the first step - stirring something within our audiences; planting the seed of curiosity for them to want more. Dance doesn’t speak through a linear language and sometimes it even takes choreographers by surprise. To me the aim is not so much to enable the audience to ‘understand’, but to equip them with as many tools as possible that allow them to keep developing their critical mind when watching dance and to become, over time, liberated viewers.

We are all spectators in this society; caught in a sensory overload, where everything is vying for our attention. My job is to gently introduce familiar works with an unfamiliar touch, unexpected and inspiring dance works that are accessible to everyone and yet are still evocative, open and of the highest quality.

I plan to introduce works and choreographers who have the ability to adapt and understand the context, without compromising their values. I will create and commission work that resonates with our audience who will see it through a contemporary lens, editing out the superfluous and allowing the essential and relevant messages to emerge.

I will also keep building a team that shares the same vision, allowing them to develop their own creativity. My vision is to see ŻfinMalta become an inclusive cultural hub and a dance house that is able to make its contribution within the international scene, while providing the space for emerging and established local artists to keep developing their practice and vision.

I strongly believe that preparation, research and investment in the process will create something more valuable in the long term. This is the approach I will share with the company over these next three years. We have a beautiful ensemble of eight dancers, trained to perform any kind of work, from the most classical to the most conceptual. We now need to tune in to the needs of the island, shake them up, and in turn respond with a new way of making, producing and experiencing dance.

We need to create the conditions to allow this and to provoke the creative mind of every individual interacting with the organisation, keeping our mind open, while sharing our expertise.

Can we create value through dance? I think we can. To me the best choreography happens out there. Our job as artists, cultural leaders and audiences is to always find an angle; a filter through which we can capture the message of dance, immerse ourselves in it and through this constant exercise, be moved.

Paolo Mangiola is the artistic director of ŻfinMalta Dance Ensemble.