Felix Busuttil's energetic performance in his dance company's recent 25th anniversary show should have been his last but the moves of the next one could still have his touch as he plans to pirouette into choreography and hone his directing skills.

"I plan to be more on the coaching side than playing football," the dancer, who remains fit as a fiddle at 45, explains.

The curtain has dropped onto A Filigree Of Dance, held at a packed Mediterranean Conference Centre over two weekends. The show is over - in more ways than one. But not completely, Mr Busuttil clarifies, struggling to conceive hanging up his dancing shoes for good.

It is more a question of "cutting down", he clarifies, and he is not excluding "special appearances".

Basically, where there is the Yada Dance Company, there will not necessarily be Mr Busuttil.

But why?

"I want to stop now, when I still feel good, rather than go on stage when I cannot keep my legs up and have to face comments on how old I've grown!" Age does play a part, he admits: "When you go backstage after having just done the cancan, the 16-year-olds are relaxed and I'm huffing and puffing away".

But it's not like Mr Busuttil is feeling any aches and pains. "I just told myself that, one day, I have to stop and do less." For him, it is a normal procedure, although he claims to be one of the first local dancers to stand up and say: "This is it!"

"There comes a time when a dancer has to retire, like any other athlete," he says, although his is more a case of "starting a new chapter". He is clearly more comfortable with that.

"There are so many young dancers out there... Let's give them a chance to take centre stage," Mr Busuttil says, trying to step aside into the wings.

He stresses that the Yada Dance Company, his baby, is not going to "finish". On the contrary, the next 25 years will see fresh, young bodies on stage.

It is a "difficult transition" for the man who made dance his life. "An artist wants to be seen. I love to perform and I love to be on stage. My dancers will be an extension of me from now on." Mr Busuttil was a late bloomer, having started dancing at the age of 18. And he had four obstacles in the way: "I was a male dancer. I was Gozitan. I started late. And I wanted to be a priest!"

"It was a challenge but if you are passionate, everything works out."

He admits to having no idea how to tackle his new territory after over a quarter of a century performing in every corner of the island and internationally.

Mr Busuttil is categorical about missing performing on stage. "Terribly!" Having said that, "like an artist, you do not have to be in the painting to appreciate your art; choreography is also rewarding".

But the idea of the back seat does not go down too well and Mr Busuttil is quick to say that, when his dancers are on stage rehearsing, he will be there, guiding them.

The itchy feet can already be sensed and the toes are still tapping. He is aware that a psychological effort would be required but he insists he is convinced of the move.

Mr Busuttil won't be taking a back seat on dance in general either and has passionate ideas about the local scene, which he has helped to mould.

He talks about a dancer drain: "We cannot keep on losing our best dancers. After all that training, at least, they could have a goal if a national dance company is set up. It would keep them here. We have a national orchestra and a football team. Why not dancers?"

As regards the opera house site: "As I was walking past, all I could say was: What a shame!

"Carnival should move to Floriana and the whole square should be taken over by a multi-functional theatre if the site is considered too small. We need it! If it is a question of money, it is a shame too, because anything related to culture is an investment. Parliament can go elsewhere."

The 25th anniversary show was a great final curtain call. "It was one of our most successful", he says of the event that took him down memory lane through extracts from Yada choreography along the years.

Another "funky" show is already being planned for two years' time. But Mr Busuttil will only be directing.

So you definitely won't be performing? "Probably not," he answers as the cracks in his conviction start to show.