The national dance company has increased its audience by 30% over a year as it continues to convince people that culture is for all, according to its artistic director.

Paolo Mangiola is still aiming to triple the audience during his three-year tenure, something he aspired to do when he took the helm of ŻfinMalta National Dance Company in 2017.

He hopes that people would, one day, be as familiar with dance language as they are with film, insisting that culture is a necessary part of everyone’s lives.

“The Maltese spend a lot of money to go abroad and experience culture, while they can access quite high-quality culture in Rabat, Valletta and across the island,” Mr Mangiola told Times of Malta ahead of the launch of its national tour tomorrow.

Photo: Matteo Carratoni

The one-hour performance in Victoria and later in Valletta  will be taking the audience on a journey of dance and is aptly called Voyager.

Voyager, which premiered at the Manoel Theatre in Valletta last November, is inspired by the spacecraft’s golden records, which are two phonographs launched into space in 1977.

The records contain sounds and images that portray the diversity of culture on earth, intended for any intelligent non-human lifeform or for future human beings who might come across them.

ŻfinMalta hopes to continue drawing more and more people to its performances and has kicked off an outreach programme with Esplora.

A moment in time that will happen only once

Called Movimento, the programme consists of monthly sessions with people just curious about dance, no matter who they are. There, they meet experts from the art world, such as visual artists, or a dramaturge, who provide their perspective of dance. This is aimed at helping people understand dance choreography better when they next turn up at the theatre. 

Photo: Matteo Carratoni

But ŻfinMalta will also be going the extra mile and will be reaching out to people.

Its upcoming season, which marks its fifth anniversary and starts in September, has been dubbed a ‘digital season’. Apart from presenting its work at traditional spaces such as the theatre, the dance company will also produce digital work that can be accessed on mobile phones.

Why would people still go to the theatre if they can access dance on their phone?

“To experience a live performance is to experience a moment in time that will happen only once,” Mr Mangiola replies passionately.

Apart from reaching out to the public, ŻfinMalta is also trying to bolster the local group of dancers.

For the first time last year it participated in the Żigużajg festival when 17 students, aged between 13 and 17, performed for seven days in a row to an 85 per cent filled theatre.

For the young teenage students, this was an opportunity to mingle with professionals and see whether they wanted to take up dance professionally. The dance company has also started holding monthly workshops where local dancers have access to internationally-renowned dancers without having to leave the island.

The upcoming national tour show dates are tomorrow, April 13, at St Agatha Auditorium, Rabat; April 27 at the Aurora Theatre, Victoria and May 3 at Pjazza Teatru Rjal, Valletta.

More information is available at www.zfinmalta.org