The Dance Workshop
The Dance Workshop – Academic Year 2023/2024
Cecchetti Malta Awards – Sunday 3rd December
Cecchetti Ballet Exams - Saturday 16th December
Last Day of Autumn Term - Wednesday 20th December
First Day of Winter Term 2024 - Monday 8th January
Midterm Break - Friday 9th to Tuesday 13th February
Last Day of Winter Term - Saturday 23rd March
Recent Events
The Dance Workshop's annual performance was held on 26th November 2023 at St. Agatha's Auditorium in Rabat. This year, the performance was entitled "Unforgettable" and dedicated to women who have affected us and inspired us in so many ways.
The performance started with a children's ballet, created by Theresa Lungaro-Mifsud, honouring the memory of Princess Nathalie Poutiatine, who was so important to the development of dance here in Malta.
Francesca Rubei choreographed a ballet celebrating the life of Hedy Lamarr, an Austro-Hungarian American film actress and inventor. Sue Vassallo presented three Hip Hop pieces, dedicated to Michelle Obama, Cleopatra and Amelia Earhart. Pamela Kerr paid tribute to the 29 femicide victims in Malta with her emotional piece "Lest We Forget". She also choreographed a piece dedicated to French composer, conductor and music teacher, Nadia Boulanger.
The ever-growing Modern Dance section of The Dance Workshop celebrated the life of the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, a choreography created by Diane Portelli, who was assisted by Diane Briscoe.
Two contemporary dance pieces were created by Sara Accettura and Jade Farrugia. Sara's dance remembered Maria Montessori, who revolutionised early childhood education, whilst Jade's choreography honoured the women who played important roles within NASA for the last 100 years.
Theresa Lungaro-Mifsud also produced another two dance pieces. The first one was dedicated to the diarist Anne Frank. The second honoured one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century - Carla Fracci. This was an excerpt from the ballet Giselle, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and adapted by Theresa to close the performance.
Past Events
The Dance Workshop held its annual Summer Intensive between the 29th June and 3rd July. The guest teachers this year were Barbare Ante, Director of Evento Danza (Bolzano, Italy) who taught the ballet classes and Klevis Elmazaj freelance dancer and choreographer who taught the contemporary dance classes. Other teachers included Gabriele Farinaci (Modern Dance), Sue Vassallo (Hip Hop), Sandra Mifsud (Yoga), Theresa Lungaro-Mifsud (Repertoire) and Erica Muscat (Drama).
Dance Expo '23
For the last day of the Spring 2023 term, The Dance Workshop organised a show of works for students from Grade 5 upwards. This event was held at The Blue Box in MSpace in Msida on Saturday 24th June. Choreographies in classical ballet, hip hop contemporary dance, modern dance and flamenco were presented during this 90 minute performance.
At the end of the performance, the school principal, Theresa Lungaro-Mifsud awarded scholarships to five students who performed well during the previous year. These scholarships for a full year tuition for 2023/2024 were awarded to:
Julia Debono (Modern Dance)
Michela Scicluna (Hip Hop)
Cristina Cachia (Contemporary Dance)
Christa De Gray (Classical Ballet)
Ellie Jo Mallia (Classical Ballet)
"Just Class", performed during Dance Expo '23,
by the students in the Unset Ballet Class (Level 3)
Choreography: Pamela Kerr
Photo: Lucien Stafrace
After three years of absence due to the pandemic, The Dance Workshop presented its annual dance performance at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta. “My Favourite Things”, was held on the 29th May 2022 and it brought together all the dance genres taught at The Dance Workshop.
The teachers and choreographers worked on their favourite themes in life, with summer and the sea being at the forefront of these themes. Pamela Kerr’s “It feels like summer”, Douglas Comley’s “Beach Vibes” and “Sunrise at Sea” by Christina Cefai and Francesca Rubei, all paid tribute to their favourite time of the year. Francesca Rubei’s love for reading was depicted in her choreography of “Lost in a Good Book”.
One of Theresa Lungaro-Mifsud’s fondest memories was watching The New Year’s Day concert on TV and this inspired her 25-minute children’s ballet which opened the second part of the performance.
Theresa also prepared the libretto for “La Petite Sylphide” which she and the ballet faculty choreographed especially for the lower school. Theresa’s love of Italy also led her to choreograph “La Bell’Italia” an energetic tarantella set to music by Louis Moreau Gottschalk.
The Hip Hop faculty, prepared by Sue Vassallo, brought to life three pieces – “School’s Out”, “Besties” and “Music”. Jade Farrugia choreographed her dance inspired by the Cosmos, whereas Sara Accettura’s dance brought to life different Colours. Bettina von Brockdorff’s “Por El Manton” was a tribute to the use of a shawl in traditional flamenco dance.
The modern theatre faculty, under the direction of Diane Portelli, performance a series of 5 dances to bring us a powerful piece dedicated to “Superheroes”.
As in previous performances, “My Favourite Things” came to a close with the traditional short extract of Repertoire from the Golden Age of Ballet - this time with The Dance of the Hours from the ballet “Coppelia”