Living Dance was set up in 2008 and organises dance courses for students from all dance schools. Living Dance aims to bring together dancers from different schools and backgrounds to collaborate and work together and share their experiences for a week, united by their common passion - dance.
Living Dance is back for the ninth year running and having even more to offer all dancers, both those planning to attend the course for the first time and also those who have already attended one or more Living Dance Summer Schools. Living Dance 2016 will once again be held in Gozo in the idyllic setting of Tal-Fanal in Ghasri, between 12 and 18 September. Due to popular demand the course has been extended by a day to cover seven full days of dancing! The course is being offered to both residential and non-residential students from the age of 10 - adult. There will also be a Junior Course, 16 - 18 September, for those keen dancers aged seven to nine who want to know more what life as a dancer is all about. Students are taught by an expert team of local and foreign teachers who help them find their passion for dance and be creative and healthy in a safe and nurturing environment. A very diverse faculty has been chosen for Living Dance 2016. Emma Loftus and Douglas Comley will be joining us from the resident faculty and will be teaming up with Kit Dickinson, Jay Asolo and Sarah Vella.
Kit Dickinson A.I.S.T.D.; A.R.A.D.; Dip.P.D.T.D. (R.A.D.London) will be joining the 2016 faculty, teaching ballet and repertoire to all the students. During 13 years as a dancer Kit embraced many dance genres and worked for companies such as the Deutch Oper Berlin, Ballet Creations and Scottish Ballet. She has also lead workshops and educational performances worldwide. Kit was appointed ballet mistress for Independent Ballet Wales in 1998. Following graduation from the RAD, Professional Dancers Course Kit has tutored in many vocational schools, The Urdang Academy, Cambridge Performing Arts and London Studio Centre teaching, ballet, repertoire and point work. The RAD syllabus is the foundation of her work and spans all age groups. Kit works extensively for The Royal Academy of Dance on workshops and intensive vocational courses throughout the United Kingdom and at Headquarters. RAD Summer Schools have also been a feature of Kit's work both in the UK and abroad. Kit was asked to trial the new work at the Royal Academy Dance School and was delighted to be involved in the filming of the new Pre-Primary and Primary syllabus and contributed to the making of the DVD. She is now an approved tutor for all levels of the RAD syllabi. Recently Kit has written courses for the RAD Training Departments Portfolio of Children's Activities. Kit is the principal of her own school in North London.
Jay Asolo is a successful choreographer, dancer and teacher. Originally from Nigeria, Jay developed his passion for dancing at the age of five, after he witnessed a New Jack Swing performance on the streets. He then moved to teach in Ireland where he currently specialises in Raw Hip Hop, New Jack Swing, Krump, Lockin' and African Afro Bounce. With over 11 years of teaching experience, Jay has developed dance crews to compete at international standards, his most recent achievement being the 16th World Hip Hop Championships in Las Vegas 2014 - hosted by the production of America's Best Dance Crew. The secret to Jay's teaching success stems from his passion for mentoring students and his abundant creative energy. Jay is a well established choreographer. He provided private lessons to Ronan Keating and Mikey Graham from Boyzone for their tour preparation. He has also provided choreography for the Ryan Tubridy TV show and the Olympics 2012 Coca Cola Move to the Beats headphone promotion campaign by Mark Ron.
Sarah Vella is a Maltese dance artist and speech therapist, currently living in Berlin. After graduating with a Bsc. (Hons.) in Speech Therapy, she moved to London to study at Laban Conservatoire of Dance. As a choreographer, she has won awards in Malta and Italy. Over the years Sarah has also done community work through choreographing and teaching dance in rehabilitation centres and youth groups and with Teatru Zazz. Sarah performed with Red Tape Dance Company in Malta and since moving to Berlin, she has worked on various dance and film projects including few with JSLN productions, Matteo Graziano in the Opera William Tell and Gauge Dance Theatre. In 2013, her choreography Iż-Żifna tal-poeta was performed in Malta for the Notte Bianca Festival (2013) and was premiered in Berlin as part of the Nah Dran series in July 2014. This project was funded by the Malta Arts Fund. This performance was later accepted to be performed as part of the 100Grad Berlin Festival in March 2015. In December 2014, Sarah took part in a month-long dance residency programme (Play Practice Apprenticeship Programme) in India. In August 2015, Sarah was teaching and leading choreographic workshops in Malta and she was back in Gozo teaching contemporary as a guest teacher during Living Dance in September 2015.
Sarah is currently working on a new production ME(et) You with Norwegian dance artist, Lisa Bysheim and collaborating with a Norwegian musician and French filmographer. The performance will tour in Norway, Malta and Berlin (2016/2017). She is also studying Dance and Movement Therapy and continues to work as a freelance dance artist and speech therapist in Berlin.
Living Dance Residential Dance Course aims to help dancers strengthen and improve their technique, as well as give them a taste of life as a full time dance student. It promises to offer a jampacked week in which dancers take part in daily classes in the various disciplines, leading to a performance for parents at the end of the course. A scholarship for a Dance Course abroad will be awarded to the most promising dancer. Sarah Rossi was given the Sharon Sapienza award during Living Dance 2015 and will be attending a Summer Course at Bird College in the UK. During Living Dance 2015, three local scholarships were given as Living Dance strives to give opportunities to more dancers. Raissa Baldacchino, Hannah Agius and Nesime Debattista were awarded Scholarships to Living Dance 2016. Other students awarded international scholarships were Yasmin Schembri, Leanne Muscat Drago, Martina Casolani and Julia Agius.
The Living Dance team is a group of teachers and other dance professionals from different backgrounds who have joined forces to bring unity among dancers and offer different opportunities to our up-and-coming generation of performing artists.
More information about Living Dance can be found on www.livingdancemalta.com
For further information contact Christiane Borg Manché on 9942 4475; e-mail [email protected]. Closing date for applications is 30 June or earlier if all places are filled.
