Contact Dance Company (CDC) recently returned from participating by invitation at the Bytom dance festival in Poland. The festival hosted several high profile dance companies from all over the world, covered by reporters and dance critics which reviews will appear in several dance magazines such as Dance Europe.

The 10-day festival offered numerous dance classes in technique, creative workshops and lectures covering all interesting aspects of dance both in theory and practice. Contact Dance Company dancers Yasmine Nuvoli, Jeanelle Cassar, Florinda Camilleri, Francesca Vassallo and Gillian Zammit performed accompanied by musician Renzo Spiteri, Alternative Moves and Spaces and TVOD to a full auditorium where the work was well received.

Thanks go to the Ministry of Culture and the Arts, the Malta Arts Council, Air Malta, Westland Travel and The Dance Workshop for their continued support.

On another note, CDC successfully hosted choreographer and dance lecturer Debbie Lee Anthony from the UK this July, who gave contemporary dance classes and interesting workshops touching areas of choreography and finding challenging dance material and movement vocabulary from text.

The participants rose to the challenge and created intricate body language from sharing experiences. Debbie’s easy flow of direction created a stimulating and inspiring ebb of energy. Francesca Abela Tranter, artistic director for Contact Dance Company annually invites a choreographer to create a new work for the company to keep the company engaged in working innovatively through

diversity.

This year, Miss Anthony created a new work titled A Coward Affair, a 20-minute piece based on playwright Noel Coward to song and text, using sarcasm and humour.

Dancers Rachel Grech, Yasmine Nuvoli, Anna Skorout, Florinda Camilleri, and Francesca Vassallo showcased the work to an informal sharing at the Dance Workshop.

Contact Dance Company has been invited to China and other possible festivals in the forthcoming months. CDC will be celebrating its 10th anniversary next year and will be performing on three nights with all its past and present collaborators. During 2008, they will be working on a new project closely collaborating with Renzo Spiteri at the helm and other artists which will be premiered at this event.

For more information visit www.contactdancecompany.

com.