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 8th 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 2015 will once again be held in Gozo in the idyllic setting of Tal-Fanal in Ghasri, between the 8th and 13th of September. After 5 years at Ta' Sbejha, we have decided to move to larger premises to be able to accommodate more students and also offer better facilities. 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, 11th - 13th September, for those keen dancers aged 7-9 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 2015. Emma Loftus and Douglas Comley will be joining us from the resident faculty and will be teaming up with Deborah Annable, Jay Asolo and Sarah Vella.
Having started dancing at a very early age, Deborah Annable commenced her professional training aged 11 at the Royal Ballet School, London. After completing 5 years at White Lodge and 2 years at Upper School, she graduated aged 18. Professionally Deborah has performed with: The Royal Ballet (London), Birmingham Royal Ballet (Birmingham), Phantom of the Opera (Hamburg &Asia Tour), Matthew Bourne - New Adventure's (World Tour), European Ballet (UK Tour), Ballet Ireland (UK & Ireland Tour), Ballet Imaginaire (UK Tour), Stars in Concert (Berlin, Essen, Prague, Athens), Will Tucket's- Pinocchio (Royal OperaHouse) , Dance Captain for Scottish Opera Manon (UK Tour). Deborah brings 7 years of teaching experience in Ballet, Jazz/Modern, Pointe Work, Pas de deux, Private lessons and has also been assistant choreographer for The McMahon School of Dance. Deborah is also a qualified Zumba Instructor and most recently has become the Owner/Principal of Pirouette Dance Academy in Yorkshire, UK.
Jay Asolo is a successful choreographer, dancer and teacher. Originally from Nigeria, Jay developed his passion for dancing at the age of 5, 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 centers and youth groups and with 'TeatruZazz'. 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 Theater'. In 2013, her choreography 'Iz-Zifnatal-poeta' was performed in Malta for the Notte Bianca Festival 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 was chosen to take part in a month-long dance residency program (Play Practice Apprenticeship Program) in India.Sarah is currently 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 giving them a taste of life as a full time dance student. It promises to offer a jam-packed 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. Julia Agius was given the Sharon Sapienza award during Living Dance 2014 and will be attending a Summer Course at the Royal Academy of Dance. During Living Dance 2014, 3 local scholarships were given as Living Dance strives to give opportunities to more dancers. Giannella Cassar, Clarissa Friggieri and Hannah Agius were awarded Scholarships to Living Dance 2015. Other students awarded international scholarships were Yasmin Schembri, Leanne Muscat Drago and Martina Casolani.
This year Living Dance has teamed up with the International Ballet Gala to offer Maltese students the opportunity to perform with the Ballet stars from the Bolshoi Theatre, Marjinsky, Stanislavsky & Mikhailovsky Theatres and the Hungarian National Ballet. The choreography 'Tarantella' was awarded 3rd place in its category during MIDCE competition and as well as a scholarship for the dancers to compete with the same choreography in Sicily.
The Living Dance team are a group of teachers 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 regarding faculty and classes planned for Living Dance Summer Residential 2015 will be available shortly. For further information please contact Christiane Borg Manché on 99424475 or e-mail [email protected]. Applications are now open.