Dance Festival Malta is a vibrant multi-disciplinary festival dedicated to nurturing Malta’s dance ecosystem by offering students and professionals a dynamic platform for intensive training and artistic growth, and this Institute is proudly sponsoring the participation of Pablo Girolami, who will be both performing during DAY 3B (July 25) and leading a workshop on July 26!
Pablo Girolami – Choreographer & Performer
Pablo Girolami trained at the Tanz Akademie Zürich, where he graduated in 2014. He danced with Hessisches Staatsballett and Spellbound Contemporary Ballet, performing works by renowned choreographers such as Wayne McGregor, Hofesh Shechter, and Marcos Morau. Currently, Pablo Girolami is a freelance choreographer and artistic director of IVONA, company the he founded in 2019 With IVONA, he has received several prestigious awards, including: First Prize at the Jerusalem International Choreography Competition; Best Choreography at the Certamen Coreográfico del Distrito de Tetuán; Best Choreography at the Linkage Choreographic Competition in Sofia; TWAIN Direzioni_Altre Award in 2019 and 2022 – Tuscania; Audience Award at RIDCC – Rotterdam; and the Audience Award at CortoinDanza Festival – Cagliari. Beyond his work with IVONA, Pablo has created choreographies for various companies and institutions, including the Graz Opera Ballet, Jerusalem Dance Theatre, Balletto di Roma, Club Guy & Roni, EgriBianco Danza, and Balletto di Toscana.
T.R.I.P.O.F.O.B.I.A – THE END
Date: 25th July | Location: Teatru Manoel, Valletta | Duration: 20mins | Audience Level: 8+
Disclaimer: This performance contains imagery that may trigger discomfort for some viewers, particularly individuals with trypophobia (a sensitivity or aversion to clustered patterns of holes or bumps). Viewer discretion is advised.
Synopsis
The means by which a trypophobic skeleton is formed is geometry, which, however, only thanks to the imaginative contribution of the human mind, becomes an active gateway for fear; reflecting man’s insecurities and paranoia. Bottomless, where all awareness falls steeply. Facing a fear is not an easy game. The risks are indeed real, but the outcome far worth it. It seems that playing the game rather implies accepting not to play at all. With T.R.I.P.O.F.O.B.I.A. we choose to accept the challenge, transforming ourselves into the parasites that creep into its galleries.
GET TICKETS
(Tickets purchased for Day 3B entitle ticket holders to view all performances within the Day 3B programme, starting at 7:25pm)
About the Company
IVONA was founded in 2019 by Italo-Spanish choreographer Pablo Girolami. Born from a desire to express his vision and explore his creativity, the company takes its name from Girolami’s alter ego. IVONA’s first creation “Manbuhsa” initiated from the collaboration with the dancer Giacomo Todeschi. The duet was performed in various festivals in Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Germany, Turkey and Portugal. “Manbuhsa” won the Italian prize TWAIN Direzioni_Altre 2019, as well as the audience award in the festival CortoinDanza 2019 in Cagliari, and at the 33. Certamen Coreográfico de Madrid. In 2020, Pablo Girolami choreographed for IVONA “Manbuhsona”, full evening show for five performers, co- produced by CID – Rovereto, Festival Oriente Occidente and the Production Center TWAIN, and in 2021 he creates “T.R.I.P.O.F.O.B.I.A.” with which IVONA wins the prize for best choreography at the Certamen Coreográfico Distrito de Tetuán – Madrid and at the Choreographic competition Linkage – Sofia in addition to the audience award at the RIDCC – Rotterdam. With “Mose3” IVONA wins best dance film at the ZED International Videodanza Festival. Since 2022 IVONA is recognised and financially supported by MIC.
Credits
Company: Ivona | Choreography: Pablo Girolami | Dancers: Guilherme Leal & Pablo Girolami | Music: Jacob Kirkegaard, Philip Jeck, Max Richter | Production: House of Ivona | Lighting Design: Angelo Tauro | International Communication: Katherina Vasiliadis | Supported by KOMM TANZ Teatro Cartiera, Compagnia Abbondanza/Bertoni in collaboration with Comune di Rovereto, Festival Fuori programma & Romaeuropa Festival, ResiDanceXL – AnticorpiXL – Network Giovane Danza d’autore coordinated by L’arboreto – Teatro Dimora di Mondaino, Centro di Residenza della Toscana (Armunia – CapoTrave/Kilowatt), TWAIN Centro di Produzione Danza and PERIFERIE ARTISTICHE DANCEHAUSpiù, Milano, Regione Friuli Venezia Giulia, MIC (Ministero Italiano della Cultura), With the support of: Greek Ministry of Culture, The J.F. Costopoulos Foundation, Melina Merkouri Open Air Theatre, Big Story Productions.
Supported by: European Festival Fund for Emerging Artists (EFFEA), European Festivals Association (EFA), Istituto Italiano Di Cultura di La Valletta and Teatru Manoel
Contemporary Dance Workshop
Date: 26th July | Time: 9:00am | Location: The Dance Workshop, G’Mangia, Studio DW1 | Duration: 90mins
Class Description
I start the lesson with a guided improvisation, a system of walking on the spot. This allows you to increase your heart rate, wake up your body and activate your mind. Little by little, one enters in connection with the “groove of the music” to discover, in a personal way, one’s own physical possibilities. Inspired by felines or primates through the depth of the plié and by birds through the upward thrust of the relevé, the focus is carefully brought on the weight of our feet, the resistance of our knees and the positioning of the hips thus predisposing the body to an instinctive physicality. We will research a trinity of our lower body: Feet – sensation of curiosity, discovery of the surrounding and of ourselves. Knees – sensation of safety, longevity, well-being, protection against shock (spring feeling). Hips – sensation of generosity, sensuality and communication, penetration. The lesson continues with some placement exercises (tendu, degagé, fondu ..) that allow you to centre and prepare yourself technically. Thanks to ‘’square exercises’’ we will be able to focus on our upper body, imagining our spine and arms as vines, growing in space through torsions, connected with a sense of survival to reach lengthier distances.
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Artistic statement by Pablo
With my choreography, I talk, tell my life, count my experiences and my meetings. Like a mirror of my reality that allows me to dive and dig in the reasoning of my daily questions. I am mainly interested in the physicality and musicality of the movement and how to represent and answer the multitude of emotions, ideas and thoughts that I or anybody can have in an instant. As an artist, I often feel that I have the duty to represent reality. However, I am more interested in a parallel fantasy. Almost like another dimension where time, space and, or sensation are altered, dilated or flipped. A dimension that allow us to change our vision on what it means to be a human.
Workshop Target Audience: 16+
Level of Experience Required: Dance Students and professionals
Genre of Performance: Contemporary Dance
Supported by: European Festival Fund for Emerging Artists (EFFEA), European Festivals Association (EFA), and Istituto Italiano Di Cultura di La Valletta
