Residency for Community Project Participants

Date: 23rd July - 26 July | Times: Various | Location: Spazju Kreattiv, Studio A | Durations: Various

Registration for the Community Project was available through a public open call. Registrations for the call are now closed. The Community Project performance, will take place on DAY 4 of Dance Festival Malta. More information can be accessed HERE.

About the Community Project - "Art Under Threat":

In contexts shaped by rising extremism and social polarisation, freedom of expression is increasingly fragile. Voices are monitored, bodies are regulated, and difference is often treated as a threat. This project will reflect on what it means to exist, create, and be seen under such conditions. Art will be approached as a human necessity rather than a privilege: an act of presence in environments that encourage silence, conformity, or fear. The body becomes a place where pressure is felt and negotiated, where expression persists even when it is constrained. Attention is given to lived experiences of limitation, self-censorship, and resistance, particularly for those whose identities or perspectives are most vulnerable to erasure. The work will open a space for shared reflection on the role of artistic expression today: as a way to hold complexity, to remain visible, and to connect across difference. It invites participants to engage with art not as spectacle, but as a form of quiet insistence - one that continues to speak, even when expression is under threat.

About the Workshop:

Community Project participants will take part in a workshop residency led by Bruno Duarte. This workshop, will culminate in free outdoor performance at Upper Barrakka Gardens during Dance Festival Malta Day 4 (26th July).

Residency Timings:

• 23rd July - 12:00pm to 4:00pm

• 24th July - 12:00pm to 3:30pm

• 25th July - 12:00pm to 4:00pm

• 26th July - 1:00pm to 5:00pm

Led by Bruno Duarte:

Bruno Duarte is a doctoral researcher in Contemporary Art at the University of Coimbra. He holds a Master’s degree in Dance Education and a Bachelor’s degree in Dance from the Escola Superior de Dança. He has performed with Grupo Experimental de Dança (2011/12), Quorum Ballet (2013), and Companhia Instável (2025), and has been a member of Companhia de Dança de Almada since 2013, where he is also a resident choreographer. He has created around twelve works for the company and directs the Laboratório Coreográfico Itinerante. His choreographic work includes L’Veltro (2016) and Metamorfose (2012) for Culturgest, and someone else ago (2013) for CCB/BOXNOVA. He has also participated in and co-created award-winning dance films (P48, 2012; 5, 2013; Noir, 2021). Bruno Duarte has undertaken training with international choreographers including Mikael Fau, João da Silva, Siri Dybwik, Jack Gallagher, and David Zambrano. He has taught workshops in China, Brazil, Croatia, Italy, and Portugal, and was a guest lecturer at the Escola Superior de Dança (2016 and 2019). He currently teaches at Ca.DA Escola and has been a guest choreographer for Projeto Quorum and the Escola de Dança do Conservatório Nacional. He has participated in the European projects CLASH! (2019–21) and Up2DANCE (2020–21), and received the Almada Artes – Young Talent Award in 2019.

Supported by:

European Festival Fund for Emerging Artists (EFFEA), European Festivals Association (EFA), and Spazju Kreattiv

Dance Festival Malta is sponsored by:

APS Bank, Atlas Insurance, Camilleri Preziosi Advocates, GSD Marketing Ltd, MAPFRE, and Visit Malta