Programme Day 1 - 23 July A BEGINNING #16161D (Aurora Bauzà & Pere Jou) - PENDING (Renzo Spiteri & Nicole Chetcuti) - PUSH AND PULL (Lai Hung) - PANOPTICON (Vasiliki Papapostolou) - LIGHEA (Thomas Martino) - CONVERSATIONS WITH THE ARTIST (Dr Paula Guzzanti)

Aurora Bauzà & Pere Jou (Spain)

A BEGINNING #16161D

Date: 23rd July | Location: Valletta Campus Theatre, Valletta | Duration: 30mins

Synopsis:

A BEGINNING is a journey from darkness to light. It’s a piece for 5 dancers/singers equipped with portable lights who we hear breathing, walking and talking. They explore the relationship between movement, voice and light. Where choreography meets musical composition, this piece dissociates the body that sings from the body that moves. They develop a physical and movement practice that allows them to embody two movements in a single body; the movement that sounds (singing) and the movement that is seen. A beginning #16161D constructs a theatrical narrative about the eternal dialectic between the individual and the collective, in order to imagine new ways of relating.

Aurora Bauzà & Pere Jou - Choreographers

Aurora Bauzà & Pere Jou are composers, creators, and performers at the forefront of the performing arts. Their primary research revolves around the human voice and its intricate connections with the body, movement, space, stage, and light. Their compositions go beyond traditional artistic genre boundaries, treating music as a multidimensional entity with physical, scenic, visual, dramaturgical, expressive, and poetic qualities. Bauzà and Jou have presented various scenic pieces in recent years. These explore the human voice and the complexity of identity from diverse perspectives, formats, and scenic devices, all unified by their commitment to creating dramaturgical narratives through the human voice. Their unique artistic approach involves a physical and movement practice that dissects the resonating movement of sound (singing) from the visual movement, creating a distinctive interplay. Choreography, viewed through an acoustic lens, seamlessly merges with musical composition, forming the essence and dramaturgical structure of their interdisciplinary work. Born in Mallorca and Barcelona, respectively, Aurora Bauzà and Pere Jou bring an obsessive curiosity to understand the contemporary human through the mechanisms of meaning creation, particularly those involved in constructing individual and collective identities. Their works, such as "I Am (T)here," or “A BEGINNING_expanded versión” have been featured at prestigious events like the Grec Festival of Barcelona, showcasing their commitment to exploring the boundaries between sound, bodies, and movement, and inviting audiences to question the limits of perception and identity. Recently, his piece “A BEGINNING #16161D” has been selected for the Twenty24 AEROWAVES Edition.

Performance Trailer:

Credits:

Creation and Direction: Aurora Bauzà & Pere Jou | Performance: Elena Tarrats, Maider Lasa, Isaac Baró, Diana Pop, Pere Jou | Music and Sound: Aurora Bauzà | Music Tracks: 'A Beginning' by Aurora Bauzà & Pere Jou and 'Miserere' by Gregoria Allegri | Choreography: Pere Jou | Light Design: Jou Serra | Costume: Mariona Signes | Dramaturgical and Choreographic Collaboration: Alessandro Sciarroni | Movement Assistance: Claudia SolWat | Technical and Lightning Assistance: Marieta Rojo | Technical Coordination and Light Technician on Tour: Gemma Abellan | Production and Support: Ariadna Miquel | Distribution: Art Republic | Acknowledgments: Cube peak, Africa Sabé and Iguzzini | Co-produced by L'Auditori and Centre Coregraphique National d'Orleans (France) | With the support of Institut d'Estudis Baleàrics, Consell de Mallorca i ICEC | Thanks to: Graner Fàbrica de Creació, Nau Estruch, Hèmisphère Son, Castell de Montjuïc, and CC Barceloneta

Supported by:

Embajada de España en Malta - Pending confirmation

Renzo Spiteri & Nichole Chetcuti (Malta)

PENDING

Date: 23rd July | Location: Valletta Campus Theatre, Valletta | Duration: 12mins

PHOTO PENDING

Synopsis:

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Renzo Spiteri - Percussionist & Sound Artist

Renzo Spiteri is a Maltese percussionist, sound artist, composer, and improviser whose work sits at the intersection of live performance, sound art and interdisciplinary collaboration. Winner of the 2025 Royal Television Society Craft and Design Award for Sound and a 2025 Emmy® Nominee for Outstanding Sound - Documentary, Renzo creates immersive sonic worlds shaped by acoustic instruments, electronic processing, and finely detailed field recordings. His work is deeply informed by physical gesture, rhythmic drive, and long-term engagement with natural environments- especially the sea and coastline landscapes- shaping a distinctive musical language grounded in place, movement, and presence. Renzo’s performance practice is expansive, weaving percussion, found objects, live electronics, and improvisation into richly textured experiences. With over three decades of international performance experience, he has performed and toured extensively across genres, including contemporary dance, spoken word, world music, jazz, classical, and experimental music. His collaborations with musicians, dancers, storytellers, visual artists, and filmmakers have taken him to major venues and festivals across Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

Nicole Chetcuti - Choreographer & Performer

Nicole Chetcuti is a multidisciplinary artist born in 2002. She has trained in various dance genres including ballet, contemporary, spanish and urban styles. At the age of 18, Nicole moved to Leeds to further her studies at Northern School of Contemporary Dance. After graduating 3 years later, she moved to Germany to focus on expanding her hiphop knowledge. She has since travelled to Los Angeles, Seattle and Netherlands as a freelance artist exploring performance, choreography as well as leading workshops. In 2024 and 2025 Nicole worked as an apprentice with Żfin Malta, gaining a fresh perspective on Contemporary dance. Some of her highlights include working with Sita Ostheimer, Saju Hari, Gracefool Collective, Vidya Patel, Joseph Mercier and Imogen Reeve.

Performance Trailer:

PENDING

Credits:

PENDING

Lai Hung-Chung (Taiwan)

PUSH AND PULL

Date: 23rd July | Location: Valletta Campus Theatre, Valletta | Duration: 15mins

Synopsis:

Push and Pull begins with the simplest human gesture — a door marked “PUSH” or “PULL.” From this moment of hesitation emerges a meditation on connection, distance, and the delicate balance between assertion and diplomacy. Choreographed by Lai Hung-chung, the duet unfolds from memories of his mother, a quiet yet resilient figure, expanding into reflections on emotional structure and social tension. Two modular tables, two chairs, and a trembling water lamp form the ever-changing landscape of the piece, as breath and water shape its soundscape. Through minimal yet powerful movement, Push and Pull captures the universal rhythm of giving and receiving, resisting and yielding. It is a quiet fable about resilience and tenderness — reminding us that sometimes, yielding itself is a way forward.

About the Company:

HUNG DANCE is a Taiwanese contemporary dance company founded in 2017 by Artistic Director and choreographer LAI Hung-chung. Inspired by the word "Hung (翃)," the company's name reflects its aspiration to soar. Focusing on annual productions, international collaboration, and tours, HUNG DANCE also organizes the Stray Birds Dance Platform to foster choreographers' creativity and connect emerging artists with global resources. The company has received numerous awards for its exceptional choreographic pieces, including Watcher, BIRDY, and Push and Pull in renowned competitions and festivals worldwide. It has also embarked on an extensive international tour, captivating audiences across Europe, Asia, Australia, America, and Africa with over two hundred mesmerizing performances. HUNG DANCE's performances are a unique blend of traditional and contemporary elements, inviting audiences to interpret, imagine, and embrace dance's timeless beauty. LAI Hung-chung's choreography delves into human emotions and the connection between culture and nature. By seamlessly blending elements of Chinese opera, mythology, and Tai Chi with contemporary concepts, he has created a unique dance vocabulary and training system that is sure to intrigue and captivate.

Lai Hung-Chung - Choreographer

LAI Hung-chung graduated from Taipei National University of the Arts' Department of Dance. In 2016, he participated in the Ministry of Culture's Taiwan Creative Dance Competition, clinching a gold medal, 2 outstanding awards, and one excellent award with 4 dance creations to become the first ever choreographer to receive 4 awards at the same time in the competition's history. In 2025, his work Push and Pull received the First Prize and Audience Prize at the Hannover International Choreography Competition, as well as four partner awards at RIDCC: Nederlands Dans Theater, FORM Dance Projects, Codarts Rotterdam, and TanzLabor ROXY Ulm. After founding HUNG DANCE, he placed emphasis on cultivating the dancers' abilities and developing inspirations for dance pieces. He devised innovative ways to train the company based on the creative concept and needs, as well as searched for a balance between contemporary thinking and dance. In addition, he has devoted himself to a wide range of international collaborations and new talent development programs in the hope of expanding the diverse dance scene.

Performance Trailer:

Credits: Choreographer, Costume Designer: Lai Hung-Chung | Rehearsal Director: Cheng I-han | Composer: KUO Yu | Lighting Designer: Tsai Chao-yu | Music Composer: Kuo Yu

Vasiliki Papapostolou (Greece)

PANOPTICON

Date: 23rd July | Location: Valletta Campus Theatre, Valletta | Duration: 26mins

Synopsis:

In the eighteenth century, Jeremy Bentham created the Panopticon, a prison design emphasizing constant surveillance. Foucault argued that this concept reflects modern society, where individuals internalize external scrutiny, leading to self-surveillance. In the piece PANOPTICON, the red hands symbolize control, constantly monitoring the body, which represents the human spirit struggling against a mechanized existence focused on conformity and statistics. The work explores the inner conflict among the ego, superego, and subconscious, highlighting the tension between order and chaos and the desire for control over an unpredictable life. The character wrestles with the paradox of wanting visibility while feeling invisible, performing for others and questioning their identity. Ultimately, the piece reflects on life’s meaning, the desire to escape judgment, and the futility of societal rules, portraying the soul trapped in a machine-like body in an increasingly predictable world.

Vasiliki Papapostolou - Choreographer & Performer

Vasiliki Papapostolou aka Tarantism is an international experimental dance artist originally from Greece. Her movement language is a hybrid of physical theatre, ballroom Latin, and urban street dance styles. Her work invites audiences to reflect on the forces that shape our identities and interactions, from social norms to unconscious biases. Her solo work PANOPTICON has received notable recognition, including 2 awards at 29MASDANZA: the Audience Award and the 3rd Jury Prize, the Audience Award at contact.energy 24 – Tanztheater Erfurt and the Philly Fringies Award (USA) for the split bill performance featuring her piece PANOPTICON and Self Help by mignolo. Vasiliki’s works have been presented internationally, including at renowned venues such as Sadler’s Wells -  main stage for Breakin’ Convention (UK), Whitechapel Gallery (UK), Jersey City Theater Center (Jersey City, USA), Massey Theatre - OUROFest (Vancouver, Canada), Kunstfestspiele (Hanover, Germany), National Theatre of Miskolc (Hungary), Sibenik Dance Festival (Croatia), The Place (London, UK), Arts On Site (New York, USA), Cadiz en Danza (Spain), La Fundicion (Bilbao, Spain), Armunia Teatro (Italy), Dancehauspiu (Milan, Italy),MIM Sueca (Valencia, Spain), Arteria Tortosa (Spain), Derrida Stage (Sofia, Bulgaria), Frei Art Festival (Freiburg, Germany), Philly Fringe Festival (Philadelphia, USA), Dance Waves Festival (Nicosia, Cyprus),TEDx Panteion University (Athens, Greece), CICBUNY (Burgos, Spain), Morven Museum (Princeton, USA), Koresh Dance (Philadelphia, USA), Block 336 (London, UK) more.

Performance Trailer:

Credits:

Choreography/ Performance/Text: Vasiliki Papapostolou aka Tarantism | Music & Sound Design: Christopher Nas | Music Track: 'Panopticon' by Christopher Nas | Lighting Designer: Emma Gasson | Videographer: Klaus Shehaj

Thomas Martino (Italy/France)

LIGHEA

Date: 23rd July | Location: Valletta Campus Theatre, Valletta | Duration: 10mins

PHOTO PENDING

Synopsis:

PENDING

About the Company:

PENDING

Performance Trailer:

PENDING

Credits:

PENDING

Supported by:

Istituto Italiano di Cultura di La Valletta - Pending confirmation

Conversations with the Artists

With Dr Paula Guzzanti

Date: 23rd July | Location: Valletta Campus Theatre, Valletta | Duration: 45mins

CONVERSATION WITH ALL ARTISTS ATTENDING THE Q & R SESSION

About The Mediator:

Dr Paula Guzzanti is a dance artist, scholar, somatic movement practitioner, and tango dancer and teacher. She specialises in artistic and embodied research practices. In her research, Paula explores the role of the sensorial body in fostering responsible decision-making when designing urban landscapes that connect us to the natural environment. She is particularly interested in developing methodologies to deepen our interaction with the world, including the use of digital technologies to document sensory connections to places. She began her dance training in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and later continued in Ireland, where she earned a practice-based PhD in Dance Improvisation and Collaborative Performance Making at Queen’s University Belfast. She now resides in Malta, where she is the Head of the Dance Studies Department at the University of Malta.

Dance Festival Malta is sponsored by:

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