Workshop registrations start at 8:30am

Dance Workshop Studio 1 Classes

Contemporary Dance Workshop

by Pablo Girolami (Italy)

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.

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

Workshop Led by:

Pablo Girolami

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, 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.

Supported by:

European Festival Fund for Emerging Artists (EFFEA), European Festivals Association (EFA), and Istituto Italiano Di Cultura La Valletta

Contemporary Masterclass

by ŻfinMalta Artistic Director Matthew Robinson (UK/Malta)

Date: 26th July | Time: 10:45am | Location: The Dance Workshop, G'Mangia, Studio DW1 | Duration: 120mins

Class Description:

Matthew William Robinson joined ŻfinMalta National Dance Company as Artistic Director in 2024. His choreographic work seeks to translate contradictions and complex emotions through highly physical choreographic construction. Participants will explore Matthew’s physical language and choreographic tools through existing materials and improvisational structures, drawing on his recent works for ŻfinMalta, National Dance Company Wales, and Of Curious Nature. The session is an opportunity to embody the language of works created across Europe, and explore the tools behind them in collaboration with Matthew and his choreographic assistants. Participants should be physically confident and curious to explore their physical capacity and specificity. 

Workshop Target Audience: 16+ years

Level of Experience Required: Professional and those in Professional Training

Genre of Performance: Masterclass/Contemporary Improvisation and Repertory

Workshop Led by:

Matthew Robinson

Artistic Director Matthew William Robinson joined ŻfinMalta in 2024, for its 11th season.

Robinson is a practicing artist from the United Kingdom, collaborating internationally in a variety of contexts as dancer, choreographer, facilitator, rehearsal director, curator and artistic director. His own work and curated programmes have moved extensively to venues and festivals in Europe and beyond. As programmer and curator he has commissioned over 60 new works by artists from all over the world. His choreographic work seeks to translate contradictions and complex emotions, through highly physical choreographic construction. Collaborating across forms, Robinson is engaged in ongoing and emerging collaborative partnerships in the fields of sound, fashion, theatre, visual art and technology. As a facilitator and mentor, he has co-developed projects and experiences around the world in educational and non-educational contexts with students, artists and those with little to no experience of dance. With a passion for the potential of dance to enable us to see ourselves, each other and our world differently, Robinson is an advocate for movement as a fundamental part of everyone’s lives. For many years he was an integral part of Scottish Dance Theatre, performing work by a range of international choreographers, including Sharon Eyal, Damien Jalet, Hofesh Shechter, and Victor Quijada. In 2013 he was invited to become Rehearsal Director, supporting the dancers and guest artists in their creative process, and the company on multiple international tours. Robinson was Artistic Director of VERVE from 2016-2021. Collaborating with world renowned and fresh choreographic voices, the company created distinct international touring programmes. Reaching thousands of people, onstage, online and in outreach work, the company developed its reputation for bold commissioning and the quality of artistic training it offered emerging dance artists. He commissioned work by Sita Ostheimer, Lenka Vagnerova, Hannes Langolf, Noa Zuk, Joan Cleville, Maxine Doyle, Ben Wright, Lali Ayguade, Botis Seva, Mari Carrasco, Douglas Thorpe, Barnaby Booth, Caroline Finn, Akram Khan and Alesandra Seutin. From 2021-2025 Robinson was Artistic Director of National Dance Company Wales. He was responsible for developing the company’s artistic profile and curated programmes following the Covid-19 pandemic, positioning the company at the forefront of contemporary dance in the United Kingdom during a period of huge change and challenge. Rooted in bold collaborations, the artistic work of the company embraced the highly distinctive physical vocabularies of artists from near and far inspiring audiences across Wales and the world. For NDCW Robinson commissioned work by artists including Marcos Morau, Melanie Lane, Andrea Costanzo Martini, Sarah Golding & Yukiko Masui, Osian Meilir, Faye Tan & Cecile Johnson Soliz, John-William Watson and Boram Kim. Robinson was appointed Artistic Director of ZfinMalta National Dance Company in 2024. His curated programmes for the company include new commissions and reworkings by artists including Liliana Barros, Kor’sia, Simon Riccardi-Zani, Sita Ostheimer, Thick and Tight, Diego Tortelli, Helge Letonja and Paloma Muñoz. He is a graduate of London Contemporary Dance School.

Stampa Method - I Vespri

by Giovanni Insaudo (Italy)

Date: 26th July | Time: 1:00pm | Location: The Dance Workshop, G'Mangia, Studio DW1 | Duration: 120mins

Class Description:

The Stampa Method workshop is an immersive experience in Giovanni Insaudo's choreographic approach, developed through his extensive international career. This method focuses on dynamic movement exploration, deep physical awareness, and the fusion of contemporary dance with theatrical and improvisational elements. Participants will engage in:

• Physical Preparation & Sensory Awakening: A structured warm-up integrating breath, floor work, and dynamic alignment.

• Movement Research & Improvisation: Guided exercises to explore movement generation, inspired by Giovanni's repertoire and personal choreographic language.

• Partnering & Spatial Awareness: Techniques to enhance connectivity, weight-sharing, and composition in duets and group work.

• Repertoire & Interpretation: Learning excerpts from Giovanni Insaudo’s creations, focusing on quality of movement, emotional depth, and performative presence.

The Stampa Method is open to professional dancers, advanced students, and movers interested in refining their expressiveness and movement identity. This workshop is designed to challenge participants physically and creatively, fostering new perspectives on contemporary dance and performance.

Goals and Philosophy:

Giovanni leads a lesson that mixes physical work with mental challenge. Believing that being a good dancer requires a quick and creative mind, his exercises range from those that use the body in its entirety to those which concentrate thoughts, isolating only specific parts. He works intensively on changes in dynamics, in the quality shifts between muscular and skeletal articulations, in the whole conception of space and in the use of images and vital actions as physical inputs. In addition to guiding the group through leading exercises, Giovanni tests the creativity of his dancers in the form of construction and improvisation tasks. As a choreographer, he adds to all of this the influence of his own movement language even when his students are improvising and creating on their own.

Workshop Target Audience: 16+, Dancers, choreographers, and movement artists seeking to deepen their

physical and artistic practice.

Level of Experience Required: Intermediate/Advanced/Professional

Genre of Performance: Contemporary

Workshop Led by:

Giovanni Insaudo

Giovanni Insaudo is an internationally recognised choreographer and founder of the collective I VESPRI. His choreographic language merges physicality, emotion, and narrative. In 2024, he was awarded Best Emerging Choreographer of the Year by Danza&Danza and received the City of Foligno Award for choreographic merit. In 2025, he was named New Comer of the Year by Tanz Magazine. His works have been presented at festivals and theaters across Europe, Asia, and North America — in Italy, Germany, Turkey, the Netherlands, Israel, and Switzerland. Giovanni has collaborated with leading companies and institutions such as Semperoper Dresden, Opera di Graz, Landestheater Linz, Theater Lüneburg, Gärtnerplatz Theater, Konzert und Theater St.Gallen, CNN/AterBalletto, Theater Trier, Theater Nordhausen, Hung Dance, Tanz Luzerner Theater, Palucca Hochschule Dresden, Compagnia Opus Ballet, Opera di Ankara, Tanz Labor/Roxy Theater Ulm, Eko Dance Project Torino, Contemporary Bachelor ZHDK Zurich, Oriol Martorell Conservatorio Barcelona, D.A.F. Roma, Nuovo Balletto di Toscana, and Balletto dell’Esperia. He has received several international awards, including the 2nd Prize at the Burgos-New York Choreographic Competition and the MasDanza Audience Prize.

Workshops supported by: The Dance Workshop

Dance Festival Malta is sponsored by:

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