Open Classes

Dates: 1 week for every month of the season

Cost: €8

Time: 10:00–11.15

Venue: MCC Main Stage

Led by: Guest artists including ŻfinMalta’s Artistic Director, Paolo Mangiola, and Rehearsal Director, Anna Nowak

ŻfinMalta opens its company classes to local and international professional dance artists. This is a unique opportunity to join the ŻfinMalta dancers during their morning practice, which is always varied and led by international guest teachers. Classes are also open to students who are following vocational and professional training in dance. The minimum age to participate is 18 years.

from 25th – 29th January 2021

10:00 – 11:15

Cunningham technique with Paolo Mangiola

ZfinMalta’s Artistic Director, Paolo Mangiola will be leading Open Classes accompanied by a live percussionist, Luke Baldacchino.

“Through the exploration of Cunningham technique and its principles, the dancers will be studying how the body coordinates in space using its levels and various fronts. The class put emphasis on the mobility of the spine and how movement can be generated through challenging coordinations and quick shifts of weight. It is a physical warm up, open only to advances students, semi-professionals and professional dancers.”

Paolo Mangiola, Artistic Director

from 4th – 8th January 2021

10:00 – 11:15

Contemporary with Núria Guiu

“We will use improvisation tasks to connect to our bodies. We will shake, play, give attention to our breath, engage with our imagination and joy for moving. We will give attention to time, space and the others in the studio. We might combine some yoga exercises or meditation into movement and viceversa.”

Núria Guiu

from 16th – 20th November 2020

10:00 – 11:15

Yoga & Ballet Technique

Join us for a week in November with ŻfinMalta’s Artistic Coordinator, Anna Nowak and guest yoga instructor Yanica Fenech, both highly skilled and accomplished in their fields.

To begin the week, on Monday Yoga with Yanica focuses on the pelvic floor, quality of the breath, and engaging the correct muscles during practice. From Tuesday to Friday, Anna teaches ballet technique, honing in on centring barre, as well as further centre work focused on shifting weight and dynamic phrasing.

from 26th – 30th October 2020

10:00 – 11:15

Pelvic Floor and Breath

in Ballet Technique

Anna Nowak, ŻfinMalta’s Artistic Coordinator:

“Join us for a week focused on understanding the dynamics of the timeline and its implications for health. The week begins with a Yoga-based warm up, and pelvic floor warm up, to activate the muscles needed for ballet technique. Following this is ballet barre and a simple grounding centre. From Tuesday to Friday, expect deep abdominal warm ups and a full ballet class with pianist. Closing the week, connective tissue work leads into a more dynamic Yoga practice, focused on finding length and space in the body.“

from 21st – 25th September 2020

10:00 – 11:15

Contemporary with

Florinda Camilleri

“Each class will begin with grounding practices to allow dancers to re-discover their personal connection with the Earth. From this point of groundedness, verticality, horizontality, and eventually, three-dimensionality will be explored, curiously navigating these spatial fields by challenging weight and time within them. These explorations will mostly be in the form of guided open movement, with a few set phrases to support specific studies.

These classes are designed as a week-long journey, holding space for individual and collective experiences to unfold throughout the week, with the support of a specially-curated soundtrack. Within the fluid framework of this technical and playful voyage, emergent needs of the group will be addressed from day-to-day, and moment-to-moment.”

Open Class Policy

Here are a few notes to take into consideration in preparation for class etiquette and protocol:

In the interest of safeguarding both your and ZfinMalta’s company dancers’ health, we kindly ask you to wear the face mask throughout the class as well as on entrance and exit of the MCC venue.

We would like you to decline from physical contact with ZfinMalta’s company dancers as much as possible.

You will be designated an area of the space where you may follow class from

Please bring your own water and towel and note that the company cannot currently offer changing rooms and showers.

Latecomers policy:

Please arrive at the venue at least 10 – 15 mins before class and note that upon entrance you will be asked to fill out a contact form with MCC security and have your temperature taken.

We do not encourage latecomers as class is timed to warm up and cool down the body at a suitable pace.

If you see that you will arrive to class more than 10 mins late, please refrain from joining class and send an email to: martina.zammit@zfinmalta.org to be compensated with another class free of charge on the next of Zfinmalta’s Open Class of your choice.

Liability clause:

Upon entrance to your first session, you will be asked to fill in a liability form. To ensure safety measures, please bring your own pen to fill out this form and hand it in to the teacher before class begins.

FURTHER INFORMATION

For further information and to discuss the ŻfinMalta Artist in Residence programme, please contact our Education & Outreach Officer, Martina Zammit on martina.zammit@zfinmalta.org

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