An 11-day International Festival of the Arts will launch the new ActionBase studio in Buskett. The festival will include dance, music, theatre, poetry, digital installations and political cabaret from the UK/Poland, Italy, Croatia, India, Malaysia and Malta.
The festival opens with three nights of Gruppi ghall-Inkontri tal-Bniedem's new work: Stultifera Navis… jew: Ow Wenn Di Sejnts Kam Sejling In, a performance inspired by The Ship of Fools. Indian Dance, Contemporary Classical Music, a Fusion evening with Joe Friggieri’s poetry, Renzo Spiteri’s percussion, Caroline Calleja’s harp set in a digital art installation by Vince Briffa, and theatre performances from Italy (Per Edith Piaf), Croatia (Geography Victims 2) and from UK/Poland (Fragments from the Clay) will be followed by seminars for performers, one on Voice and one on Performer Dramaturgy.
The festival is supported by the Malta Arts Fund.
Tickets are available at St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, Valletta.
A shuttle service to and from the studio location will be provided before and after every performance.
Watch a promotional video showing the work of the various performers:
http://youtu.be/EwP6nPqbpJY
Watch a promotional video showing the studio:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlCmv0CEc-Q
Abhinaya is a genre of dance theatre that is specific to improvisational performance within Indian Classical Dance. The dancer/actor/musician explores the layers of subtext that exist in poetic compositions. Khoo with long time collaborator Gopal delve into the rich tradition of ‘padams’ and ‘javalis’; compositions that belong to the court tradition of South India. The fluid synthesis that exists between notions of eroticism and spirituality provide the framework for the revelation of the ‘ghost’ of the past in the secular contemporary space. They will be accompanied by renowned percussionist Bhavani Shankar. The performance is approximately 90 mins with no interval.
The performance is supported by the British Council.
Tickets (12 Euro) are available at St. James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, Valletta.
Mavin Khoo
Born in Malaysia, Mavin studied Bharata Natyam under the world renowned maestro Padmashri Adyar K. Lakshman in India, contemporary dance at the Cunningham Studios in New York, as well as Classical Ballet under Michael Beare, Marian St. Claire, Nancy Kilgour and Tori Jestyn. An established dancer, teacher, choreographer and academic; Khoo is today one of the world’s leading solo performers’ of the Bharata Natyam style. He has also collaborated with many leading UK artists including Wayne McGregor, Akram Khan and Christopher Bannerman. He has danced with Random (1997, 1998), London City Ballet (1999), Ballet de Zaragoza (2002), Ballet de Regensburg (2004) and Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company (2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2010). His choreography has been commissioned by National Youth Dance, Union Dance, Akademi and the Royal Ballet’s Artists Development Initiative amongst others. In 2005 Mavin was honoured by the prestigious Krishna Gana Sabha (India)for his Bharata Natyam solo performance work. Appearing in film and television worldwide, Khoo founded mavinkhooDance in 2003. He is a recipient of the Chevening scholarship (British Council) and holds an MA in Choreography from Middlesex University. As a practice based researcher, his main area of exploration examines notions of androgyny in performance within the frameworks of classicism, gender and South Asian dance. He continues his international touring whilst pursuing his academic research. He is also a faculty member of the Dance Studies department (Mediterranean Institute), University of Malta and is pursuing his MPhil/PhD at the University of Roehampton, London.
Pushkala Gopal
Pushkala is one of the pioneers in the development of South Asian dance and music in the UK. Her early training in Karnatic Music with her mother Kalapakam Balasubrahmanian was followed by a serious stint with late Guru Sangeetha Bhooshanam,S.Gopalakrishnan in New Delhi. Her early interest in musicology led her to being mentored by the late T. S. Parthasarathi and the late Justice S. Rangarajan over many projects and one to one sessions, enhancing her appreciation of sahitya and raga based music. She served as a music critic for over a decade and continues to write and commenton Karnatic music and Bharatanatyam. She has produced different features for radio and television on these. A Gulbenkian Foundation award to enhance her musical skills in the early nineties led to a series of courses and workshops on music by her at a range of levels. She trains a limited number of pupils in vocal Karnatic music and is active in presenting papers at conferences in Chennai. She has toured as a musician nationally as part of music ensembles, has commissioned musical works of new genres working in close collaboration with other musicians. Her own musical compositions for dance are now being widely performed. She mentored and toured with Mavin Khoo as vocalist or conducted for over 10 years.
Bhavani Shankar
Bhavani Shankar was born in a family of Artistes with an abundant sense of rhythm in his bloodline. His inherited and innate talent was nursed and nurtured since the tender age of five by his eminent gurus R. Srinivas, M. Vasudeva Rao and Padmavibhushan Umayalpuram K Sivaraman methodically and meticulously. Bhavani’s skill as a competent Mridangam artiste did not go unnoticed by the discerning musicians before long he became a much sought after supporting artist. He has travelled the world accompanying some of the leading practitioners of dance and music. He is based in the UK where he also trains a new generation of up and coming percussionist.
| 
