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physical theatre

Syndesi (Connection) – Douglas Comley 819 1024 akropoditi13

Syndesi (Connection) – Douglas Comley

Malta

The performance will be followed by an open discussion with the audience.

Syndesi is an exploratory, interdisciplinary performance. It is led by Angela Bettoni, a performer and writer with Down Syndrome, together with Kaylie Magri, Luke Bugeja Gauci and Douglas Comley. The initial research stage in Malta included the participation of musician Noah Fabri as collaborator and was funded by Arts Council Malta.

The piece is based on writing by Angela and collaborators and explores intimacy in platonic friendships through dance and physical theatre, and audience response – especially to interactions between disabled and non-disabled performers. Research suggests attitudes are shaped by individual and societal values, and Syndesi aims to explore how Greek/international audiences perceive this through a site-responsive work. The work combines music, movement, dance, and physical theatre. The performance looks at how gesture, touch, and movement can communicate platonic affection on stage, and how audiences engage with these expressions.

Credits
Douglas Comley – choreographer
Angela Bettoni – writer and dancer
Luke Bugeja Gauci – dancer
Kaylie Magri – writer and music/physical theatre
The Malta project prior to the festival includes musician Noah Fabri.

Duration: 25 min.
Trailer: 

Douglas Comley

Douglas Comley is an experienced performer, director, and choreographer whose career spans three decades across Malta, the UK, and Europe. As a performer, he has worked with a wide range of contemporary dance companies, including Theatre Anon Malta (2024), Bodies in Urban Spaces under Austrian director Willi Dorner (2012), Carlson Dance Company in Wales (2006), Welsh Independent Dance with Charlotte Vincent (2005), X-CELL Dance Company (2003), Vincent Dance Theatre (2000), Daghdha Dance Company in Ireland (1998), Diversions Dance Company for the television film Trodio Mesur Amser (1996), Attik Dance Company (1995), and Nexus Dance Company with choreographer Nigel Charnock (1995).
As a director and choreographer, Comley has led numerous long-term projects. He directed and choreographed integrated theatre productions for ŻiguŻajg in collaboration with Opening Doors between 2020 and 2025. He was the founding director of Dynion Male Dance (1996–2016) and led Fractal Dance Company (1996–2000), creating work for BBC Television with the National Orchestra of Wales and performing at Portugal’s Evento 98 festival. He also directed the County Youth Dance Company Wales from 2000 to 2015.
His large-scale choreography includes opening ceremonies for CHOGM Malta (2015), the World Gymnaestrada in Austria (2007), the Commonwealth Games in Manchester (2002), and the Rugby World Cup (1999).

Kaylie Magri

Kaylie Magri is a versatile Maltese performer whose work spans theatre, production management, and vocal performance. She developed her artistic practice through an Erasmus+ exchange at the University of Exeter, where she studied Drama and gained experience in contemporary theatre-making. During her time there, she served as Stage Manager for We Are Off to Find a Fairy, a puppetry production created within the Puppetry and Object Theatre module and assisted in production management for Kif Tgħallimt Insuq. She later continued this role with Dù Theatre’s 2025 staging of the same work.
Her training includes Studio18’s Acting Programme, Contemporary Theatre Making, and a Stanislavski workshop with Julian Jones. Alongside her theatre background, Kaylie has cultivated strong vocal foundations. She holds a Rockschool Trinity College Theory of Music Grade 3 (Distinction) and has studied singing since 2011, including ensemble work with Kor Għanja tal-Poplu, VocalBooth Choir, and harmony training with Joshua Alamu.
Her performance experience includes international competitions in Romania and Switzerland, the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, and the Ultimate Artists Gala Night in London. Most recently, she appeared as an ensemble member in Musical Matchup: The Who’s Who Cabaret?, continuing to expand her presence in Malta’s performance scene.

Angela Bettoni

Angela Bettoni is a performer, writer and advocate with Down Syndrome, whose work bridges artistic practice, disability advocacy, and international collaboration. She holds a BA in Creative Arts, where her dissertation examined how people with learning disabilities are represented within Malta’s performing arts landscape. She has an Advanced Diploma in Performing Arts (MCAST, Malta) and Diploma in Community Access for Disabled People (University of Malta). Her artistic development has been shaped by involvement with Opening Doors Association Malta, an organization that provides training in arts to disabled adults, and international training opportunities, including a five-week danceWEB scholarship to the ImpulsTanz Festival in Vienna, residencies and Erasmus programmes in Venice, London, Sweden and Greece, including with Skanes Dansteatre, and inclusive companies Chickenshed Theatre and Stopgap Dance Company, UK. Angela has performed in mixed-ability work across Malta, Italy, Germany, Sweden and Sri Lanka, appearing solo/duet/trio performances, and has performed at Dance Festival Malta and Venere in Teatro Dance Festival Italy. She received a University of Malta Social Commitment Award for contribution to the arts industry (2024) and a JCI Malta (Junior Chamber International) Ten Outstanding Young Persons (TOYP) Award for her advocacy work on inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities (2022).
www.angelabettoni.net

Luke Bugeja Gauci

Luke Bugeja Gauci is a Maltese contemporary dance artist whose work spans international companies, festivals, and emerging choreographic platforms. He is currently performing with ŻfinMalta, the National Dance Company of Malta (2024–2025), working with choreographers including Sita Ostheimer, Korsia, Liliana Barros, Simone Riccardi Zani, Thick & Tight, and Tara Dall. His previous seasons include engagements with Moveo Dance Company, Zugraga Dance Company, and Marchepied Cie, collaborating with artists such as Diane Portelli, Nunzio Impellizzeri, Corinne Rochet, Nicholas Pettit, and Tabea Martin.
Luke has also performed with JV2 (Jasmin Vardimon Company), working under Jasmin Vardimon, Andre Rebelo, and Vinicius Salles, and has contributed to projects for Notte Bianca Malta with choreographers Chakib Zidi and Deborah Falzon. Earlier work includes performances at the Malta Dance Festival, the Malta International Arts Festival Opening, and collaborations with Lisa Colette Bysheim, Sarah Vella, Pamela Kerr, Oded Ronen, Zoe Camilleri, and Gil Kerer.
He trained at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHDK) from 2020 to 2023, working with choreographers Ihsan Rustem, Oded Ronen, Gil Kerer, Mohammed Kaltuk, Joost Vrounraets, Antonin Rioche, Bryan Arias, Nadav Zelner, Ravid Abarbanel, and Dunja Jocic. His earlier education includes The Evening Space with Francesca Tranter and DIP in Livorno, Italy.

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Theatre – Anmar Taha & Josephine Gray (Iraqi Bodies)

THEATRON
Theatre workshop

This workshop intends to reaffirm the notion of theatre in its original Greek sense, the place where things are made visible: theatron.
Focus will specifically be placed on how an actor, dancer, musician, or any performer may prepare him or herself to be (before attempting to be someone else). In this state of being, which precedes any act, the person is able to see more clearly the various acts that they clothe themselves with in daily life. If theatre is the place where we see; it is important that the person treading the stage is him/herself aware of what s/he presents to be seen.
We will be engaging with physical practices stemming from various traditions that we in Iraqi Bodies have collected and amalgamated into our own practice over the past decade. We will attempt to poke at the blocks we carry which hinder us from fully diving into the depths of our own abyss. Those blocks might have arrived from years of previous training or simply by the judgments we make each day about ourselves and others. Approaching our being as one we will explore all its facets including movement, breath, and voice. Although the workshop will be conducted in English the texts, we will be working with will be adapted to the various spoken languages present in the group. Upon acceptance to the workshop, you will be sent a few short texts to familiarise yourself with in preparation for the workshop.

Level: All
Ages: 16+

Photo credit:

Iraqi Bodies

The work of Iraqi Bodies explores the link between movement and gesture, between dance and theatre. The development of their artistic practice has been deeply influenced by the likes of Antonin Artaud, Jacques Copeau and Tatsumi Hijikata while retaining a constant dialogue with thinkers, writers, and poets such as Eugène Ionesco, Samuel Beckett, Charles Baudelaire, Le Comte de Lautréamont, William Shakespeare, Henri Bergson, Krishnamurti and many others.​
The poetics of awareness is an absolute given in their continued search for a radical scenic language.​
Iraqi Bodies is based in Gothenburg, Sweden, since 2009 and is led by Artistic Directors Anmar Taha and Josephine Gray.
Their work has been presented at: Dansens Hus, Pustervik, Atalante, Inkonst,TeaterTrixter, StoraTeatern, GöteborgsStadsteater, GBG Mime Fest, SPIRA, RegionteaterVäst, Göteborgs Dans -ochTeater festival, Aerowaves, Kalamata Dance Festival, Dance Days Chania, BITEF, CostanteCambiamento Festival, Fadjr International Theatre Festival, Cairo Experimental Theatre Festival, Carthage Puppet Theatre Days, Carthage Theatre Festival, Tanztendenzen, BOZAR, TunnelhuisAntwerpen, Monty Antwerpen, Nitra International Theatre Festival and more.

A User’s Manual – Konstantinos Papanikolaou 1024 1024 akropoditi13

A User’s Manual – Konstantinos Papanikolaou

Greece

‘’It is also a mistake and a very frequent one to use the word natural when we mean either socially acceptable, morally desirable or aesthetically pleasing’’.

According to Hall (2005: 18-20), representation is the ability to describe or imagine. Representation is important because culture is always formed through meaning and language, in this case, language is a symbolic form or a form of representation. We are constantly exposed to representations of a “reality” that’s a far cry from the actual circumstances of our everyday lives. We identify with such representations through a game of validation and rejection that conceals certain other possible options from us. And we assimilate these representations as stereotypes, thus legitimizing dominant discourses that not only do us a disservice but also often undermine us. While we may have our reasons for doing what we do, we are not however mindful of what what we’re doing actually does.

Credits
Choreography & Performance: Konstantinos Papanikolaou
Dramaturgy: Paraskevi Tektonidou
Set & Costumes, Design, Video Maker: Olga Sfetsa
Light Design: Eliza Alexandropoulou
Sound design: Alexandra Katerinopoulou
External Eye: Stavroula Siamou
Production: Onassis STEGI
Production Management: Delta Pi

Touring Support by Onassis STEGI’s Outward Turn Program

Duration: 40 min.
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/711572387/bf863c2665

 

 

Konstantinos Papanikolaou

Konstantinos Papanikolaou holds a postgraduate degree in dance from University Paris 8 | Vincennes – Saint-Denis and has studied psychology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Ηe has collaborated with Gerard & Kelly, Alexandra Bachzetsis, Patricia Apergi, Jenny Argyriou and others and has performed in the Biennale of Munich, Lyon and Birmingham, the Centre Pompidou (Paris), Hellerau (Dresden), The Place (London), Mercat des Flors (Barcelona), etc. In the theatre, he has colaborated with Argyris Pantazaras, Kirki Karali, Eleni Efthimiou, Lilly Meleme etc. In 2020 he choreographed and performed the solo ‘Tonight and every Night’, presented at the ARC FOR DANCE Festival; and in 2021 he presented ‘ The diving horse and other mythologies’ at the Onassis New choreographers Festival. Portions of the research and development for his latest work  “A User’s Manual” were undertaken at Trois C-L (Luxembourg), Le Grand Studio (Brussels) and Pole Sud Strasbourg as part of the support provided by the Réseau Grand LUXE network. He has been  awarded the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Artist Fellowship by ARTWORKS (2021).

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Adventures in planet love – Jordi L. Vidal

Belgium

An original and dynamic performance that combines floor acrobatics, contemporary dance and physical theatre.
This piece explores the diversity of romantic encounters in order to bring light on our prejudices, to overcome them and create bridges and better living together.

Credits
Concept, direction, choreography: Jordi L. Vidal
Performers: Julie Querre, Youri De Gussem, Victor Launay
Costumes, props and set: Noelle Deckmyn
Choreography coach: MichouSwennen
Photos: Matthias Walton, Loic Boon, Raphael Tillie
Videos: Matthias Walton, Silvia Marazzi
Graphic design: Silvia Marazzi
Coo production: “Het Lab” Cultureel Centrum Hasselt, Culturecultuur1060 Sint Gillis/Saint Gilles, Belgium
Creation residencies: La Roseraie, Espace Catastrophe, Institut Dalcroze, Foyer Populaire CC Court Saint Etienne, Cirqu’conflex, MCA-CAR Centre d’arts de la rue, Miroir Vagabond, Belgium.

With the support of SACD Belgium and Hart voor Kunstenaars fonds – Artists United &UAS, WBTD-Wallonie Bruxelles Théâtre Danse, WBI-Wallonie Bruxelles International number)

Duration: 25 min.
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/649919753

Victor Launay

Victor Launay began dancing with Max Bozzoni and then joined the CNR Boulogne followed by the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et Danse in Paris in the balletsection before joining the Junior Ballet in Aquitaine in 2003.Then 2 years later, he went to the Ecole-Atelier Rudra Béjart. He has worked regularly with the CCN de Nantes and, at the same time, with other choreographers.
In 2010 he became part of the founding team for the Opinion Public dance company where he performs in all of its productions for “Mr. Follower”, “Arcadia”, “Aeterna” and “RockingChair”.

Julie Querre

Julie Querre is a professional contemporary dancer who first studied at the National Conservatory of Bordeaux where she received a diploma of choreographic studies with high honors, and after at the National Choreographic Center of Roubaix. Finally, she graduated in Belgium at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp (Artesis) with a bachelor in contemporary dance.
For the last years, she has worked with different choreographers and artists like, for example, Jelena Kostic, Koen de Preter, Martha! tentatief company, Otto Pichler and Barjo & Cie, Jordi L. Vidal as a dancer.

Youri De Gussem

Youri De Gussem started hip hop dance at the age of 11 in a private school. Thereafter he studied at the Athénée Royal des Beaux Arts of Brussels and Royal Conservatory of Antwerp He chose to finalize his formation at P.A.R.T.S., school founded and directed by Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker in 2013.
As a professional dancer, Youri worked with Willie Dorner, Dimitri Leue, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Damien Jalet, Jean Guillaume Weis, Ricardo Ambrozio, Jordi L. Vidal, Sarah Baltzinger, Marie Martinez, company Le Huit.

Jordi Vidal

Jordi Vidal. In the past 30 years he is active as a dance & physical theatre guest teacher for artists in the fields of dance, theatre, street theatre, clown, among others, at: Summer Studios/Rosas-Parts, Flanders Royal Ballet School, ESAC; Canaldanse Paris; NRW Tanzhaus Dusseldorf, Tanzfabriek and Dock 11 Berlin; La Faktoria Pamplona.
With more than 600 performances realized already all over Europe and around the world (Moroco, Philippines, Brazil, Mali) his creations have been presented at: Ferme du Buisson, Halles De Schaerbeek, deSingel Antwerpen, Mercat De Les Flors Barcelona, Culturgest, Berner Tanztage, Julidans, Spoffin and many more