Thursday, June 28, 2012

YADA's previous highly acclaimed shows!

One of the successful show Yada Dance Company performed is Circle of Senses.

Based on the fantasies and spectacular journeys of powerful signature tunes, CIRCLE OF SENCES is a feast of dance, theatre and visual effects. The base and raw humanity uplifted to a different level. Scents, wind and other elements will constitute just a little of the many surprises in store at this awesome choreographic spectacle. This show will have a quantified and qualified ensemble of exceptional dancers.

CIRCLE OF SENCES in another YADA journey into the stimulus of colour, movement and light. It's a journey to the exotic and colorful world of India, the raw world of Africa, the freedom of love in the Western World, the hunt and the hunted in the Orient, the mystifying world of Arabia amongst other corners in this stimulation planet. The planet which needs to be protected, that needs to be heeled from all it's fear through the ultimate introduction of the Sixth Sense - the sense that lives beyond the realms of reality.




Fire Dance 
FIREDANCE is an adaptation of riverdance - the Show which is a display of Irish dancing, Spanish Flamenco and American Tap that has taken audiences by storm in Ireland, London and America.

Interpreting the music of Bill Wheelan, Firedance shows how these different styles of dance are linked through the use of rhythm and footwork. Inspired by this music, Felix Busuttil, director of the YADA Dance Company, decided to stage Firedance giving Maltese dancers the chance to perform in a dance spectacle and Maltese audience the opportunity of watching them.

Busuttil has also enlisted the additional choreographic talents of Justine Roy Barker, Francesca Abela, Alison Bird, Vivienne Fielding and Rosanna Maya. The number and variety of choregraphers ensure the different interpretations of the score although the main influences remain chiefly Irish, Spanish and Tap.Over 100 dancers had involved in the production, including the Junior School of The College of Jazz Dance. Costumes have been designed by the choreographers themselves and produced by Alex Spiteri , Martanne Muscat, Elvia Leone Ganado and Kristina.






Era 
The book has been opened. The drawing bridge has been let down and the voices cry out the passion and emotion of those past and dark says.
Spectacle is a word synonymous with the Yada Dance Company and "Era" will not fail in portraying such.
Imagine a word where mystery and beauty are only a fraction of space away - imagine a land where nights shone in armor and discussed around the wooden table - imagine a land where damsels where subject of love and the Spanish Inquisition was supreme - imagine fairies, pixies, jesters, gypsies and dark angles - a land of kings and queens - a period when Spanish was under the domain of the Moors - When King Arthur held his magical sword Excalibur, when witches cast nasty spells and others burned at the stake... lost in time... alive and human!
Era is a colorful mixture of dance , music and theatre with a cast of over 100 dancers and musicians and incorporating the haunting voice of Debbie Scerri. The show incorporates a setting of fairies, pixies, jesters, gypsies and dark angels, kings and queens where witches cast nasty spells and others are burned at the stake. 





Graffiti 
Produced by Felix Busuttil and Catherine Strawbridge, Graffiti features a cast of 25 of YADA's best in an evening of contemporary jazz dance.
Act One includes a showing of three choregraphies, Classical Graffiti, Karma and Cyber Space all created by Justin Roy Barker. Classical Graffiti expands from the grace of classical ballet to the strong and zestful movements of modern jazz ballet. Karma consists of soft and smooth contemporary styles movements that warm the soul with inner peace. Cyber Space is made up of six pieces of music all with an exact, futuristic sound; the movements are harsh, rapid, snatched and short.







Moulin Rouge 
In 1899, a young poet named Christian by the name of played by Daron Galea leaves his family's home and heads off to the Montmartre districts of Paris, where he is soon taken under the wing of the painter Henri Toulouse-Lautrec and his gang of fellow bohemians.
Recruited by the diminutive artist to work on a play starring the Moulin Rouge nightclub's main attraction, the exquisite courtesan Satine played by the beautiful Daphne Smith, Christian finds himself ringside at her show and it's love at first sight for the young writer. The feeling is mutual when Satine mistakes Christian for the Duke who promised to bankroll the show in excahnge for her formidable services.
By the time she reakises her mistake it's too late as Christian owns her heart - even the besotted Duke's dark threats can't keep herin line. Not that it realy matters, since Moulin Rouge owner Zidler is keeping a tragic secret from poor, doomed Satine.
Ah to be young, in love, and dying of consumption in Paris! 


DANCE RUSH - BIO OF DANCERS


FELIX BUSUTTIL
Director and Founder of The Company
Main Choreographer 
Co-Director, YADA Dance Academies and The College of Jazz Dance
Company Dancer

Felix Busuttil born and bred on a Mediterranean island that barely covers 25 kilometres called Gozo and forming part of the Maltese archipelago started pirouetting in his mother’s womb. This undying passion for dance resulted in a consequence of events that formed The YADA Dance Company, three dance institutions, a brand and huge theatrical representations. Felix started dancing in Malta at The Alison White Dance Studios and The Tanya Bajona Poutiatine Academy of Ballet. He furthered his studies at The London Studio Centre Performing Arts School. During the last 30 years, Felix has achieved many local merits and choreographed for opera, dance shows and festivals in Malta and overseas namely in Denmark, Switzerland, France, Turkey, India, Italy and Spain. He has danced and choreographed in the presence of H.R.H. Queen Elizabeth II and Mr. Tony Blair – has danced in Hollywood movies such as Cutthroat Island and Gladiators – and has worked with renowned names such as national icon and world-famous opera voices the likes of Miriam Gauci and Joseph Calleja. He has graced dance spaces such as Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen and Plaza Mayor in Madrid. YADA has become a household name in Malta having produced in the last 17 years an extensive repertoire of successful dance spectacles. Felix is appreciated by Malta’s Head of Government in Office as a true portent of professionalism in dance in Malta. He is presently a member on the Mediterranean Conference Centre Board of Directors, Malta’s national theatre. Felix has worked extensively with other top international dance tutors worldwide.
He believes strongly in the power of positive thinking, endless determination and perseverance and the beauty of dance in all our lives. America is one of his favourite ideal “state of mind”.  He advocates the importance of culture within our children’s education and the power of music, theatre and dance that bring nations together.










LISA BRINCAT
Lisa was born in London. She was deemed a fighter at birth. She could not wait to enter the world and popped out at only six months. Her love for dance started at the age of three where she started training in Ballet. At The College of Jazz Dance, she furthered her dance genres since 1998 where she now also teaches. Lisa joined YADA in 2003 and became of the top dancers in 2007. She graduated in Jazz Dance in 2008 and obtained her Diploma in Dance Instruction in 2011. Brincat won various local scholarships including The Classical Ballet Award in 2002 and The Matt Mattox Award for Outstanding Achievement in 2006. Lisa has danced in YADA's major productions locally and overseas, and has attended various courses both locally and at Tring Park School for The Performing Arts and BodyWork Company Dance Studios in the UK. Her personal highlights include being awarded a scholarship to attend the Kledi Kadiu Academia Di Danza in Rome, Italy. Her strong sense of perfectionism is immediately noticed.







DARON GALEA
Resident YADA Dance Company Choreographer
Co-Director, The YADA Dance Academies, Malta
Company Dancer

Daron started dance at a very early age when he was just six years old. He studied in top Classical Maltese Dance Schools and was also trained by Felix Busuttil and Justin Roy Barker at The College of Jazz Dance. He received a major scholarship in Rome at the Kledi Kadiu Academy of Dance. His foreign credits relate mainly being part of The YADA Dance Company where he danced at The Peacock Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, at The Lucerne Concert Auditorium, Switzerland, in Plaza Major, Madrid, Spain and also at the Mumbai Royal Westin Hotel in India just to name a few. He has been recently asked to become resident choreographer with the company and was winner of many choreographic prestigious awards. He performed as a soloist in YADA’s Tango at Malta’s Baroque theatre, The Manoel in 1999 and played the part of Christian in YADA’s rendition of Moulin Rouge at The Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta, Malta in 2003. He is very excited to be dancing in America as this country represents one of his favourite and most blessed countries in the world. 




JUSTIN ROY BARKER
Main Resident YADA Dance Company Choreographer
Co-Director, The College of Jazz Dance
Company Dancer
Justin, born and bred in Redditch, Birmingham, UK, started dancing at the age of 12 and moved to London at 18 to study at the London Studio Center Performing Arts School.  He later received a scholarship at the Vaganova Academy in St Petersburg, Russia.  His foreign credits include performing at the Barbican Theater and the Wimbledon Theater in London and in Plaza Mayor in Madrid, Spain and The Peacock Theater in Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen, with the YADA Dance Company.  His other major foreign credit was performing for the London City Ballet.  He has choreographed for major theatre companies such as the musicals The King and I and Fiddler on the Roof.  Together with Felix, he now co-directs Malta’s largest dance academy, The College of Jazz Dance.  He now forms an integral part of YADA and has been a choreographic creative force during its existence.



TANYA BAYONA
Guest Choreographer
Tanya Bayona, a Fellow of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, London and holder of the Enrico Cecchetti Diploma directed the Tanya Bayona Princess Poutiatine Academy of Ballet for 23 years.  She started her training in Malta with Princess Nathalie Poutiatine and continued her professional training in London, Rome and Paris.  In 1965 Tanya introduced the Cecchetti Method in Classical Ballet to the Maltese Islands.  She established her own ballet school which she successfully directed until 2004.  Tanya has worked extensively as a dancer and choreographer with her own company in both local and international festivals, as well as in theatre and television productions.  
On July 26th 2009 Tanya Bayona was honoured with the Enrico Cecchetti Gold Medal at the Royal Ballet School, London.  Her most recent activities include special guest appearance as the Queen in Swan Lake and Clara’s mother in Nutcracker, both local productions with international participation held at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta.  In December 2008 Tanya Bayona was decorated by the President of the Republic of Malta, Hon. Dr. Edward Fenech Adami, with the Medal for Service to the Republic (MQR) of the National Order of Merit for her life-long commitment to dance and promoting Classical Ballet in Malta.










Tuesday, June 26, 2012

 DANCE RUSH SHOW VIDEO PREVIEW



YADA’S DANCE RUSH ENGINE SWITCHED ON


YADA’s dancers swing, kick, pirouette and lift daily. Ballet shoes are hung and re-worn for Nina’s classes. Matias, the 12-year old mascot dancer travels from over the sea weekly from the sister-island of Gozo to rehearse. Felix and the other choreographers study, day-dream and get inspired from the music to create. Costume designers and make-up artistes meet up and communicate so that their creations will dazzle. Special effects, projections and visuals have started being built on computer screens. The YADA studios have started to look like bee-hives in preparation for their next production. It is a very exciting period.
DANCE RUSH tells the story of an orphan looking for his lost parents and finds them through the media of music and dance. The brand YADA is unique and original. It pushes theatrical boundaries involving the audiences with fever-pitch choreography. The whole theatre becomes the stage. The choice of music very eclectic – like a chocolate box, filled with varied tastes. YADA has matured through its 30-years of existence. But even when it started in 1984 with its first show, the audiences stood up and wanted more. The elements in YADA’s shows are simple – the understanding of human nature, a joie-de-vivre that is infectious and above all the passion for dance that is so vivid and alive that makes one leave the theatre feel elated. DANCE RUSH will deliver just that. It takes this young boy on seven fantastic journeys –the world of Jazz, Opera, Classical, Rock, Swing, Ethnic and Commercial – until it reaches the climax. A young orphan re-finding home fulfilling all his wishes. It tells the story of us all. The need to come home, to find solace and happiness . And many times when we are away from “home” physically, mentally or emotionally, any familiar music will transport us just there. Dance is great. It can be transported all over the world and is understood. YADA is well-known as an European-identity dance company. It sets to light its American dream and make it a reality. The director’s principle goal is one – give joy, makes one lose all negativity and find a sense in this senseless world.
YADA stems for a little rock in the heart of the Mediterranean. America for all the dancers is true excitement. Malta is only an island 14km by 29km. Tiny. With a population of only 450,000. But through this sheer want to be heard and exist, its artistes has developed a strong passion for the Arts. Not through the want of fame or business, but the true essence of Art. The need to share, to communicate, to embellish. Malta is truly an economical success. No resources, no lakes or rivers, no bridges, no trains or metros, no high amounts of exports. Nevertheless, the island has strong values, a high sense of education and powerful will to survive. Its people hospitable, friendly, trusting. Through the ages, Malta has been conquered by Prehistoric inhabitants, the Phoenicians, the Romans, the Arabs, the Normans, the Knights of St. John ( the first true European Union ), the French and finally the British. This weird but effervescent mixture has stewed and fermented into what is today Maltese. European yes but decidedly rare and unique. So, for YADA to perform in the great US of A it is truly magical, demanding, daunting…. And wonderful.
Dance rehearsals are in full swing and the dancers are reminded as they face their wall-to-wall mirror of this amazing journey that starts in San Francisco in January 2013 at The Palace of Fine Arts in the heart of the city. Humbly they shall be bringing their incredible journey from the Mediterranean Sea to the Pacific. A strong troupe of 40 dancers, singers, technical and artistic crew with one mission in mind – to deliver, perform and share in this experience. The DANCE RUSH experience.
DANCE RUSH , The YADA Dance Company – The Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Ticket's show in San Francisco sale opened

Night out n San Francisco; enjoy the show by Maltese at Palace of Fine Arts Theatre! Tickets on sale at
http://dance-rush.tix.com/

Friday, June 15, 2012


The YADA Dance Company will grace for the first time an American stage in January 2013. DANCE RUSH will be premiered at The Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco on January 11th to be exact. This highly acclaimed and already popular European company has a particular brand – entertainment and spectacle at its best that leave audiences jump on their seats and join in the dance. This company has taken Europe by surprise with its unique rendition of dance shows, where the whole auditorium becomes a part of the stage, where emotions are destined to be touched and where from beginning to end, color and design take centre-stage.
YADA is truly a miracle company as this successful company was born through a population of only 400,000 Maltese – Malta lies in the heart of the Mediterranean but has strong values, a deep sense of spirituality and a love for the stage derived from passion and not only from business. Felix Busutttil, Director and Founder of YADA, was born in the smaller sister island, Gozo with a mere 26 square mile size, roughly the size of Manhattan and a population of only 31,000! The islands boast of 6000 years of history possessing the oldest pre-historic temples of the world built 2000 years before the Pyramids of Giza. Coming from such a small country did not however stop Felix in creating this empire. Through sheer determination and a deep-seated belief, the company has become truly international starting its World Tour in San Francisco.
“ When I started to dance, it was quite late” Felix quotes. “ I started professionally at the age of 17. Quite late. But since I was a child, music just mesmerized me – I used to stare and visualize whole shows, complete shows with lights and costumes at the age of 8 and 10. I never closed my eyes to see and feel it – I was blessed by some powerful force to change music into movement and when I felt it, I transformed it into reality. The famous saying “Thoughts become reality”…”
Felix continues” Dance took over, music controlled me – and I have always wished to transfer and share the same elating music to all around me. I wished all felt how powerful music is – it makes one feel good, moves, changes, brings comfort, joy and compassion. It builds spectacles, cities, cultures and humanity. It seems that nature itself is governed by music. The ebb and flow, the crescendo and the andante, the sounds of weather and the creatures that roam planet Earth. The sounds of children laughing, our machinery at work, our walking… it is what inspired me to choreograph DANCE RUSH.”
The show is inspired by the motion picture “August Rush” – it tells the story orphaned who escapes this imprisoned environment to look for his parents who believe the child is long gone and dead. Music brings them closer and closer until they finally meet in the freest area in New York, Central Park under a starlit night as his composition is being played. “DANCE RUSH” is inspired by such story – the child is all of us. Our parents are those, anyone who brings us to life. Two people who give total comfort, warmth and love unconditionally. It is what universally we all hold dear. We want to escape from our constricted lives to come home through the beauty and splendor of music. Music is marvelously and solely made up of seven notes – seven notes that have an endless motion and diversity. And it these seven notes, these seven journeys into music that bring us closer to home – classical music, world music, opera, jazz, contemporary and celebrative music, ethnic and rock music… together with the sounds that surround us daily from the moment in our mother’s womb to the last breath and further beyond.
YADA’s DANCE RUSH will be premiered in Malta under the distinguished patronage of H.E. The President of The Republic of Malta, Europe on the 27th October 2012.
For further information visit www.dance-rush.com
And what better medium to utilize as a symbiosis with the same music, the same story, the story of our lives…brought to you through DANCE – the two entities, dance and music, a marriage born in heaven. This thought become a reality in my soul, in my mind and in my heart… And I am so sure that YADA will take you on a journey of a lifetime that will touch your souls and make you feel when leaving the theatres a part of it all, feeling you deserve to be home, feeling the POWER OF MUSIC… Enjoy the show”.
Felix Busuttil
Director, The YADA Dance Company
Creator of DANCE RUSH
March 2012