Skip to content

Bridging (through) the performing arts

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

Theatre, dance, and music are changing at the University of Malta. Recently, three new research groups were launched by the School of Performing Arts (SPA) with the aim of bridging different disciplines through  the development of shared work processes and research areas. Through interdisciplinary research, these groups want to look outwards towards new concepts.

The groups cover three themes. First, ‘Twenty-first-Century Studies in Performance’, which is committed to the locating, reimagining, and development of performance practices in the 21st century. Second, ‘Culture and Performance’, which is guided by the premise that culture and performance refer to complexities that emerge from the multitude of phenomena these terms describe. Third, ‘Performing Arts Histories and Historiographies’, which investigates and archives material related to historical events across the performing arts. These themes are possible thanks to a web of local and international collaborations, ranging from the Digital Arts and Humanities to Cognitive Science and Intelligent Computer Systems.

These new research platforms seek to facilitate dialogue between scholars and practitioners, academics and citizens.

Annual Collective Performance of the School of Performing Arts. White White is a performance about space, or the absence of it. Once upon a time, characters were in search of an author. Today they are in search of a space. The characters, played by the students of the School of Performing Arts at the University of Malta, are lost in a corridor in-between places. Around them all is empty. A void. Like a vault, all they have isÖWhite! Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi
Annual Collective Performance of the School of Performing Arts.
White
White is a performance about space, or the absence of it.
Once upon a time, characters were in search of an author. Today they are in search of a space. The characters, played by the students of the School of Performing Arts at the University of Malta, are lost in a corridor in-between places. Around them all is empty. A void. Like a vault, all they have is White!
Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi
inFragments A devised performance created by the students of the School of Performing Arts, University of Malta MITP Photo by Darrin Zammit Lupi
inFragments
A devised performance created by the students of the School of Performing Arts, University of Malta
MITP
Photo by Darrin Zammit Lupi

SPA has an upcoming conference featuring some of the above topics called Interweaving Cultures: Theory and Practice in March 2017. For more information contact Dr Stefan Aquilina (stefan.aquilina@um.edu.mt) or, on the conference, Prof. Vicki Ann Cremona (vicki.cremona@um.edu.mt).

Author

More to Explore

A Blood Test That Could Follow Cancer in Real Time

A pioneering collaboration between Omnigene Medical Technologies Ltd and the University of Malta is developing a liquid biopsy platform that could transform how cancer is monitored. Called M3Profiler, the technology analyses tumour-derived exosomes – tiny vesicles released into the bloodstream by cancer cells – to generate detailed molecular profiles from just a small blood sample.

Can Your Genes Influence Addiction Risk?

Why do some people develop addiction while others do not, even when exposed to similar life experiences or substances? While environment, trauma, stress, and social circumstances are all major contributors, new research increasingly suggests that biology also plays an important role.

Malta and Uzbekistan: A Tale of Two Countries

A joint effort between UM’s Department of Translation, Terminology and Interpreting Studies and Prof. Gulnoza Odilova, who heads the Department of Theory and Practice of Translation at Kimyo International University of Tashkent, has led to the production of Rakkonti mill-Bogħod, Stejjer Qosra mill-Użbekistan, published by Kite Group in March 2025. Funded by the 2024 Malta Book Fund, Prof. Sergio Portelli and Dr Claudine Borg edited the translation of ten classic stories of Uzbek heritage and folklore into Maltese.

Comments are closed for this article!