One of this year’s Malta’s Arts Festival’s most exciting performances looks likely to be the Barbarossa Project from Turkey taking place on 12 – 13 July (see full programme here). It is an epic tale in dance of sultans, ships and scimitars; of pirates, privateers and personal vendettas in the Mediterranean.
It’s hot off the stage from the Istanbul European Capital of Culture (ECoC), 2010 and therefore has a special place on our Arts Festival bill as this year has seen Valletta declare it’s candidacy as an ECoC in 2018. Part of the ECoC remit is to have a European dimension; it seems Malta is getting off to a head start in the arts by attracting acts like this one from the wider Med region.
To quote the Istanbul 2010 website (see below), the Barbarossa project performance is “breathtaking”. And here’s what it’s about….
Focusing on the symbiotic relationship between man and water, the Barbarossa Project is a modern dance and musical two-act production of the life of Kaptan-ı Derya, the Fleet Admiral of the Ottoman Navy and the Mediterranean sailors of the 16th century. The music is by Mercan Dede, choreographed by Beyhan Murphy, also Director of Theatre and Performing Arts of the Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Agency. Beyhan Murphy is also responsible for the design. Ballet dancers and soloists from Istanbul, Antalya, Ankara, Samsun, Mersin,and Izmir state ballet companies are featured in this production.
One of the favorite characters of Turkish history, Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha or also known as Hızır Reis, was a half Turkish, half Greek, Ottoman admiral who was a privateer and master of the Mediterranean seas. This dance musical drama is exciting, dynamic and should not be missed if you are a lover of dance.
We think it’s a good one to take the kids too as it will excite them with a tale close to home and our islands’ history in an art form – dance – just being given its due in Malta. For more on dance and the Malta Arts Festival in general, see here.
Tickets: from maltaticket.com