Faculty

Rowena Grech B.A. (Hons.), M.A., A.I.S.T.D. Cecc.

Principal and Teacher of Classical Ballet

Ms Rowena started her classical training at the age of 4 at the Tanya Bayona Poutatine Academy of Ballet. She continued her classical training at the Deborah McNamara School of Dance and also started her Spanish training under the tutelage of McNamara herself. During her training she attended a number of summer dance courses in the U.K., and was awarded first prize for a choreographic competition held in Tring, U.K.. After successfully completing her Advanced 2 in classical ballet under the tuition of Ms Nina Winter, Ms Grech went on to complete her ballet teaching certificates at the Deborah McNamara School of Dance with Deborah McNamara herself. After achieving her teacher qualifications, she started teaching at the Deborah McNamara School of Dance in 2004. She has been very successful with pupils being awarded very high results. In 2010, Ms Grech took over the Deborah McNamara School of Dance and is currently the Principal of the Academy of Dance Arts.

Ms Grech has a Masters of Arts in English Literature and Language. She also successfully completed her Spanish Exams till Advanced Level with the Society of Spanish Dance.

Fiona Anastasi (Barthet) A.I.S.T.D. Dip, Cecc., I.d.B. II, S.D.S.

(Teacher of Classical Ballet, Spanish Dance and Jazz)

Ms Fiona commenced her training at an early age at the Deborah McNamara School of Dance. She then furthered her studies at Central Academy of Ballet, when Ms McNamara was co-director, where she was awarded both local and foreign dance scholarships. During this time Ms Fiona had principal roles in various local productions.

At the age of 16, she decided to take up full-time dance training in Cheshire in the UK at Kate Simmons School of Dance, where she continued her studies and achieved teacher qualifications for Classical ballet, Spanish and studied Modern Dance to Advanced Level. During her 3 years training in the UK she took part in various productions including a lead role in Beauty and the Beast and also in Allegro Dance Touring Company. In Malta, she formed part of Francesca Tranter's Company of Contemporary Dance for many years. She furthered her professional development on the Island, by achieving further teaching certificates in both Spanish and Classical Dance under the guidance of Ms Deborah McNamara. Ms Fiona has been working as a freelance dance teacher, teaching Ballet, Spanish and Jazz with the Deborah McNamara School of Dance since it first opened in 2003 and continues to do so with the Academy of Dance Arts, preparing senior students for major exams.

Christelle Borg D'Amato A.I.S.T.D. Cecc., B.Eng. (Hons.), MBA

Teacher of Classical Ballet

Ms Christelle started her classical training at the age of 3 at the Tanya Bayona Poutatine Academy of Ballet. She continued her classical training at the Deborah McNamara School of Dance and also started her Spanish training under the tutelage of McNamara herself. During her training she attended summer dance courses in the U.K. She successfully completed her Advanced 2 in classical ballet under the tuition of Ms Nina Winter. She also successfully completed her Spanish Exams till Advanced Level with the Society of Spanish Dance. Ms Christelle went on to complete her ballet teaching certificates at the Deborah McNamara School of Dance. She is a freelance teacher and has taught pupils Classical Ballet in a number of local dance schools namely: Alegria, The Deborah McNamara School of Dance and Incite Motion. Ms Christelle was the first teacher locally to prepare senior RAD (Royal Academy of Dance) students for exams in the Cecchetti Method and all students received exceptional results.

Ms Christelle graduated in Electrical Engineering in 2002 and also completed a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) in 2005 at the University of Malta. She is a Manager for Quality Assurance/Quality Engineering at Baxter, which is a global, diversified healthcare company.

Emma Loftus L.I.S.T.D. Cecc., I.d.B. I, S.D.S.

Teacher of Classical Ballet, Jazz and Choreographic Director

Ms Emma trained at the Kate Simmons School in the United Kingdom in a variety of dance disciplines including Classical Ballet, Spanish Dance, Modern and Tap dancing. During her training she performed many lead roles including Sugar Plum Fairy (The Nutcracker), Carmen (Carmen), and also danced with the toruing company Allegrodance. After graduating, she joined the Vienna Festival Ballet Company, touring the U.K., Germany and Austria.

In 1999, Ms Emma came to Malta as senior dance assistant at the Tanya Bayona Poutatine Academy of Ballet. She was also responsible for creating various works for dance events and art festivals.

Emma Loftus now works with FM Theatre Productions, as a Dance teacher and choreographer, for Stagecoach, San Anton and St Monica High Schools. Some of her choreographies include: Hairspray, High School Musical and Oliver! (FMT), Peter and the Wolf (Manoel Theatre), Carnival of Animals (St James). Additionally, she has created work for MADC and Unifaun, and also teaches senior Ballet and Jazz classes at the Academy of Dance Arts, where she has been involved in teaching and stage productions since 2003.

Robert Scicluna I.d.B. I, S.D.S., Advanced Level in Exercise and Fitness

Teacher of Spanish Dance and Fitness Instructor

Robert started dancing at the age of 25 at the Tanya Bayona Poutiatine Academy in Salsa and Flamenco. He later added jazz, contemporary and tap under the tutelage of Emma Loftus. Robert took part in many productions and Festivals with the Bayona Poutiatine Academy including, The Gozo Arts Festival and several French Day Celebrations for the French Embassy. He furthered his tuition in Flamenco with Rosanna Maya at Alegria Academy and later joined the Deborah McNamara School in 2003, where he continued to study Spanish, Jazz, Contemporary and added Classical Ballet.

Robert has participated in several Dance Power Performances, Dance Fusion (Alegria) and various Flamenco courses with foreign tutors such as Miguel Angel Espino, Angel Munoz, Inmaculada Ortega, Virginia Dominguez and Manolo Marin. He also took part in the Spanish Dance Society Anniversary Performance in 2007.

Robert holds the IdB(1) SDS and Advanced Level in Exercise and Fitness. Robert is a member of the Faculty at the Academy of Dance Arts, where he will be teaching Spanish Dance and Fitness classes for all levels.

Florinda Camilleri

Teacher of Contemporary

Florinda started her dance training at the age of 3, at the Tanya Bayona Poutiatine Academy. She was trained in the Cecchetti Ballet Method and also followed lessons in jazz, contemporary, tap and flamenco dance. Throughout those years of training, she was awarded various scholarships, including a scholarship for a semester's training at London Studio Centre. At the age of 18, she passed the Advanced II Cecchetti exam, with Honours, under the instruction of Tanya Bayona and Emma Loftus. She then continued her training at the Deborah McNamara School of Dance. In 2005, she was invited to join Contact Dance Company, under the direction of Francesca Abela Tranter, where she was given the opportunity to perform in many well-reviewed productions both locally and overseas. She continues to train and perform contemporary dance and dance theatre with CDC, and also teaches contemporary dance at Dance Academy. Florinda is currently reading for a degree in Pharmacy at the University of Malta.

Bettina von Brockdorff I.d.B. I, S.D.S.

Teacher of Spanish Dance

Bettina started dancing ballet at the age of four at the Brigitte Gauci Borda School of Dance and continued her studies with Alison Bird at the College of Jazz and consequently with Theresa Lungaro-Mifsud at The Dance Workshop. In 2004, Bettina began her Spanish Dance and Flamenco dance studies under the tutelage of Deborah McNamara at the Deborah McNamara School of Dance preparing for the Spanish Dance Society's Graded and Vocational Examinations, in which Distinction was obtained in all examinations. In 2007, she was awarded a bursary from the SDS for the International Dancer's Course held in November 2009. In July 2009, Bettina began preparing for her first SDS teacher's qualification, Instructor de Baile One (IdB I), under the guidance of Deborah McNamara. In December of the same year, she was chosen for the Spanish Dance Award and Scholarship, awarded by the school. Bettina frequently attends courses and master classes organised locally and abroad.

In July 2010, at the age of nineteen, Bettina gained her IdB I qualification and, in August 2010, was awarded the Arts Scholarship, financed by the Government of Malta to continue her Spanish Dance studies in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain at the Academia de Baile Jerez for the duration of two years in order to gain the second SDS teacher's qualification (IdB II). Bettina will be studying in Jerez till 2012. Meanwhile she will be giving classes at the Academy of Dance Arts during the summer months.