Teachers

Ingrid Sciberras (Director & Owner of Alegria Academia & Alegria Dance Company)

 

Artistic Name:  MARIA DEL SOL .

Born in Malta, on February 27, 1967, Ingrid was introduced to Flamenco Dance by Rosana Maya at ‘Yada Dance Academy’. A couple of years later, she followed Rosana Maya when Alegria Academia was inaugurated and continued her intensive study of Flamenco dance under the tuition of Rosana Maya. She has been awarded local and foreign scholarships at the Academy and in 2005 obtained her Alianza Flamenca Teaching Certificate.

Since 2001 she has been attending the flamenco ‘Festival de Jerez’ organised by the ‘Teatro Villamarta.’ Here she has attended courses under the tuition of Maria del Mar Moreno, Manolo Marin, Inmaculada Aguilar, Matilde Coral, Blanca Del Rey, Milagros Mengibar, AnaMaria Lopez, Jose Galvan amongst many others.

Living in Seville, Spain, in 2005, Ingrid had the opportunity to continue her flamenco studies by attending daily classes in Flamenco Dance and Flamenco Singing with various Maestros of Flamenco including Soraya Clavijo, Alicia Marquez, Manuela Carrasco, Esperanza Fernandez, Angel Munoz, Jose Merina, Juan de los Reyes, Miguel Vargas, Carmen Ledesma, Manuela Carrasco, La Choni, Alejandro Rodriguez and Ana Morales.  These experiences enabled Ingrid to develop a broad and intimate knowledge of Flamenco.

In 2003 Ingrid travelled to South Africa for 6 months, performing in various locations and also since this year she has been travelling annually to India giving lecture demonstrations and performances in Flamenco dance in various states in India.

On her return to Malta, Ingrid started teaching flamenco at Alegria Academia, as Rosana Maya’s personal assistant.  In 2009 Ingrid took over the school and to date runs Alegria, Academia de Baile Flamenco and Alegria Dance Company and works hard for the growth of the popularity of Flamenco in Malta.  The Academy invites various artists from Spain, including Cikka Grima and Maria del Mar Moreno to give annual courses at the school.  She has recently joined forces with Jerez Puro, a Flamenco Company from Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, whose Directors Maria del Mar Moreno and Antonio de la Malena are great artists direct from the heart of the roots of Flamenco and had the honour to perform with Jerez Puro at Malta’s National Theatre, Teatru Manoel in May 2013.

Apart from the Company, Ingrid directs Alegria Dance Company who are constantly invited to perform for local Cultural events, including Notte Bianca, Ghanja tal-Poplu, Ghana Fest, Europe Day in Gozo and Gozo Alive.  The Company are also invited to perform as guests in other dance events, for launches, conferences and various other private events.  Various members of the Company have also performed in India, South Africa, Spain, Italy and France.

Estelle  Bonello Sant (Choreographer/Teacher for Alegria Academia & Dance Company)

Artistic Name : Estrella La Maltesa

Born in Malta, on March 28, 1983, Estelle was introduced to classical ballet at the early age of three, under the tuition of Theresa Lungaro Mifsud at ‘Tanya Bayona Princess Poutiatine Academy of Ballet’. A couple of years later, she started Flamenco dance with Rosana Maya and at the age of fifteen, Estelle was given the ‘Luisillo’ cup for Spanish dance.

Since 2001 she has been attending the flamenco ‘Festival de Jerez’ attending courses with various reknowned Maestros like Maria del Mar Moreno, Merche Esmeralda, Matilde Coral and Blanca Del Rey.

Living in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, for over 4 years, Estelle had the opportunity to study intensively and later work with the ‘Academia de Baile Maria del Mar Moreno.’ In Jerez, Estelle, attended courses and private classes with various artists, namely: Maria del Mar Moreno, Joaquín Grilo, Andrés Peña, Fernando Galán, Angelita Gomez, Javier Latorre, Maria Bermudez and Juan Tejero. These experiences enabled Estelle to develop a broad and intimate knowledge of Flamenco.

Whilst in Spain, Estelle participated in a dance competition in the village of Ubrique and made it through to the semi-finals. Estelle’s dance career has advanced since 2004 when she joined a company of young dancers who toured around Spain, promoting Jerez and Flamenco. In this way, she has spread her name of ‘Estrella La Maltesa’ in small villages and important cities in Spain, such as Madrid, Salamanca, Dos Hermanas (Seville), Lebrija, Granada etc.

In 2004, Estelle accompanied Maria del Mar Moreno, on two different occasions: May 2004 Padova and Venice, Italy and June 2004 Paris, France. She worked as Maria Del Mar’s assistant, teaching flamenco to students of all ages.

On her return to Malta, Estelle started teaching flamenco at Alegria, Academia de Baile Flamenco and forms part of Alegria Dance Company.  She is a member of the Teaching Faculty and is head of Choreography, both for the school as well as for Alegria Dance Company.

Ema Marie Attard (Choreographer/Teacher for Alegria Academia)

Starting ballet three years, dance has always been a vital part of Ema Marie Attard’s life. Falling in love with dance and movement, Ema ventured into Jazz, Tap, Classical Spanish (receiving the Spanish Dance Award in 2003), Ballroom, Latin and Flamenco (receiving the Comsec International Scholarship Award in 2010 and the Estrella Jerez Award in 2014). Ema soon realised her true passion was Flamenco and after a few years of intensive study, she became a member of Alegria Dance Company with whom she performs regularly. She is currently a teacher and choreographer at Alegria Academia de Baile Flamenco. She has, to date, done numerous courses both locally and in Spain with various flamenco teachers some of which include Maria Del Mar Moreno, Andres Peňa, Jose Merino, Mercedes Ruiz, Juan Polvillo and Concha Jareño