Pink (December 2019)

ISSUE181∫DECEMBER2019

THE ISLAND’S ONLY THREE FEMALE ASSISTANT BANDMASTERS FORGING A MUSICAL CAREER IN THE TRADITIONAL BAND CLUB SCENE

GLOWING SKIN THIS SEASON

TIPS ON HOW TO SHINE BRIGHT

The matriarch of ballet in Malta

HOW A LOVE OF DANCE WAS INSTILLED 100 YEARS AGO

In pursuit of a white Christmas

GLAMPING ON THE SNOW MAY NOT BE THE WAY TO GO

INSIDE

December 2019

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FEATURES 14 WomensWorld Ladies of the band Malta’s only female assistant bandmasters 21 EyeWitness the hobo evangelist Meet the nomadic disciple 26 LifeStyle dream big To be a professional ballerina 32 ArtyFacts the princess of ballet The story of Princess Nathalie Poutiatine

FASHION 44 ShowStopper stay streetwise Dressing for the modern, urban way of life 55 FashionStory a cruelty-free closet Fashion’s voice for our furry friends

HEALTH & BEAUTY 58 BeautyParlour let your skin glow this Christmas Some tips from the top 60 InThePink perfect periods Nothing dirty about menstruation 64 OnForm Spartan and sporty Fitness in a feminist gym

REGULARS 9 EditorsNote 10 MailShot 38 WomanKind the agent Diana Rowden 66 ThinkPink 70 TableTalk just our cup of tea Using tea leaves for added taste 72 TravelOgue a most unconventional white Christmas The cons of a caravan holiday in the snow

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COVER Photography Matthew B. Spiteri ∫ Styling Marisa Grima [marisagrima.com] ∫ Hair Neville Roman Zammit ∫ Make-up Jean Zammit ∫ Model Adele @ Supernova MM, wearing faux fur waistcoat, €85; PVC dress, €49; blouse, €45; trousers, €120, all Miss Selfridge.

6 ∫ Pink December 2019

Photography Sean Mallia

EDITORSNOTE

I long for that time… when politics didn’t feature in my life; when I barely knew what was going on and who was who, and it didn’t even matter. Even back in my newsroom days, you could say I remained quite aloof, though obviously more aware. My interest and enthusiasm in covering political events was close to nil; the guys seemed to be more into it, and it was only here that you could sense some sort of natural ‘discrimination’ between male and female reporters – one I was only too pleased to entertain and never complained about.

Then things started to change.

The time came when some of us knew we wouldn’t be able to keep politics at arm’s length anymore; when what happened on the political stage was going to start affecting and infiltrating our everyday existence; our social lives; what we spoke about; our state of mind; our hope; our future; our country.

The time came when quality of life would really start to be dictated by the persons in power and when you felt you just had to do something about it.

The next step was to become a political orphan, having lost all faith in dirty politicians; mere mortals,

there to do the job of serving the nation, but who mostly fail drastically because they’re in it for the wrong reasons. And so, it would seem there is now barely anyone we can turn to; who can guide us through the storm.

I thank the women of Occupy Justice, primarily, who have held our hands and mothered us through these desperate times; and the other civil society groups, who have risen to lead the way through the darkest chapter I have ever known. The simple fact that we seek out someone to steer us just says it all.

But if there is one thing these times are teaching us, it is that the power is of the people; and that every politician should constantly be held up to scrutiny and taken down on the first fault. What will emerge from this black hole is a movement that will never sit back; that will be a watchdog against being dragged into the mud again. Ironically, and eventually, out of the frenzy of illicit dealings will emerge an acute intolerance for them.

Many are those who have started to move a muscle because they want to be on the right side of the fence if the house of cards starts falling down; their genuineness is in question… and should always be questioned.

The other day, I told an influential person I respect greatly that one of the hardest things I would have to do now is learn to forget what he, my friends and other acquaintances used to say about the political situation and Daphne Caruana Galizia; and how they too got us to where we are today. It took me all of a split second to hug him when I bumped into him on the streets of a protest shortly after our exchange.

But not so for those intending to govern this country; those who had

all the chances in the world to do the right thing in the last three years, and who are nothing but accomplices, whatever they say and do now.

And to those who defend them for their ‘bravery’ in putting up a halfbaked post on Facebook, where they conveniently stop short of detaching themselves from this cancer, I say bravery is having a car bomb ticking under your seat and knowing that no one who can stop it on their watch will even try.

So yes, I long for those days when my state of mind wasn’t dictated by a bunch of men who were doing a very bad job, but never got fired; where I am unable to do my own job because my eye is stuck to my phone to catch up with the political developments and disgraces of the day; where my distraction due to desperation is impinging on my day-to-day life; where conversations can only revolve around the political scene because anything else has become futile and frivolous; where heavy emotions move from exasperation and extreme anger, to the point that you want to scream, to sorrow and sadness, to the point that you want to cry; and a little lightness is only instigated by some political meme.

I long for that day when my friend can call me to organise a play date without feeling embarrassed to propose such a petty activity in the light of all that is going on; when I don’t feel the responsibility to explain to a five-year-old what’s happening in Parliament; or try to justify to myself and my family why I am leaving for another protest even when I really shouldn’t be there due to other commitments.

And I hope for the day when I can feel totally free again…

December 8, 2019 ∫ Pink is a monthly magazine ∫ Issue 181 ∫ Executive editor Fiona Galea Debono ∫ Publisher Allied Newspapers Ltd ∫ Printing Progress Press Ltd ∫ Production Allied Newspapers Ltd ∫ Contributors Adriana Bishop, Vanessa Conneely, Anna Marie Galea, Mary Galea Debono, Marisa Grima, Helen Raine, Daiva Repečkaitė, Antoinette Sinnas, Neville Roman Zammit, Jean Zammit, Raina Zarb Adami ∫ Design Manuel Schembri ∫ Photography Chris Sant Fournier, Matthew B. Spiteri, Mark Zammit Cordina ∫ Advertising sales Veronica Grech Sant [2276 4333; veronica.grechsant@timesofmalta.com].

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Pink December 2019 ∫ 9

MAILSHOT

THE LETTER THAT TICKLED PINK GIVING COURAGE AND HOPE First of all, I wish to say a really big well done for the interesting material that you present to us. I look forward to this magazine and always make sure to find some time to read it from beginning to end. I enjoy everything and even try to pick up fashion tips you provide through the advertisements to make sure I am a bit up to date with this amazingly fast world. However, I was particularly touched by an article in the June issue. I felt my, sometimes, cold heart [because of the world we live in] just warming up with every sentence of this article. It was called Home Birth [LifeStyle, June2019].

I was really impressed by it all and by the courage and willpower that emanated from it. The article gives courage to the reader, as well as hope.

In this world full of hatred and disappointing things, hearing of something positive is just plain and simple beautiful. One can even sense the bond between the mother and daughter and the care and love there is between them. Well done for giving us this story – something positive and full of happiness. Also, a big well done to this family and God bless you all.

PAULINE SALIBA, VIA E-MAIL

The writer of the letter of the month wins a Lancaster Instant Glow Hydration & Glow Pink Gold Peel-Off Mask, courtesy of SVBEAUTY – a member of the VJ Salomone Group of Companies and distributor of Lancaster products; and two invitations to The Pink Fashion Show.

WRITE IN AND WIN We want to hear from you. Send us your feedback on Pink and any stories that may have touched you in some way, and you stand a chance of winning a Gucci Bloom Acqua Di Fiori 50ml eau de toilette exclusively distributed

by SVBeauty, a member of VJ Salomone Group of Companies; and a gift box of the award-winning home-made and exquisite Gee’s Jams.

Write to Pink, with your contact details, at Allied Newspapers Limited, Triq l-Intornjatur, Mrieћel, BKR 3000, or send an e-mail to pink@timesofmalta.com Correspondence may be edited for length and clarity. If prizes are not claimed within two months, they will no longer be available. Winners should be willing to have their photograph taken for marketing purposes.

10 ∫ Pink December 2019

LET’S BE KINDER Dear Editor, a very well done for Pink. At home, everybody looks out for it as everyone finds something of interest. Keep it up. I was reading the article All in Your Head [InFocus, October 2019], regarding mental illness and suicide. Both are still regarded as taboo. If you mention this to a friend, they tell you: “Come on!

It’s all in your head! You’re going bonkers!” People turn the other way. Nobody listens… Loneliness is very hard to bear and that may lead to depression… So, come on, let’s watch what we say even to our friends; let’s be kinder and offer a listening ear. After all, charity is not only about giving money to ease our conscience. Thank you!

CARMEN AQUILINA, FROM DINGLI

HEALTH AND LIFESTYLE To the masterminds behind Pink magazine, although all articles are and always have been eye-catching, I really do appreciate all the sections that are related to health and lifestyle. In one past edition, in particular, I found the article on functional medicine quite interesting. It’s good to be informed about the possibilities and alternatives of healthier lifestyles. As is often said, prevention is better than cure and this article gave information that is rarely mentioned. It’s nice to read about fashion and art, but including health in your editions puts the cherry on the cake and spices things up for us readers. Keep the good stuff coming.

CLAIRE GATT, VIA E-MAIL

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WOMENSWORLD

LADIES OF THE BAND

Once exclusively all-male, brass bands are now welcoming more female musicians, with a select few climbing the ranks. ADRIANA BISHOP caught up with the only three female assistant bandmasters [mistresses?] on the island as they juggle day jobs and stereotypes while forging a musical career in the traditional world of Maltese band clubs.

B

rass bands have come a long way from their early beginnings as all-male ensembles and the nadir of the 1980s and 1990s when band clubs had a rather unsavoury reputation for too much booze-fuelled raucousness.

Today, a quarter of the 4,000+ bandisti across 87 band clubs are women and clubs are nurturing a new generation of musicians through their own music schools with an encouraging number of girls learning to play wind and brass instruments.

Bandmasters, conductors and band club committee members remain

14 ∫ Pink December 2019

overwhelmingly male, but three young women have been selected to rise through the ranks and are currently Malta’s only female assistant bandmasters, with two of them even performing conducting duties.

Brass bands are so ingrained in our festa culture that we would be forgiven for thinking they have been around ‘forever’. Research carried out by music historian Anna Borg Cardona shows that 17th-century religious processions in Mdina were already featuring musicians playing small keyboard instruments known as spinetta or regaletto. The procession of the

Immaculate Conception in Valletta of 1796 included musicians playing drums, pipes, horns and flutes not dissimilar to today’s bands. A caricature of the procession of St Lawrence in Vittoriosa from that same period depicts musicians wearing a uniform.

Of course, they were all male, as women then performed music only in the privacy of their homes. Militia regiments in several towns had their own drums and fife bands. These musicians were given a soldier’s pay and additional bonus for performances during carnival and religious processions.

According to Dr Borg Cardona, by 1800, the Civil Commissioner of Malta, Alexander Ball, already had at San Anton one of the earliest established wind and brass bands on the islands. Band clubs started formally taking shape in the middle of the 19th century with St Joseph Club, De Rohan Band and St Philip Band . .

Club AD1851 of Zebbug all claiming to be “the first and oldest” in Malta.

WOMENSWORLD

Jessica Ellul

“YOU HAVE TO CREATE OPPORTUNITIES YOURSELF IN ORDER TO WORK FULL TIME IN MUSIC” Band clubs today remain steeped in tradition and stereotypes are hard to break. So much so that when Jessica Ellul was asked to step in unexpectedly to take over from the bandmaster at a concert during Holy Week, there were a few raised eyebrows from her fellow band players, with some asking her incredulously: “Are you going to conduct us?”

It was a turning point for Jessica. Still only 24 years old at the time, she already had a master’s degree in music under her belt. While she had no conducting

experience, her musical qualifications were beyond question. This was her first experience taking the baton.

“I thought I was going to die [with nerves],” she confesses. Today, Jessica is assistant bandmaster of three bands, .

Sagra Familja in Kalkara, San G iljan AD1927 and San Leonardo AD1858 in Kirkop.

Jessica started playing the clarinet at the age of seven with St Joseph Band in Gh-axaq. She would continue her musical education with the School of

Music and studied for a music diploma while reading a business and computing degree at university. It was, in fact, during her second year at university that she was appointed assistant bandmaster of the Kalkara band.

Today, she juggles a full-time job at Pantalesco Group with rehearsals and performances with the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra as well as duties with her three band clubs. “You have to create opportunities yourself in order to work full time in music,” remarks Jessica.

“Sometimes, I have to take leave in order to play with the orchestra.”

That first time on the conductor’s podium, Jessica felt the band players looking down on her, but not for long.

“They are getting used to having a woman conducting them,” she notes.

Her age is another matter. “Most bandisti are amateurs; not many are professional musicians, so they do not understand that I am a professional musician and do not accept that such a young person can conduct someone like them. They are much older; they may not be academically trained as musicians, but have a lot of experience playing in bands. Now, they are accepting me even when I correct them. Last December, I conducted a full concert on my own because the bandmaster was studying abroad.”

Bands are currently facing a crisis as the older generation starts retiring and the fact that not enough younger musicians took their place due to lack of investment in music students a decade ago.

“We have an active call for people to join the band. At the moment, we are experiencing the consequences of the lack of music students 10 years ago.

Now, we don’t have enough local band players, so we have to pay for musicians from other localities to play and this has led to some bands facing difficult financial situations. At the moment, there is a huge lack of musicians and prices are going up. Some bands have to bid for musicians to play with them, with fees ranging between €50 and €100 per hour,” explains Jessica.

But the future is looking hopeful.

She is actively involved in teaching the next generation of musicians and she is proud to point out that three-quarters of her students are girls.

Pink Decemebr 2019 ∫ 15

WOMENSWORLD “Somehow, girls are better than boys; they are much brighter. Threequarters of the clarinet section in the three bands I am involved in are girls.

We are attracting new students because we are teaching in a professional way,” she says, adding proudly that two of her band club students have made it into the Malta Visual and Performing Arts School to specialise in music.

This is no mean feat considering that the school only accepts 40 students per year, 10 for each sector.

Girls also seem to be more committed to sit for music exams. The majority of band clubs offer music lessons for free.

“At the moment there is a good new generation of musicians coming up, but we are still missing a lot, especially in the brass section,” says Jessica.

And it seems that gender stereotypes are hard to break with brass and percussion sections still being largely male dominated.

play by rote, without feeling. So, I restrict myself to concerts.

“When I was younger, I used to do many marches; even three in one day – morning, afternoon and evening.

I didn’t really like it. The conditions are not so good. The morning march can last up to four hours and it is not healthy in that sun. There is a lot of wasted time and we would spend three hours walking around the village for nothing, then the final hour is good. I prefer doing short performances of just two hours.”

However, morning marches are a lucrative business for band players as they pay double. “The morning march can easily cost the band club €3,000, so it’s a huge financial burden on the club,” she adds.

Jessica is also not so keen on the masculine uniforms with their classic ties and military-style peaked hats, criticising the outfits as not catering for women. “The uniforms are not adapted

“MY MUSICAL INSTRUMENT IS ASSOCIATED WITH MEN RATHER THAN WOMEN. WHEN I WANTED TO FURTHER MY MUSIC STUDIES, THE ONLY SAXOPHONE TEACHER IN MALTA AT THE TIME REFUSED TO TEACH ME BECAUSE I AM A WOMAN” Jessica’s goal with her students is to foster a new generation of proper musicians, thus raising performance standards across the band. “They need a good two or three years of studying before they are ready to go out on band marches, but now, I am trying to ensure that they continue studying. I don’t just want a bandist tal-marc but proper musicians. I want them to be able to play any type of music. We are investing in musicians rather than bandsmen.

Everyone can be a bandsman, but not everyone can be a musician.”

And speaking of those famous festa marches that punctuate Maltese summers, I ask Jessica about her experiences on the festooned streets.

“I don’t do marches anymore. I don’t like them,” she admits. “There is such a dearth of band players that it is always the same group of people who are going round the same bands. They are so frustrated having to play the same music all summer long that they just 16 ∫ Pink December 2019

to women. They haven’t caught up yet.

It is only recently that they have started allowing women to wear a black dress for concerts while the men wear the band uniform.”

Changes are also happening at committee level where there are now a few female presidents. “Socially, they are changing for the better,” comments Jessica. “The problem is that they are being run by people who are not musical. That is the biggest hurdle we have to overcome because decisions [about music] depend on people who are not musical. In the big feasts, priority is given to fireworks, then the decorations, then the discos, and lastly the music; that is what makes band clubs less important. That is a problem for someone like me who wants to run a band in a professional manner.”

As assistant bandmaster and teacher, 28-year-old Jessica already has her hands full and she feels she is not yet ready to be a full-time conductor.

“I don’t feel mature enough to hold that position. I am still learning and taking master classes. I prefer teaching and playing. I am a performer not a conductor. If I were to be offered that role in the future, I would consider it, but only for one band, not three!”

However, she knows exactly how she would change things if that baton had to be handed to her on a permanent basis.

“There is such a lack of quality in the bands that so few of them play any classical music. The concerts are mostly pop songs. We are lacking balance. Many people argue that the audience wants this type of music.

I insist this is not the case. It is only so because we are not cultured.

It depends on what you give the audience. I would want to go for something more innovative and not too serious. Some people do not leave the village and think they are the best and we cannot do any better. They are not musically educated and involved.

Changing the mentality is the biggest problem.”

Change and innovation are exactly what Christine Dimech spearheaded with the [relatively young] Gh-aqda .

Muzikali Marija Bambina Banda Vittorja of Naxxar, which she joined in 1990 just one year after the band was formed. Now aged 36, Christine was barely 20 years old when the committee entrusted her with conducting duties.

“I am very lucky that the band club I work with trusts me a lot, so it was never a big deal to be appointed assistant conductor at such a young age. At that time, I was ambitious, but I didn’t see the potential problems.

The club mentality was avant-garde.

They give me carte blanche and I can go ahead and work. I always felt respected,” says Christine.

As a saxophonist, she is used to facing stereotypes. “My musical instrument is associated with men rather than women. When I wanted to further my music studies, the only saxophone teacher in Malta at the time refused to teach me because I am a woman.” But she was undeterred and, today, having pursued saxophone studies at a conservatoire in Paris, she is the only woman to play with the Big

WOMENSWORLD

Christine Dimech performing with Mro Antonino Mollica, her saxophone tutor, accompanied -aqda Muz.ikali Marija Bambina, Banda Vittorja of Naxxar during by the wind band of the Gh the 25th anniversary celebratory concert. Photography Matthew Cutajar, iCam Studios

Band Brothers and only one of three saxophone teachers on the island.

Christine has a pointed message to all aspiring musicians, whether they are girls or boys. “No instrument has a gender. All instruments are unisex. If you want to play the tuba, percussion or flute, just go for it. Take up the instrument you like. We have women who play the trombone, trumpets, French horn. Enjoy playing music.

If you really love it just keep going.

“People will question how much money you can make from music.

Music is not a hobby. It can be a career.

You can be a teacher, event organiser, or a freelance musician for example. You just need to have entrepreneurial skills.

Local band clubs are a great start, which can open up opportunities. They are like a family. Most of the members will be your neighbours. Don’t be afraid of band clubs. Today’s parents are the generation that saw band clubs at their worst in the 1980s and 1990s when they were not safe environments for women to be in. That stigma still exists. A woman in a band club? No! But actually, it is not like that anymore,” she insists.

Christine, who helped set up Malta’s only band club school of music that has a teacher for every different instrument, explains how the government is investing in band clubs so they can set up music schools and organise music workshops. “Last year, we had six teachers from abroad who came to Malta to conduct workshops. People are trying to emulate what happened in Spain, where band clubs got organised and a conservatoire was set up. In Malta, we have a School of Music, but that is not enough. There is a lot of potential and we can easily fulfil that if we all get together as an area, not just one village on its own,” she says.

On Christine’s insistence, the Vittorja band club’s music school is not free, but students must pay a small donation as a sign of their commitment. “The students are tomorrow’s band. At the moment, we have a good mix of boys and girls, around 50/50. However, we face the problem that parents are still hesitant to bring their children to band clubs.”

She was also instrumental in setting up a youth band, which she

conducts and leads, organising an annual show with a crop of musicians aged between eight and 20 years old, most of whom are girls. .This year’s . performance of Talent Zagh-zugh- was held in November and featured the theme Vive la France.

“The concert had a mix of music styles, which is a perfect learning experience for the young musicians.

This is something I’d like parents to understand: band clubs are a good source of music learning. Students can get performance experience in concerts and meet a variety of people.

We are working to get that message across,” explains Christine.

The most recent addition to this small ‘club’ of female assistant bandmasters is 20-year-old Nicole Spiteri, who took on the role only last May at the Stella Maris AD1914 band in Sliema. Currently reading a BA [Hons] in music and psychology, Nicole juggles her university studies with documenting, archiving and teaching duties at the band club and playing the flute with the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra.

Pink Decemebr 2019 ∫ 17

WOMENSWORLD Nicole Spiteri Photography: Andrew Large

“I was very flattered and surprised to be appointed assistant bandmaster. I did not expect it,” she says with a smile.

Nicole too has experienced the stigma surrounding band clubs, but she insists she has never felt intimidated.

“It is a very male environment. People stare at me because I am a girl, but I still go into the club; I try to integrate,” she says. However, she does draw the line at that infamous Sunday morning festa march. “I have never done the . marc ta’ filgh-odu and I will never do that. I don’t want to go out with beer splashing around me. I don’t want the beer on my instrument or in my hair.

I am just afraid of the morning march.

It is too much for me,” admits Nicole.

Originally trained as a pianist, she joined the band at the age of 14 where she learnt to play the flute. Today, when she tells her orchestra colleagues that she plays with a band club, she is met with raised eyebrows “because of the quality” [or assumed lack thereof] of the bands.

“Bands are not as professional as an orchestra. They play as if they are a group of soloists. That is part of their timbre. But orchestras play as a whole, and you learn to blend yourself.

However, when I joined the orchestra, I found that my experience with the band had helped me, especially 18 ∫ Pink December 2019

.

– ODU AND I WILL “I HAVE NEVER DONE THE MARC TA’ FILGH NEVER DO THAT. I DON’T WANT TO GO OUT WITH BEER SPLASHING AROUND ME. I DON’T WANT THE BEER ON MY INSTRUMENT OR IN MY HAIR. I AM JUST AFRAID OF THE MORNING MARCH. IT IS TOO MUCH FOR ME” when it came to sight-reading music,” she says.

While it’s still early days for Nicole, she already has some clear ideas of the kind of changes she would like to see.

“I would prepare a less difficult, simpler repertoire and make it more fun.

I would focus on more quality of sound and would dedicate rehearsals to honing a better sound quality. Everyone can achieve quality with patience and the right mindset. I would decrease the number of musicians by half. If there are less people, it would be easier for them to play in tune.”

Nicole expresses her concern about the future of brass bands in general as she too is aware of the dearth of musicians. “I don’t want bands to die.

Some people say that in 10 years’ time, the festa will end. People are demanding more money for services related to the festa, but villagers are donating less towards it. The festa is losing its popularity because religion is losing its popularity. It is also difficult to recruit new band players. Flute is becoming

more popular, but it is still difficult to find flautists to play in bands.

“I really want to encourage parents to send their children to learn a musical instrument at the band clubs.

It is free of charge and they will learn with a qualified teacher,” she says, reiterating what Christine and Jessica said about the friendly environment within the clubs. “There is nothing to be afraid of. There are many women in the bands now.”

Nicole enjoys feasts. “They are a casual event, tiring sometimes, but fun. They are part of our identity and if we don’t nourish and sustain them, we will lose them like we’re losing our architecture and language. It is a fundamental part of being Maltese.

We should hold on tight to our core traditions.”

Jessica Ellul has just finished recording her first album with the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, which will be launched on December 12. .

Mewga features works for solo clarinet and orchestra by Maltese composers. The project is supported by Arts Council Malta.

EYEWITNESS

THE HOBO EVANGELIST

Meg Hunter-Kilmer stepped outside her comfort zone, gave up her job, steady income and the comforts of living with a roof over her head, loaded the boot of her car with the basic necessities and decided to take up a nomadic discipleship, living entirely on providence. ANTOINETTE SINNAS catches up with her as she goes preaching around the world…

A

ll Meg Hunter-Kilmer ever planned for was to be a teacher. She was so sure teaching was her vocation that she went on to graduate in theology from the university of Notre Dame, Indiana. She loved being a high school religious teacher and excelled at it for over five years.

“I loved my students; I loved teaching, but all of a sudden, although

nothing changed around me, I became extremely overwhelmed by what I was doing. I couldn’t understand what was wrong and prayed for God to show me the next step. I was terrified as there was nothing else I could do.

“With my degrees and a winning smile, I could only go as far as getting a second interview at McDonald’s.”

Through prayer Meg found peace about ending her career – something she

never expected as all she ever wanted was to be a teacher.

“I’m not saying that if things get hard, you should run. If things get supernaturally hard, pay attention.

If everything external is the same and the internal has changed, you have to listen to that,” says Meg. She felt drawn to public speaking, but was hesitant. Having said that: “If you really feel drawn to something that is totally contrary to your natural inclinations, you need to pay heed to that too,” Meg says.

From being a focus-driven high achiever, she decided to take up voluntary public speaking in 2012 as a challenge for two months… and she hasn’t stopped since. Today, she is known around the world as ‘The Hobo for Christ’.

Meg stepped outside her comfort zone, gave up her job, steady income Pink December 2019 ∫ 21

EYEWITNESS and the comforts of living with a roof over her head. She loaded the boot of her car with the basic necessities and decided to take up this nomadic discipleship, living entirely on providence. She has driven over 210,000 miles across the US to all its 50 states and has flown across the world to 21 countries, Malta being the 21st, voluntarily preaching the gospel at schools, churches, prayer groups, youth fellowships and to random strangers on the street.

She has spoken to groups from three to 1,000 and to audiences as little as kindergarteners to the elderly about the goodness of God, Catholic apologetics, Christian morality and the life of prayer. Sometimes, when she has nothing scheduled, she holds up signs on the streets which read: “Free Prayers” or “You Are Loved.” She prays and preaches to anyone who approaches her and has built so many lasting friendships this way.

Meg grew up in a Catholic family, who went to Mass most Sundays. She was not catechised, as her parents did not know how to express themselves about religion, but she felt they did the best they could and loved her unconditionally. The most she would say was an Our Father before going to bed, and that, she recalls, was the extent of her spiritual upbringing.

She went for her first confession and lied to the priest about her sins, which she says was an epic fail because she did not understand what sin actually was and wasn’t humble enough to ask, so she simply made something up on the spur of the moment. She walked out of the confessional extremely glad it was over and felt relieved it was just a once-in-a-lifetime sacrament.

Even though she went to Mass with her family, she couldn’t experience God’s grace, living in total darkness and piling sin on top of sin until she could not see Him on the other side. By the time Meg was 11, she was an atheist.

“There is no God, and anyone who believes in God is an idiot,” she’d say. “I liked the fact that there wasn’t a God as there would be no guilt, no shame and sin would not even exist. By the time I was 12, I got into a depression. I was miserable – 22 ∫ Pink December 2019

achingly, agonisingly miserable – and even considered suicide.

“Every morning, I would wake up bound by negative thoughts and emotions and wondered why I should even bother getting out of bed. I was so hungry for meaning and for a purpose in life, but knew I turned my back on the one person that could give me that,” Meg admits.

She decided to keep going and was not ready to give up on life quite yet, even though she resigned herself to the fact that she would never be happy. Meg was fashionably late to her own Confirmation because she was out shopping and did not care.

Nothing mattered to her and she did not see any hope. She knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that she was ugly, that she was worthless and that nobody would ever love her.

Then, one day in the 1990s, she got dragged to a Confirmation retreat.

She felt very awkward in many ways hearing them preach to a crowd of 13-year-olds on how they should live their lives, make choices and differentiate between what is right and wrong. She got a headache from continuously rolling her eyes with utter disbelief throughout.

It was time for confession, and she felt compelled to go, due to imaginary peer pressure because she thought that none of the other girls would like her if she didn’t. All she wanted to do was say a couple of sentences to the priest and move on. But during the opening words in the confessional, Meg had a very intense realisation.

was the most beautiful moment of her life, as God took her dead, empty soul and gave it new life.

That changed not only her Sunday morning, but also her Saturday night; the way she would think, the way she would act, talk and even the way she would love.

“A person can have an amazing job, great family, be super intelligent and successful, but pretend they are not dead inside. This is only a pretense, because if you are trying to find infinite satisfaction, the things of this world are only finite,” she explains.

Meg entered a convent when she was 26 and was a Dominican nun for three months when God called her out. She feels it was part of her journey in recognising Jesus as bridegroom, and it was a real grace to be there as she learnt to pray deeper and got to know God in a new way.

Often, she feels, God calls us to the process and not to the conclusion. “He may call you to a dating relationship with someone he doesn’t want you to ultimately marry; he may call you to a seminary and not to priesthood; or call you to a university degree and not work in that profession.” It’s all part of the journey through life.

“Over the last six years, there have been moments where everything fell out of control. My plans were ruined, I got stranded in a blizzard, I was homeless in Istanbul, with people rioting on the streets, and every time, I would say: ‘Lord, what are you doing?’

It always took me a little while to figure out how to deal with that anxiety and

“NO WOMAN FREELY CHOOSES TO KILL HER CHILD, BUT DOES IT BECAUSE SOCIETY HAS FAILED HER IN SOME WAY” “I felt it was not a priest I was talking to, but Jesus Christ Himself. I felt I was standing at the foot of the cross, giving Him the hammer, which I used to nail Him, and He reached out his pierced hands saying: ‘I still love you’.”

Meg broke down and cried; she cried so hard she could not breath.

The priest tried to calm her down by changing the subject, but she continued to bawl. Although she felt like a hot mess, she confesses that this

panic on the streets. But every time, after I got past my initial worry, I’d realise that God was doing something.

He was sending me somewhere unexpected, or asking me to stay put, or just showing me how His providence was at work. As He kept swooping in to save the day, I began to expect it.

Things would go wrong, and I would just glance His way and say: ‘OK, Lord, what are you doing this time?’ Every time, He has come through.

EYEWITNESS Meg Hunter-Kilmer on a visit to Malta.

Meg travels to places that really appeal to her. If it works out, she goes, and if it doesn’t, she knows it was not part of His plan. There have been instances when she has had two events that are an 18-hour drive apart, and since she cannot drive those hours at a stretch, she takes to Facebook to post that she is in the area. Within a couple of hours, half a dozen people invite her to stay at their house.

Meg always wanted to visit Malta and finally got a chance when she was invited to preach at different locations for almost a week, attending up to three events a day. She found it beautiful to be able to walk in St Paul’s footsteps and preach to people who have been following Christ for 2000 years. The Maltese have incredible value for home and family, she observes, adding that “God appoints family as the foundation of society”.

On to the subject of abortion, she poses some thought-provoking questions: “What have we done to

women to feel that their only or best option is to murder their child? What can society do to empower women to feel like they actually have a choice to parent their child?

“For many years, the pro-life movement in the US would advise women to place their babies up for adoption. If a woman can do that, it is a beautiful thing. She is extremely heroic in giving a childless couple an incredible gift, but society should not be telling her: ‘You can’t to this! You are not strong enough!’ What they should be saying is: ‘You’ve got this! We are here with you, and we support you!’”

No woman freely chooses to kill her child, but does it because society has failed her in some way, Meg maintains.

Society needs to empower women to be mothers by supporting them with maternity leave, health care, a salary to afford childcare and other benefits.

Meg loves how Pope Francis has elevated women to positions in the church hierarchy with teaching

authority. Women do not need to be priests to have authority or power, she maintains. Priesthood is, after all, not about power; it is about service.

Meg does not own any make-up; she does not know how to style her hair; and does not have any particularly nice clothes because it’s not something she loves. She claims she is comfortable being who she is.

Women can get all glammed up if they are doing it because they enjoy it and not because it is the only way they can be recognised by society. Any time a woman feels she has to act, dress, speak, or perform in a certain way to earn the right to exist as a woman because she feels society is forcing her to, it is an issue.

For Meg, to be noticed, a woman doesn’t always need to be strong and intelligent, sexy and successful, with her 2.4 children, a Pinterest house and everything organic made from scratch.

She advocates that women be treated fairly and paid equally, supported during pregnancy and parenting.

Meg is beyond the point where she makes plans for the future, because whenever she does, the Lord has something else in mind. She expects that there is a perfect job for her out there, which does not involve a nomadic lifestyle, but she doesn’t spend much time trying to figure out what it is.

“Mine is not a human way of living and I do not recommend it. This way of living is very hard and ruthless, but a supernatural grace sustains and strengthens me to carry on,” Meg says.

She wanted to give up public speaking last spring, feeling completely weighed down and on the brink of physical and mental exhaustion.

But just then, a friend called her and asked if she could stay at her father’s house and take care of it until she was able to sell it as he had moved into a home. Meg was overwhelmed with joy – she was just about to quit and God gave her a home for five months to have a break and try and be human again.

After those five months, she felt restored and could keep doing what she does. After all, God encounters us in the scriptures and says: “Follow me!” He does not say where…

Pink December 2019 ∫ 23

LIFESTYLE

Dream big At around six, Julia Gauci was already talking about becoming a professional ballerina. VANESSA CONNEELY learns not only about the talented 11-year-old’s commitment to succeed as a dancer, but also about her parents’, and their unstinting input to help her achieve her goals.

26 ∫ Pink December 2019

LIFESTYLE

W

hen you step into the ballet school lobby, Unlike Elena, Julia has a large network of people who the sound is deafening. Squealing young support her. As well as holding down full-time jobs in HR girls in white leggings, black leotards and and finance, her parents have built their whole life around hair scraped back in perfect buns giggle nurturing her talent.

“We encourage her to eat right,” continues Alan, “but it’s and shriek as they wait to be picked up, high on the easy for us as she’s very disciplined. She doesn’t drink soft endorphins of an energising dance class. drinks; she drinks only water, sometimes iced tea, or juice.

Down the hall, the mood is calmer. As you approach the She eats well. Myself and my wife go to nutrition seminars door of a bright, white, minimalist dance studio, the familiar and we speak to her teachers about what she should be tones of a tinkling piano play the opening theme tune to the consuming. She actually prepares her food herself.

Harry Potter movies.

“Julia uses her tablet to watch how other ballerinas live Inside is 11-year-old Julia Gauci. In this space, she has and eat. She has an idol and she follows her. She knows she the freedom to mix and match her two great passions – has to take good care of her body. Obviously, you need to be ballet and books. light and stretch. If Julia is dancing with a boy as a pair, he “I absolutely love Harry Potter. I read all seven novels in needs to be able to catch her. It’s about having a certain level two months, which is why I have chosen this music for my upcoming audition piece.”

The audition Julia is referring to is just one of several she has taken part in so far this year. She and her father Alan travel to the UK to dance in National Youth Ballet’s performances in Birmingham and London. Going abroad allows Julia to get one step closer to her dream of becoming a professional ballerina.

But big dreams, often come with a big price tag, a concept Alan and his wife Diandra have had to get their heads – and their bank accounts – around.

“Do you really want to know how much it costs to train a child in ballet…” Alan says, laughing. “Since January, we’ve spent almost €20,000. Last year, it was about €9,000, but this year, with lessons, uniforms, tuition, travelling abroad, lessons abroad, auditions abroad – it’s adding up.

“Last year, we didn’t get any help, but this year, we have managed to find our feet a bit. We have received some funding from the Bank of Valletta Joseph Calleja Foundation, where Julia is now a scholar. We also got BUPA Malta to sponsor us and have gotten aid from Arts Council Malta. We were also lucky enough to receive an anonymous dona“WE TRY AND BUILD A HOLISTIC FRAMEWORK tion from a retired businessman, which really AROUND HER. IT’S A LOT OF SACRIFICE, BUT helped. We now have managed to cover more than FOR US WE ARE HAPPY TO HELP HER IN 50 per cent of our cost.”

WHATEVER WAY WE CAN” That kind of support for a budding ballerina was not around when Julia’s teacher Elena Bickle was of body weight and physique, as well as a good diet, with carving out her career just 10 years ago. The 28-year-old had carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins. But of course, she has the to actively sneak off to Manchester to audition at the Northern odd ice cream here and there!

Ballet School to try and secure her space in the spotlight.

“We have also hired a personal physiotherapist so that “It was very difficult for me as my parents wanted me to when she needs a massage, she can have one. So, we try and work in IT and were totally against me becoming a dancer. build a holistic framework around her. It’s a lot of sacrifice, At 16, I asked them if I could audition in the UK as I needed but for us we are happy to help her in whatever way we can.” their signature and consent, but they refused. So, I waited But no matter how many people Julia has spurring her until I was 18 when I didn’t need their permission. Then I on – the mammoth goal she has set herself rests solely on went to England and auditioned without anyone knowing. her petite shoulders. “The hardest part is trying to make it I didn’t even tell my dance teacher as I would have felt too look so easy,” she says. bad telling her, when I hadn’t told my parents. I got in.

“Even if you have a blister on your foot, you have to smile.

“When I came back to Malta and told my parents I was Sometimes, I have one of those lazy days, but I know that if leaving, they weren’t very happy, but I think later on in life, I work hard enough every single day, then I will achieve they were impressed with what I did. Thankfully, we can what I want to achieve someday.” laugh about it now.”

Pink December 2019 ∫ 27

LIFESTYLE

Julia Gauci can lean on her father, Alan, who supports her big dream.

“WE’RE THE TYPE OF PARENTS WHO TRY AND HELP HER ACHIEVE HER DREAM, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, ALSO SHOW HER REALITY” Julia stays motivated by following other ballerinas on Instagram – a reminder that this extraordinary child is still an ordinary pre-teen girl. “There are many of the dancers I follow who can do things I am working on and trying to achieve. If they can lift their leg up 180 degrees, then I am going to work every day to do the same thing, so one day, I can be as beautiful as they are.”

As well as the physical demands, there’s no doubt that the path Julia has chosen to dance is mentally challenging. So, how would her parents best describe her? “Inside she is very soft,” adds Alan. “She likes to help everyone, sometimes even before helping herself. However, she is very determined. At six or seven, she started talking about becoming a professional ballerina. We weren’t convinced she had the discipline at first, so we enrolled her in a jazz dance class. But after about two months, her teachers called us in and told us they believed she could do well as a ballerina.

“We’re the type of parents who try and help her achieve her dream, but at the same time, also show her reality. So, we’ve prepared her for both scenarios. We are giving her all of this exposure because that’s what she wants – and she seems to be showing promise. We want her to know that route. But we’ve also helped her build a back-up plan. She is an A student.

She does very well academically, she studies, she reads a lot, she’s very artistic and can create crafts out of nothing.”

Julia trains every day between 6 and 9pm – something that’s not easy for an 11-year-old. So, from Monday to Saturday, her day mainly consists of school, homework, eating, followed by three hours of training.

“We are so proud of her and are happy to help her in whatever we can. But the moment she says it has become too much, or she wants to change direction, we’ll discuss it and make sure it’s the right decision for her.”

Elena was Julia’s teacher for two-and-a-half years. It was a pleasure to watch them work together and the bond of mentor and student was something you could feel in the air. “I believe people like Julia are born to be dancers,” Elena says. “She’s very 28 ∫ Pink December 2019

ambitious, which is something you can’t teach. I can show lots of students the technique and I can share the love I have for dancing with then, but with someone like Julia, it is different.

“If you want to be a professional ballerina, it takes so many hours in a day, even from a young age. Everything you do has to revolve around this one element… whether its dietary decisions, where to go to school, or your social life.

It’s very different from everybody else’s. It may be difficult at times, and sometimes, people go through phases where they are not even sure if it’s what they want to do, but it’s the love and ambition for this special art that makes you stick with it. Whenever you have to choose dance or something else, you’ll almost always choose dance.”

It seems like nothing about Julia is average, including her height, which currently stands at 1.50m [4.9 feet], making her taller than most Maltese girls her age. But that pressure to continually stand out is compounded when the competition switches from being national to international.

“In Malta, there might be only one or two at her level, but when she’s abroad she could be in a class of 20,” says Alan.

“This makes her feel both anxious and excited. In February, I went to the UK with her for a first round of auditions to dance with a national company. She was the only Maltese ballerina to make it to the second stage in April. As she progressed, she started to get over her nerves. She was among the crème de la crème in her category, where only 30 girls were picked out of around 300. She was nervous, but she danced all day and was chosen.”

Julia is determined to keep practising and stay focused on her goal to follow in the ballet shoes of her idols, such as Russia’s Natalia Osipova. “She’s one of the best dancers in the world,” she says. “When she was young, she trained at the Bolshoi. She’s my idol because when she got old enough, she made her own path. Yes, she listened to her teachers, but she was also more independent and did her own thing, which is how she became a professional ballerina. She was the best that she could be every single day.”

ARTYFACTS

THE PRINCESS OF BALLET One hundred years ago, a Russian princess fled the revolution seeking refuge in Malta. Having trained in Paris in the early 1920s, she would become the matriarch of ballet on the island, inspiring generations of dancers, including Dr Kathrina Farrrugia Kriel, who has now written a book about her. She tells ADRIANA BISHOP how Princess Nathalie Poutiatine gave Maltese ballerinas a gift: the love of dance.

T

his is no tale of fiction, although it has all the hallmarks of one: a Russian princess, exquisite costumes, a dramatic escape into forced exile, Paris in the Roaring Twenties, romance, high society in post-war colonial Malta. It is a story of how an artistic legacy was born in a very different era, but continues to bear fruit today. It is also a reflection of the development of the island’s sociocultural history across the decades after World War II. Dr Kathrina Farrugia Kriel was barely a toddler when Princess Nathalie Poutiatine died in 1984. She had yet to don her first tutu and take her first steps on the dance floor, but she was already “in love with ballet”. Following years of ballet instruction with Poutiatine’s former student Daphne Lungaro-Mifsud and now forging an academic career as Head of Research in the Faculty of Education of London’s Royal Academy of Dance, Kathrina found herself going back to her Maltese roots to explore how the art of ballet developed in Malta.

32 ∫ Pink December 2019

Princess Nathalie Poutiatine with Wiffy, her Jack Russell, in Sliema, c.1940.

Courtesy of Tanya Bayona

“There are no books on the history of Maltese ballet,” she points out. “There was a gap and I couldn’t ignore it. I remember my former teacher and principal, Ms Lungaro-Mifsud, telling me that this project could be on borrowed time as people were getting older. My eldest interviewee was nearing 90, my youngest is in her 50s and one sadly passed away before the book was completed. I was struck by the absence of this history that needed to be written.

I could see the narrative of the book through the old photographs: an imaginary world that I could never go

back to, but that people had lived, and I wanted to meet them.”

The Poutiatine Project, as it became affectionately known, took five years of painstaking research, interviews and digging through decades-old archives, teaching notes, show programmes, photographs and other memorabilia.

The arduous task of identifying those little girls in the old photographs was made easier thanks to the power of social media and the benefit of a small country where everyone knows everyone else.

It is fitting that the resulting book is being published on the 100th anniversary

ARTYFACTS of Poutiatine’s arrival in Malta as a 15-yearold princess fleeing the aftermath of the Russian Revolution in 1919. She had witnessed first-hand the machinations of the revolution as Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich hid in her family home on Millionaya Street in St Petersburg in March 1917, and woke up to find his brother Nicholas II had abdicated in his favour. He would never assume the throne and the Tsarist era would come to a bloody end soon after. Most of Russia’s noble families emigrated during the Civil War that ensued, including the Poutiatine family.

She stayed in Malta until 1921, moving to Paris to continue her ballet training with acclaimed Russian teacher Lubov Egorova and staying there till 1926. While recovering from a chest infection and waiting to see if she would get a place in

then that Poutiatine returned to Malta and settled here.

“I think her parents did not want her to be a ballet dancer,” explained Kathrina.

“Her parents didn’t see it fit for a girl of her social standing to be with ‘commoners’ as it was typical of performers back home in St Petersburg and Moscow. Whether they approved of her teaching career I don’t know, although her mother did recognise her daughter’s love for dance and music.

“Malta gave her an opportunity to do what she loved best. She strived for that level of training she had received in Paris and gave dancers in Malta the opportunity they never had. She tried to elevate ballet training from a hobby to something further. She imparted a very high level of training.”

[From left] Marie Rome Camilleri, Clarissa Gatt, Jennifer Gaunt and Sheila Mamo in Claire de Lune [1953], performed at the Radio City Opera House, Hamrun.

Courtesy of Sheila Mamo

“AS A PERSON, SHE MUST HAVE BEEN WARM. BUT THERE WAS NO NONSENSE IN HER CLASS” the ballet company of celebrated star Anna Pavlova, or in Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, Poutiatine received a marriage proposal from her Maltese friend, Edgar Tabone. The couple got married in Rome in November 1927, but it is unclear whether her parents approved of the match. Documents reveal that they were not present at their daughter’s wedding; rather, her aunt and uncle witnessed the ceremony. It was

And it certainly paid off. Poutiatine’s teaching became a byword for quality and the highest of standards, a legacy that continues to this day through her students, some of whom went on to open their own ballet schools and now on to the next generation of teachers taught by students of Poutiatine.

“By the early 1950s, former Poutiatine students were teaching ballet themselves.

Irene Cox was teaching at St Dorothy’s

School in Mdina after the war; Jane Selvagi was teaching at Graham Street in Sliema in the early 1950s. In fact, it was Selvagi who told Ms Lungaro-Mifsud that she should send her daughter Daphne to be trained by Poutiatine because she spotted her talent. The very good dancers went to Poutiatine,” said Kathrina.

If her parentage as a member of the Russian aristocracy and her professional training gave her a certain awe-inspiring aura, there was another side to her that Kathrina tried to bring out in her book.

“One of the things that happened through this project is that I met so many wonderful people, who were a reflection of what Poutiatine was to them. They were so open and warm and willing to welcome me in their homes to share their story, and that reflects what Poutiatine was about. As a person, she must have been warm. But there was no nonsense in her class. Her students told me there was discipline in her class: you had to be smart when you turned up for a lesson; you had to follow the routine and protocol. There was a sense of decorum and they had to curtsy to her. But I was struck by how much they loved her.

“The opening of the book refers to the idea of mothering,” continues Kathrina.

“She had no children of her own. Her ballet school was her extended family.”

During the five years of research, Kathrina managed to track down several of Poutiatine’s students whom she identified through old photographs. “I feel I got to know these young girls in the photographs, but when they opened the door, they were now adult women. Sadly, one of my interviewees has now passed away and this made the process very humane. It upset me a lot because she was so keen to see the book completed.

It reminded me how dance meant a lot to these women and that Poutiatine meant a lot to them too.

“They were nostalgic. A lot of them started out by telling me they had nothing to say; that it was all such a long time ago.

Then it was like opening the floodgates.”

Although we tend to think of ballet as being a predominantly female world, Poutiatine also trained the occasional male dancer in Malta. Kathrina identified one man in particular, Lino Grech, who took lessons with her.

“My late grandfather recognised him in the photograph. He remembered that, Pink December 2019 ∫ 33

ARTYFACTS as young boys, they sadly used to mock him for taking ballet lessons. I managed to trace him thanks to contacts through acquaintances and Lino’s daughter sent me photos of her father dancing.”

Kathrina matched up the newspaper clippings of the review of charity events that took place during the latter stages of the war with the photos of Grech dancing with Joan Abraham in the summer of 1944.

She also found a letter he had written to the celebrated Sadler’s Wells ballerina Margot Fonteyn in May 1944, together with her gracious reply written in June of that year.

“I would have loved to have met her.

I feel like it was meant to be,” says Kathrina wistfully.

Apart from tracing the history of Poutiatine’s work, the book is also a reflection of and on Malta between the 1930s and the 1970s, in particular the change in cultural attitude towards ballet, which started out as being exclusively for the well-to-do families in the early decades of the 20th century through to the 1970s, where different social groups found it more acceptable and affordable to go to ballet classes.

“In her first year of teaching in Malta in 1930, the young students were all British nationals. The oldest were young women she knew socially through her husband’s family connections, for example Lola Francia, who lived in Palazzo Ferreria in Valletta opposite the Royal Opera House.

These young women, including Mary Scicluna, were mostly girls from well-todo families who lived in Valletta and had summer houses in Sliema.

“Poutiatine was not the first, nor the only, ballet teacher in Malta. In the 1930s, Chiswick House School employed a ballet teacher who gave classes in ballet and other dance styles. In the 1950s, many more were teaching ballet. However, the other teachers were not as prolific as Poutiatine, and of course, none had the pedigree she had with her training in Paris with Egorova. I suspect that training is what elevated her and her school and why she used words like ‘Russian Academy’ to describe it.”

Poutiatine had the first purpose-built ballet school with a studio that was the same size as the Royal Opera House stage. The school, in what was then known as Tigne Terrace in Sliema, today’s Matthew Pulis Street, was built for Poutiatine by Dr Giuseppe Pace, 34 ∫ Pink December 2019

Kathrina Farrugia Kriel Photography: Hayley Bray

a well-known lawyer who would, in today’s terms, be known as a ‘property tycoon’ of that era [Paceville is named after him]. Tigne was also the same area that she had stayed in when she first arrived in Malta back in 1919, and the studio, with its residence above it, remained in use long after she died.

“I remember taking my Royal Academy of Dance vocational exams in that studio when I was 14 years old,” says Kathrina.

“The ceilings were substantially high, giving the room an airy feel. Tanya Bayona kept the studio in the same pink hues that Poutiatine had used. It was beautiful.”

Valses des Roses [1961] at the Manoel Theatre, Valletta.

Courtesy of Tanya Bayona

Ballet classes did not come cheap and were only within the means of the wellheeled. Poutiatine famously engaged only the best designers to make the costumes, including the renowned Madame Manfré and Signor Paolo Russo. Talented dancers would attend lessons twice a week on top of private classes. One student who used to commute from Qormi for the lessons was the daughter of a state medical doctor. The lessons and costumes were “costly”, often amounting to the cost of a months’ salary.

“Poutiatine’s costumes were made of silk, with beautiful folds in the fabric and

“ONE WOMAN KEPT ALL HER COSTUMES OVER THE 10 YEARS SHE DANCED WITH POUTIATINE. IT WAS INCREDIBLE TO SEE JUST HOW WELL THEY HAD SURVIVED. THE VIBRANCY OF THE COLOURS WAS JUST STUNNING” By 1933, there were young Maltese families such as the Micallef Eynaud girls joining Poutiatine’s school and Maltese names started appearing on events programmes. In the 1940s, there was still a strong presence of British girls in the programmes, but there were just as many Maltese girls too. By 1949, Kathrina notes there was a very different cultural attitude. A lot of Maltese wanted to dance, and ballet increased in popularity among the upper and middle classes throughout the 1950s.

“I call this the ‘ballet boom’. From 1952 onwards, the programmes have a crazy amount of students increasing exponentially from 30 to a production of 50.”

intricate embroidery or beading on the skirts. I have been able to trace some of the costumes. Some people have kept them in boxes in their houses and I was struck by how some of them couldn’t part with them. A few have recycled them into carnival costumes and that broke my heart. One woman kept all her costumes over the 10 years she danced with Poutiatine. It was incredible to see just how well they had survived. The vibrancy of the colours was just stunning,” remarks Kathrina.

Though happily settled in Malta, Poutiatine never forgot her motherland, and her sense of nostalgia for the old life in pre-revolution imperial Russia was

ARTYFACTS with that of the rest of the world. It is also dedicated to all those little girls and boys who are taking their first dancing steps into this beautiful world of dance.

“This book was written for those who were part of her story, but it was also written for the young boys who may aspire to dance and for little girls, like my six-year-old niece, who are yet to learn about their local ballet histories; of this wonderful woman who had such a vision to professionalise dance training in Malta,” Kathrina concludes.

MEMORIES OF A “VERY FINE AND GRAND LADY” Joy [standing] and Helen [sitting] Micallef Eynaud in Ballet Chopinana [1933] photographed at the Grand Studio, Valletta.

Courtesy of Susan Rizzo

evident from her choice of repertoire, including ballets such as The Nutcracker.

“She drew huge inspiration from that period and aspiration too. She really wanted to be part of that world,” says Kathrina.

The book, which is being published by Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti, has been a remarkable journey for her, but also nostalgic for all those who have been touched by the legacy of Poutiatine. It aims to connect Malta’s ballet history

One of the doyennes of Malta’s ballet world, Bayona was not only a student of Poutiatine, but would later become her business partner when their schools amalgamated in 1981 to form the Tanya Bayona-Poutiatine Academy of Ballet, which she directed until 2004.

As custodian of the Poutiatine legacy, Bayona has a treasure trove of photographs and other memorabilia, which proved invaluable for Kathrina’s research. She still has vivid recollections of the Princess, remembering her as a “very fine and grand lady”.

She was “graceful and gracious, always portraying confidence and making people feel at ease in her company,” recalls Bayona. “As a female, she was very avant-garde for her time, taking a leading role in the cultural scene in Malta in the 1920s and for the next five decades.

“Princess Poutiatine had a strong character, with a firm philosophy that beauty and love of nature nurtured the soul with refinement and spiritual growth. She was passionate about dance and the arts and she taught all her students how to appreciate beauty.

She was loyal to her family in both tradition and family love, and showed great respect for her carers. She was also very knowledgeable in the arts, having had a very fine education in Russia and Paris, besides being aware and informed on world affairs. I always enjoyed being in her company and felt inspired by her conversation. Indeed, Princess Poutiatine was a lady of fine human values instilled in her since her childhood.”

Bayona started lessons with Poutiatine at the tender age of five and, quite understandably, she found her first day in that grand studio quite overwhelming. “I burst into tears, to my mother’s dismay,” she says. “Dear Princess was so patient and consoled my mother that I would settle down, which I did after a few classes and never looked back.

Dance was to become my life.”

She remembers her as a woman of “extraordinary beauty” who combined discipline with creative imagery in her teaching. “Her classes were full of imagery. She would make us imagine a delicate butterfly landing on our hand, teaching us from an early age the importance of graceful arms and hand movements. She often spoke of nature, the beauty of birds and autumn in her homeland.

“I was taught discipline was essential and part of our training. We had to walk into the studio with great decorum and had to curtsey as a sign of respect towards Princess as a teacher and in acknowledgement of her nobility, a long- standing tradition in the royal courts of Europe.”

In the last few years of her life, Poutiatine became Bayona’s business partner when their two schools were amalgamated. “As a business partner, she was professional and inspiring. She was very happy that I was to continue her legacy of dance in classical ballet. We would spend many hours together, often over lunch in her awesome dining room, discussing the future of the academy under my direction.

“The importance of teaching discipline, elegance and beauty of the classical art always dominated our discussions. She would often refer to the elegance of the dancers from the French Paris Opera Ballet company, of which she had experience during her time living and studying in Paris.

“I can say she was a true loyal friend to me, valuing my friendship and loyalty to her cause.”

Her teaching style was based on the imperial Russian system and influenced by the Cecchetti method, which she learnt directly from the maestro himself.

“We would practise an endless amount of retiré at the barre, turning out at the hip at 180 degrees; limbering at the end of barre work was essential.

Pink December 2019 ∫ 35

ARTYFACTS

Daphne Lungaro-Mifsud aged 18, having just returned to Malta and opened her ballet studio in Sliema, following her training in the UK.

“Her knowledge and style of the romantic period in ballet was exceptional.

Her close association with the teachings of the Cecchetti method was visible through her teaching of allegro. She loved ballon and we would do an infinite number of jetés, assemblés en avant, en arriére. She had numerous sheets of hand-copied music, which she must have practised with her teachers in Paris.

“As a choreographer, she worked with us very methodically, coming into class with her notes and variations all written out. She was very patient, putting together the steps she had choreographed and repeating them till we acquired the technical standard and style she wanted, especially in character dances such as a mazurka, or Russian dance.

“I particularly remember the solos she had choreographed for me, a mazurka, a Turkish solo for Maestro Carmelo Pace’s opera Caterina Desguanes, a Greek classical dance and a tarantella among many others. Her emphasis on expressive quality established my style as a professional artist.”

It seems that Poutiatine’s dream of seeing ballet flourish in Malta and grow beyond its shores is coming true. “I remember her words advising me to ‘bring Europe to Malta’. She knew what it takes to become a professional and had always guided us the right way,” remarks Bayona.

“The evolution of dance in Malta over the last century is largely due to her influence and her dedication to passing on the beauty and magic of dance to the 36 ∫ Pink December 2019

evident in my auditions to the four best ballet schools in England at the time.”

Lungaro-Mifsud remembers she often wore solid, pastel-coloured dresses, always paired with a scarf around her neck and sometimes a satin ribbon in her hair. “She kept a small porcelain bowl with individually wrapped Perugina sweets and, occasionally, I would be offered one after my private lesson,” she says.

“Princess always joined her audience front of house to watch her productions from the front and left all the backstage headaches to others, but would graciously appear for the curtain call, holding a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

“I would always visit her during my holidays back in Malta and she was kept informed of my progress and my

“PRINCESS ALWAYS JOINED HER AUDIENCE FRONT OF HOUSE TO WATCH HER PRODUCTIONS FROM THE FRONT AND LEFT ALL THE BACKSTAGE HEADACHES TO OTHERS, BUT WOULD GRACIOUSLY APPEAR FOR THE CURTAIN CALL, HOLDING A BEAUTIFUL BOUQUET OF FLOWERS” Maltese. In addition, the dedication and hard work of the Maltese and foreign pioneers deserves praise as we move into the 21st century, taking dance to greater heights with vision and determination.”

“A ROYAL PRINCESS WHO COMMANDED RESPECT” Another of the matriarchs of Malta’s ballet, Lungaro-Mifsud trained with Poutiatine for five years and still has very vivid memories of the princess “who by her very presence commanded respect”.

She was her pupil from the age of five to 10 after which she left for the UK to attend Grandison College in Surrey, having received a seven-year scholarship for dance and general education.

“This scholarship would not have been possible had it not been for the training and support I received from Princess Poutiatine. Besides my regular classes, I also had private tutoring with her, and I believe that notes of these lessons, prepared by her, are still in existence. She worked me very hard even at such a young age and expected complete dedication from me. My parents were told that this was very

successes by my late father, Emanuel Lungaro-Mifsud, who had continued helping backstage in her theatre productions long after I left for the UK.” Poutiatine lived in an apartment above the ballet school and Lungaro-Mifsud still remembers sitting in her informal sitting room, which, at the time, commanded views across the whole of Sliema Creek.

“I have a very vivid memory of when my parents and I were invited for an Easter family tea at her home,” she continues.

“Princess Olga, her mother, was also present. It was my first experience seeing beautifully decorated hardboiled eggs displayed on the table, and at some point, we each picked one up and hit it by to the person sitting next to us. I believe I was told that whichever egg did not crack, that person had the strongest character.”

Daphne received private French lessons from Princess Olga “to improve my accent… I feel very privileged to have been one of her pupils to whom she passed on her love of dance and the arts,” she says.

Princess Natalie Poutiatine: The Art of Ballet in Malta [1930-1965], edited by Dr Kathrina Farrugia Kriel, with contributions by Tanya Bayona, is being published by Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti in March. https://poutiatineandtheartofballet.wordpress.com

WOMANKIND

THE AGENT

Diana Rowden’s work as a wartime spy lasted only five months. Betrayed by a double agent, her heroism was eclipsed by the more spectacular exploits of others. But MARY GALEA DEBONO does justice to her heroic efforts in recognition of her bravery.

T

he Special Operations Executive [SOE] agent Diana Rowden might have remained just another name in a file of agents who disappeared without a trace were it not for the testimony of those who witnessed the atrocities at Natzweiller, a concentration camp in Alsace.

At the criminal trial, in 1946, of Peter Strauss, the executioner of this camp, various witnesses, such as the stoker at the furnace crematorium Frank Berg, and Brian Stonehouse, a prisoner who was present when she arrived, gave detailed accounts that aided in piecing together the events of her last moments.

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As one of her cousins had pointed out: “The family knew little of what Diana did and that she died tragically.”

Part of the reason for this is that Diana’s work as an agent lasted only five months. Betrayed by a double agent, her heroism was eclipsed by the more spectacular exploits of other spies.

Although her name is inscribed with others on various war memorials, it is the new biography published in 2017, written by Gabrielle Rothwell, Her Finest Hour: The Heroic Life of Diana Rowden, Wartime Secret Agent, that does justice to her heroic efforts because the written account, more

than any other form of monument, remains the best and finest recognition of bravery.

Diana was born in a well-to-do family in Chelsea, London, in 1915.

Her father was an army major, but the parents separated when she was still a child and her mother, who was a rather eccentric woman, reckoning that on a smaller income it was possible to live a better life in the south of France than in England, moved there with her daughter and two younger sons.

Life on the French Riviera was a wonderful experience for the three children. They spent their days on the beach, swimming, fishing and boating – on a boat ironically named Sans Peur – and, not surprisingly, Diana, who loved adventure and emulated her brothers was described by her mother as “a turbulent tomboy … living a beachcombing life”.

But concerned by the lack of a proper education, after a few years, the mother decided to return to England, settling in Surrey. Diana found it hard to adjust to this drastic change from a carefree life of adventure to the restrictions of a public school.

Having finished her education, Diana and her mother returned to France in 1933. She enrolled at the Sorbonne and, soon after, started working as a free-lance journalist in Paris. When World War II broke out, during the Battle of France, she joined the Red Cross and was assigned to the Anglo-American Ambulance Corps of the British Expeditionary Force, where she worked first as a nurse and then as an ambulance driver.

In 1940, when France capitulated, the British residents were evacuated from Dunkirk, but Diana did not make it in time to join the evacuation and she only managed to be reunited with her mother after a perilous journey through Spain and Portugal.

Diana felt it her duty to contribute to the fight for freedom and she joined the Woman’s Auxiliary Air Force [WAAF].

This was just a desk job, which gave her no satisfaction. She was determined to play a more active role in liberating France, a country that had a special place in her heart.

Her chance came one afternoon at the RAF hospital in Torquay, where she

WOMANKIND was recovering after a bout of influenza.

More than a hospital, this was a convalescent home, where wounded and mutilated soldiers were sent to rebuild their strength after receiving severe wounds. It was here that she met Bill Simpson, a pilot who had been badly burnt when his plane crashed. He was spending some time there in between operations of plastic surgery to his badly burnt face.

As he was also working with the French section of the SOE, whose office was based in London, Simpson was always on the look-out for women suitable for recruitment as agents.

Diana, who spoke French like a native, had an intimate knowledge of the country and showed great enthusiasm to do something to combat the occupation, was, he felt sure, the right candidate for the job. Women agents were in great demand because they could blend more easily with the native population and, being less conspicuous, were better at carrying out certain tasks.

Diana was interviewed, accepted as a candidate for the job and given an intensive course of training. She was described as “very fit and excellent with a gun”. On June 16, 1943, after saying goodbye to her mother, who had an idea of the work for which her daughter had volunteered, a car called for her and drove her to the village of Tempsford, where Vera Atkins, the woman in charge of sending agents on such missions to France, checked that everything was as it should be, gave her a last minute briefing and supplied her with a ration card, some French money and an identity card with her new name Juliette Therese Rondeau.

No detail was overlooked.

The procedure over, they waited until it got dark when two other female agents, Noor Inayat Khan and Cecile Lefort, as well as a pilot, Charles Skepper, joined Diana, and together they left by car to a small airfield. There, waiting for them, were two Lysander aeroplanes ready to take off.

It was a moonlit night, which, in the absence of sophisticated devices and without a navigator, helped the pilot to identify familiar features, such as rivers, to guide him to the exact pre-arranged place where he was to land. On the ground, people stood waiting with battery torches to indicate the correct

Diana and her brothers on the beach at Cannes.

the Gestapo, who had been tipped off about her arrival by a double agent.

She was not arrested immediately, as it was reckoned that by following her movements closely, she would unconsciously be revealing more unknown members of her circuit.

In the few months that she was able to carry out her missions, Diana proved that she had all the qualities to make an excellent agent. One of the members of the resistance in charge of the delivery of arms and ammunition by parachute stated: “She was absolutely without fear.”

It was she who managed to persuade one of the members of the Peugeot family to allow a selection of the machinery, which was used by the Germans to make tank turrets for the Wehrmacht and engine parts for the Luftwaffe, to be exploded rather than bombarding the whole factory and surrounding areas.

Eric Taylor in his book Heroines of World

“WOMEN AGENTS WERE IN GREAT DEMAND BECAUSE THEY COULD BLEND MORE EASILY WITH THE NATIVE POPULATION AND, BEING LESS CONSPICUOUS, WERE BETTER AT CARRYING OUT CERTAIN TASKS” location for landing and, soon after the flickering lights were detected, the pilot prepared to land, turning his plane to the take-off position. As soon as Diana jumped off, the plane was on its return journey across the channel. A few seconds later, the second plane with the two other agents arrived.

Diana was met by a man who, after establishing her identity, hurriedly led her through a coppice, and once out of it, acting as if he were her husband, led her calmly to the train station of the small village where he said goodbye. From now on, Diana had to fend for herself.

Her destination was the village of St Amour in the Jura mountains close to the Swiss border. Code-named Paulette, she was to form part of the Acrobat circuit, headed by John Starr. Her job was to liaise with members of the resistance to co-ordinate parachute drops of arms and ammunition.

Unfortunately, from the moment she landed in France, even as the train was carrying her to her destination, the circuit Acrobat was already jeopardised and she was already being monitored by

War II writes that the success of this operation attracted more recruits, who later joined forces and formed the 159th Regiment of Infantry and were responsible for liberating the whole area of German occupation.

Unfortunately, Diana was not to learn of this success; by then, the Acrobat circuit had been completely destroyed.

The first casualty was John Starr, who was shot by a traitor. At this point, Diana could easily have fled to the safety of Switzerland, but she never contemplated such an easy way out. Instead, together with her wireless operator, code-named Gabriel, they hid for three weeks until they managed to alert SOE headquarters about Starr’s arrest. Diana was instructed to move south, where she found refuge at a saw mill just outside the town of Lons-le-Saunier, owned by the JanierDubray family.

Informed that a new agent would be sent, Diana and Gabriel were not surprised when one day in mid-August a stranger knocked at the door of the mill and, introducing himself as M. Benoit, handed Gabriel a letter from his wife.

Pink December 2019 ∫ 39

WOMANKIND “THE WOMEN WERE TOLD THEY WERE TO BE GIVEN AN INJECTION AGAINST TYPHUS. INSTEAD, THEY WERE FORCED TO UNDRESS, GIVEN A LETHAL BUT PAINFUL INJECTION OF PHENOL, AND IN A KIND OF STUPOR, BUT NOT DEAD, DRAGGED GROANING ALONG THE CORRIDOR TO THE OVER-HEATED CREMATORIUM WHERE THEY WERE PUSHED IN ONE BY ONE. DIANA WAS 29” When Benoit suddenly returned back to town, Gabriel became suspicious and stayed in the house, while Diana carried on with her work, returning in the evening to the mill with Benoit. As they all sat chatting together, there was a knock on the door and German soldiers burst in, manacled Diana, Gabriel and Benoit and led them to prison.

The following morning, the family was surprised to see Benoit back at their house to pick up Gabriel’s transmitter, concluding that he was the double agent. The family never heard of Diana again.

She was interrogated in her cell, but she chose not to co-operate with her jailers. When her interrogators finally gave up, she was sent to Fresnes prison

outside Paris. She was regularly taken to the Gestapo Headquarters at 84 Avenue Foch in Paris for interrogation until, one day in May 1944, together with seven other SOE agents, they were taken to the Gare de L’Est, each one handcuffed to a guard, and from there to the women’s prison in Karlsruhe in Germany.

The Germans knew the war was coming to an end and that these eight women were a dangerous source of information and were therefore ‘special prisoners’, or as the Germans called them Nacht und Nebel – singled out for ‘special treatment’, a euphemism for execution. On July 6, they were given their belongings, and thinking they were about to be liberated, they

were sent to Natzwieller concentration camp.

The camp commandant asked for the help of the doctor to liquidate four of the women, among them Diana.

This doctor, later himself executed, came up with a plan to send them into ‘the night and fog’. The women were told they were to be given an injection against typhus. Instead, they were forced to undress, given a lethal but painful injection of phenol, and in a kind of stupor, but not dead, dragged groaning along the corridor to the over-heated crematorium where they were pushed in one by one.

Diana was 29.

She was posthumously awarded the MBE – later withdrawn – and the Croix de Guerre. In 2018, members of her family met the descendants of the Janier-Dubray family at Natzweiller, now a museum that houses the European Centre for Resistance and Deportation, for an emotional ceremony in which the French family donated two objects that had belonged to Diana.

SHOWSTOPPER

STAY STREETWISE

LAYERS AND TEXTURING ARE THE NAME OF THE GAME IN MODERN, URBAN LIFE Photography Matthew B. Spiteri ∫ Styling Marisa Grima [marisagrima.com] ∫ Hair Neville Roman Zammit ∫ Make-up Jean Zammit ∫ Model Adele @ Supernova MM

Cardigan, €99; blouse, €69.90; trousers, €89; beanie, €29, all Oltre ∫ bag, €450, Furla.

44 ∫ Pink December 2019

SHOWSTOPPER Top, €14.95; shorts, €14.95; bag, €12.95; beanie, €5.95, all Waikiki.

Pink December 2019 ∫ 45

SHOWSTOPPER Top, €34; scarf, €30; skirt, €42; PVC trousers, €42, all Marks & Spencer ∫ boots, €59.90, Darmanin Footwear.

46 ∫ Pink December 2019

SHOWSTOPPER

Poncho, €14.95; shirt, €14.95; skirt, €12.95, all Waikiki ∫ Celine spectacles, €280, O’hea Opticians.

Pink December 2019 ∫ 47

SHOWSTOPPER

Cape, €47.50; shirt, €40; PVC trousers, €42; bag, €37, all Marks & Spencer.

48 ∫ Pink December 2019

SHOWSTOPPER

Dress, €150; blouse, €45; bag, €35.90, all Oasis ∫ Pucci sunglasses, €164, O’hea Opticians.

Pink December 2019 ∫ 49

SHOWSTOPPER

Jacket, €79.99; top, €69.99; skirt, €45.99; PVC leggings, €45.99, all NOOS ∫ boots, €59.90, Darmanin Footwear.

50 ∫ Pink December 2019

SHOWSTOPPER

Top, €29; skirt, €49, both Oasis ∫ PVC leggings, €45.99, NOOS ∫ faux fur shawl, €24.80; boots, €59.90, both Darmanin Footwear.

Pink December 2019 ∫ 51

FASHIONSTORY From Stella McCartney’s ready-to-wear autumn-winter 2018/2019 collection.

A CRUELTY-FREE CLOSET Make a conscious choice this Christmas, says ANTOINETTE SINNAS, who has chosen the humanitarian path when it comes to fashion, and is the voice of our furry friends.

MY

daughters and I generally watch How it’s Made on You Tube – a very interesting and detailed programme, which takes its viewers behind the scenes on how everyday items are manufactured.

Generally, each episode includes how two or three products are made, with a mix of general items such as bread and jams, paper clips and sellotape, or cereal and chocolate bars.

After watching numerous episodes spread over a few weeks, we began watching a video on how silk is manufactured. As it progressed, we were horrified and quickly stopped it halfway through. Without getting into any of the cruel details, the thought of how silk is made is now etched in our minds forever and we vow never to own anything silk ever again, unless it’s peace silk.

We all know that pure silk is a widely used fabric in the high-end fashion

industry. Considered luxurious for its softness and lustre, this versatile fabric also has breathable qualities, making it fit for any season. But peace silk? What exactly is it? Well, it is a humane method of deriving silk reeled from empty cocoons, where the silkworms complete their metamorphosis into moths and escape. Only then is it processed into silk fibres.

Now, this method is not as quick as the traditional version and no one likes Pink December 2019 ∫ 55

FASHIONSTORY to keep the clock ticking, but at least, brands that want all their products to be cruelty-free have this option available.

The thought kept troubling me for days and what struck me then was: What about fur and leather? If silk could cause such pain to such tiny creatures as silkworms, who are not the cutest and cuddliest of all, what about larger animals that are killed for their hide?

I delved deeper into the matter and read innumerable articles that made headlines regarding designers who decided to ban animal fur. To my surprise, it was not just one or two world-renowned designers, but many who have vowed to go cruelty-free and chosen the humanitarian path.

Donatella Versace is one of the latest high-end fashion designer to announce that her family’s brand will no longer produce products using real fur. She has done a fabulous job keeping the brand a symbol of success, which was started by her brother Gianni, who died 21 years ago. Her extravagant and luxurious designs, which have fur such as mink, raccoon and fox as a staple on the runway, have now turned towards a more compassionate collection. Days after Donatella’s astonishing revelation, popular Italian brand Furla also decided to eschew fur.

Mega fashion mogul, Michael Kors, decided to turn over a new leaf in autumn 2018, following the footsteps of Gucci’s creative director Alessandro Michele and several other high-end fashion houses in the fur-free movement. For notable labels like these to make such a huge change speaks volumes. Gucci’s decision was certainly surprising as the brand sells one of the most successful lines of shoes – the furlined loafers.

Other massive global brands, HUGO BOSS and Giorgio Armani, decided to abolish fur in 2016. Fashion magazine Vogue announced that Tommy Hilfiger and Vivienne Westwood phased out fur from their collections back in 2007, Ralph Lauren in 2006 and Calvin Klein way back in the 1990s.

DKNY and Donna Karen’s parent company announced that, this year, their brands would be going fur-free too, thanks to a long-standing relationship with Humane Society International’s American affiliate HSUS. 56 ∫ Pink December 2019

Stella McCartney the founder and pillar of her ethical fashion brand established in 2001 delivers the message across perfectly: “As a vegetarian brand, we never use leather, skin, fur, or feathers. By taking this stance, we are proving it is possible to create beautiful, luxurious products that are better for everyone – animals, people and the environment.”

Her products are currently fur- and leather-free as she’s pushed her boundaries using breakthrough materials and synthetic alternatives.

Since 2013, the brand has been using alter-nappa for its shoes and bags.

Stella, the daughter of rock legend, Sir Paul McCartney, who is a staunch animal rights activist himself, has launched a non-profit campaign called Meat-Free Mondays.

All these brands are taking a massive leap in the fashion industry and moving in the right direction towards a more humane future. This means victory for our furry friends.

I applaud PETA [People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals], the largest animals rights organisation in the world, which has over 6.5 million members and supporters, along with the other animal rights organisations for this momentous move. Their relentless public appeals, campaigns, protests, demonstrations and numerous meetings with fashion houses have finally paid off for the ethical treatment of poor animals.

“SERIOUSLY, DOES ANYONE WANT TO BE ANOTHER CRUELLA DE VIL, WHO WAS AFTER THOSE INNOCENT 101 DALMATIAN PUPPIES FOR THE SIMPLE DESIRE TO CLAD HERSELF IN A SPOTTED FUR COAT?” The ongoing PETA campaign – I’d Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur – where most professional models and celebrities bare it all, portrays that wearing fur is not a sign of prosperity.

Kim Basinger was one of the first to pose nude before the lens for the emblematic photo shoot, followed by her daughter Ireland. Her proud parents, Kim and Alec Baldwin, are staunch PETA supporters and have also donated thousands to yet another animal rights organisation, PAWS.

The Basinger beauties trailblazed the way for other celebrities to strip down, and the world so far has gotten to view some steamy yet classy pictures of Eva Mendez, Khloé Kardashian, Pink, Christina Applegate, Olivia Munn, Joanne Krupa, Christy Turlington, Karina Smirnoff, Pamela Anderson and many more. Call it soft pornography; call it whatever you want; their billboards and magazine spreads have certainly got the message across.

FASHIONSTORY

PETA revealed that it has acquired a single share in the French luxury and leather goods brands conglomerate LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton in order to take up the effort and put pressure on Louis Vuitton to seize selling merchandise made from exotic skins, specifically targeted at their bags, belts, watchbands and shoes made from crocodile skin. It published an exposé video revealing how crocodile farms in Vietnam, which sell hide to the company, skin their reptiles alive. Knowing PETA, they will certainly develop new tactics to solicit ways for brands to become merciful to their reptile mates.

People need to start realising that buying goods derived from animals is

a totally cruel move, and more often than not, involves hideously gruesome deaths. Seriously, does anyone want to be another Cruella de Vil, who was after those innocent 101 Dalmatian puppies for the simple desire to clad herself in a spotted fur coat?

When you sport fur, you need to realise that what you’re wearing is actually ripped off the backs of animals after spending their short miserable lives inside cramped metal cages, sometimes left with the carcasses of other animals, and then bludgeoned, electrocuted, drowned, strangled, or skinned alive.

I’m not saying we go back to living like Adam and Eve with handcrafted

leafy garments. Fast forward to the 21st century! Technology has advanced at such a fast rate that the textile industry has the potential to create a vast range of innovative cruelty-free fabrics. I own a faux-fur shrug and it looks indistinguishable from the real thing; as stylish and functional. So, I don’t see the reason to exploit another life to spruce up my wardrobe, and we all need to take a stand for cruelty-free alternatives.

Models on the runway need not be swathed in fur to look glitzy; nor do celebrities have to strike a pose on the red carpet covered in mink. To me, it’s more grotesque than glamorous and the matter should not be elbowed aside. Designers don’t have to capitalise on the lives of innocent creatures.

Stomach-churning undercover footage released by PETA showed how angora wool is obtained from the angora rabbits. The video went viral and the world witnessed the gentle screams of these burrowing beauties, which changed the hearts of many, and over 300 companies have stopped the sale of angora wool.

Inditex, the massive Spanish parent company of major high-street brands such as Zara, Massimo Dutti, Pull&Bear, Stradivarius, Oysho and Bershka, decided to stop the production of sweaters, cardigans and other garments made with angora wool and to donate their remaining stock to Syrian refugees stranded in frigid weather conditions through the charity Life for Relief and Development back in 2015. It’s also pledging to make completely sustainable clothes by 2025.

A wide list of brands are among the high-street labels that have banned the sale of fur, including in Malta, where you can find affordable faux apparel and a vast range of cruelty-free clothing.

So, go ahead and buy yourself a faux leather tote bag, or an edgy faux-fur coat this Christmas, or perhaps a cosy, funnel-necked jumper for the chillier days. You would certainly be sporting a chic outfit with a clear conscience, which is morally acceptable and doesn't conceal a dark secret.

Go ahead! Make a conscious choice.

Be the voice they wish they had; make the choice they wish they could.

Pink December 2019 ∫ 57

BEAUTYPARLOUR

LET YOUR SKIN GLOW THIS CHRISTMAS Having a healthy, glowing skin is almost never a simple one-stop shop. So, here are a few simple rules to follow from surgeon and cosmetic doctor RAINA ZARB ADAMI to ensure you're looking your best this festive season.

M

y diary is already bursting with pre-Christmas catchups, two Secret Santas, pre- Christmas drinks, Christmas Day and Boxing Day gluttony, many a night of too little sleep [with thanks in no small part to my one-year-old sleep thief], a tipple too many and an irresistible array of the worst food ever.

Well, it is Christmas after all. Hello indulgence! Add to all this interminable traffic jams, along with their ghastly fumes, shopping lists from Father Christmas, and from mummy, wife, daughter and sister [all yours truly of course], and wrapping and ribbons with tinkles and bells!

You get my drift… a lovely, lovely time… But even the most organised of us [those who completed Christmas 2019 shopping in January 2019], are bound to experience an iota of stress during this most festive of seasons. In fact, its abnormal, even rude, not to. And our skin is the first to suffer the effects of this.

After all, a healthy, glowing skin is almost never a one-stop shop. It may be natural for those genetically gifted, but mainly in their younger years, and they are few and far between. The glorious Maltese sunshine is no friend, but a devious foe to our integument, so everyone has to contend with that too.

So, in light of all this, here are a few simple rules to follow to ensure healthy and beautiful skin: It’s been a fun night out; the little monsters are peacefully tucked in, the wining and dining have been beyond great, so why is make-up removal such a chore? Who cares about the white 58 ∫ Pink December 2019

pillow cases anyway? For the love of your skin, remove that make-up. Pick a routine that’s easy – and kind to our planet [ditch the face wipes].

Sunscreen always, no excuse! Use a non-comedogenic one [this won’t block pores and give you spots] and try to find one that sits well under make-up, if you are a make-up person. When possible, try to use a physical [zinc or titanium oxide based] product, as opposed to a chemically based one.

This will go a small way in helping our planet and possibly reducing some cancer risks [although this link is as yet tenuous in terms of evidence available].

You will come across all sorts of acids when it comes to skin care. Alpha hydroxy acids are excellent, and are commonly found in most cleansers, serums, toners and facial unguents.

These are a group of naturally derived chemicals [from apples and milk to name a few], with glycolic and lactic acid having the greatest research back-up. They are instrumental in the antiageing armamentarium as they aid exfoliation and promote regeneration at a dermal level.

Our dermis is the alive and active middle layer of skin that determines what we present to the outside world. Its activity is dependent on both environmental factors as well as internal influences such as hormones and age.

“PIGMENTATION IS PROBABLY OUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE. MANY TREATMENTS PROMISE TO ABOLISH THIS, BUT FEW DELIVER ON THEIR WORD” There is no end to the craze for novel skincare ingredients promising eternally youthful glowing skin. Your glow is now big business. One ingredient that has been scientifically proven to actually work is retinol, the anti-ageing exfoliating, anti-breakout superpower. Beyond the age of 30, this is a must, if it is the only investment you will make. Start in lower concentrations and work your way up. It will leave the skin tingling and some redness and flaking means it is doing what it says on the tin. This will settle to reveal a healthy skin after a couple of weeks, after the dead unhealthy cells are removed and the dermis is in regenerative mode. A foundation powder puff won’t go amiss when trying to disguise that pesky flakiness.

Pigmentation is probably our biggest challenge. Many treatments promise to abolish this, but few deliver on their word. Some lasers and chemical peels can tackle superficial pigmentation. Skin-lightening creams [hydroquinone is one of them] that work are prescription-only medications.

This issue needs to be addressed by suitably qualified medical professionals without exception.

You’ve definitely heard of hyaluronic acid – that wondrous skin-plumping molecule. We produce it naturally up until the age of 25, then our skin’s reserves are slowly depleted. It’s a

BEAUTYPARLOUR huge molecule, so no amount of slathering on the face as a cream or ingesting it as a drink will help. However, delivering it right to where it once belonged, in the skin’s dermis, does wondrous things. While we use it in its more viscous form to add volume where we’ve lost it [such as our cheekbones] or where we want it [such as our lips], we can inject it in its less viscous form uniformly into the middle layer of our skin. This then absorbs hydration and plumps the skin. In order to achieve and maintain results, a treatment every four to six weeks is recommended.

Should your plate be so full that skincare is quite frankly the last thing on your mind, there is a cheat’s way out. This is a little pre-party quick fix in the form of a light chemical peel that will deliver a quasi instant glow.

Being the self-appointed queen of nerds and, therefore, by definition a science junkie, I will refrain from proferring lotions and potions that don’t work and seemingly promise an elixir. However, some things do, and there is published evidence to prove it. A chemical peel is just that.

A form of acid is poured onto prepared clean skin, and the most superficial [dead] skin cells are loosened from each other and shed over the following 24 hours. Salicylic acid [aka aspirin

when swallowed] is one such mild chemical that can impart a fresh glow.

If this is done just before a party, keep it light, or you might look inappropriately sunburnt in December.

You’d be forgiven for recoiling in horror at the notion of a chemical peel; it is generally associated with images of redness and shedding skin that lasts days. Those are yesteryear’s peels, or deeper peels. Today’s cause skin cell detachment at individual cellular levels, so the actual skin shedding is not seen per se. It does occur, however, and should you feel inclined to spend a fair few hours following your treatment sitting on a black piece of cloth, you will most probably collect about a tablespoon’s worth of discarded facial skin cells… or you could just take my word for it. Do this every four weeks for a long-lasting glow.

It is wise to bear in mind that anything inducing exfoliation may feel a little irritant on the skin and may be associated with redness and flaking. Equally, procedures involving a needle and skin puncture may be accompanied by bruising. So, plan your treatments well in advance of cosmetically-sensitive events. You don’t want to be mistaken for Rudolph with a black eye at the Christmas party.

Treat all exposed skin equally, not just your face. Your hands, neck and décolletage shouldn’t give the game away after you’ve fooled the world with your facial youthful complexion.

Your skin provides untold protection to your body. Its damage isn’t limited to purely cosmetic compromise. The factors that cause skin ageing are the same culprits implicated in skin cancer, which we really want to avoid!

And please, when picking skincare products [and any other products for that matter], keep the environment in mind. Opt for eco-eco-friendly options. They are out there, so let’s try and leave our children a habitable world.

Pink December 2019 ∫ 59

INTHEPINK

PERFECT PERIODS

Menstruation is still a dirty word. But HELEN RAINE refuses to whisper about it, hoping no one will notice when she takes her handbag for a trip to the loo… We should be able to give a friend a tampon in public; talk about our cramps in front of men; and help women who are having trouble with periods by making it acceptable for them to speak in unembarrassed detail. We need to normalise periods, and here’s how and why.

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irtually all women get periods; they’re such a key part of the reproduction system that none of us would be here without them. Yet menstruation is still a dirty word; if women talk about it at all, it’s in low tones. We give it code names like ‘the curse’; mostly we hide it, hoping no one will notice when we take our handbag for a trip to the loo, a giveaway sign that we are ‘on’.

PAD MAN The Indian film Pad Man has explored these issues. It is based on Arunachalam Muruganantham, who noticed that his wife was using unhygienic and ineffective rags to deal with her period and couldn’t even dry them properly in the sun due to the stigma.

Slated as the “world’s first feature film about menstruation”, it follows Muruganantham’s efforts to create an affordable pad that would be accessible to all Indian women.

Muruganantham could scarcely have picked a thornier issue; his wife refused to test his prototypes and even left him briefly; he was shunned by his community. He also faced technical difficulties, eventually having to design his own machine to make pads.

However, perseverance paid off.

His product has provided sanitary protection for hundreds of thousands of women and he has sent his pad-making 60 ∫ Pink December 2019

machine to over 1,300 villages. The family now works to break the stigma of menstruation by educating girls on how to deal with their periods.

India is by no means the only country with taboos over menstruation.

Recently, a woman in Nepal died of smoke inhalation after being exiled to an outdoor hut during her period, despite freezing temperatures – she had lit a fire to try to stay warm.

In developing countries, girls miss almost five days a month of school on average because of their periods, according to the UN, due to stigma and a lack of sanitary products.

ANCIENT ROOTS Misogynistic attitudes towards menstruating women have ancient roots. The Koran says: “Keep away from women in their courses and do not approach them until they are clean.”

Even the Bible, Leviticus 15:19-33, says: “Whenever a woman has her menstrual period, she will be ceremonially unclean for seven days. Anyone who touches her during that time will be unclean until evening.” And Roman author Pliny gets a little more lyrical, saying that a bleeding woman’s touch could “blast the fruits of the field [and] sour wine”.

Jane Ussher, author of Managing the Monstrous Feminine says: “Throughout history, and across cultures, the reproductive body of women has

provoked fascination and fear. It is a body deemed dangerous and defiled, the myth of the monstrous feminine made flesh.” Women, she says, are positioned as “impure and corrupt, source of moral and physical contamination”.

BLUE BLOOD These centuries-old prejudices go some way to explaining why, even in Europe, women don’t talk openly about periods, especially in front of men. We generally do our best to pretend it’s not happening. No one hides the loo roll in a special box, despite its reference to another obvious bodily function; yet we squirrel our tampons and pads away and the thought of one dropping out of a handbag during a business meeting is enough to bring most women out in a cold sweat.

As a consequence, a 2017 survey by Plan International UK found that a quarter of girls in the UK don’t know what to do when they start their periods – that’s a terrifying position to be in. In addition, 75 per cent are embarrassed to buy sanitary protection, and almost 60 per cent have received negative comments about their moods while on their period.

The inability to be open about menstruation means that women and girls are less likely to be well informed about problems such as endometriosis, polycystic ovaries, ovarian cysts and uterine fibroids. If women don’t talk to each other, they don’t know what is ‘normal’ and whether they need to seek help. That can have significant long-term impacts on their health.

Tampon and pad ads have compounded these negative cultural norms by underscoring the idea that having a period is something you’d want to hide; women leap around playing tennis or swimming with not so much as a nod to what’s going on in the womb; even the ‘fake blood’ is blue.

Companies call their pads names like ‘whisper’ and put a foul fake scent onto their products to drive home the point that periods need disguising.

#PERIODPOSITIVE Chella Quint is a menstruation education advisor who is working to change our attitudes towards periods.

INTHEPINK “We need to seriously question … the messengers using words like ‘whisper’, ‘discreet’, ‘secret’ and ‘hidden’ when talking about periods, because it discourages people talking about and getting support for reproductive health issues. Privacy is one thing – you don’t need to shout about your period [but you can if you want to] … But some corporations … turn a big, international profit out of telling people to keep periods secret,” she says.

Quint is part of a new movement, the extreme end of which is exemplified by a viral video of Instagram yogi, Steph Góngora, wearing white leggings. As she carries out her practice, a patch of blood appears and grows.

She says that she has regular problems with leaking and wanted to normalise that, adding: “I knew a bright red blood spot on pristine white pants would make a statement in a society that rarely takes the time to actually read.” The reactions have ranged from ‘you go girl’ to death threats.

Similarly, when US musician, Kiran Ghandi, realised she was going to have her period while running the London

must look beautiful, consumable, ****able.

A period doesn’t fit into this category, so it is made taboo.” The kerfuffle caused by her marathon run taught her how deep the stigma goes.

She told ABC news: “We have a lot of work to do as a society to build together a world that is more loving and inclusive of women’s bodies.”

“I RAN WITH BLOOD DRIPPING DOWN MY LEGS FOR SISTERS WHO DON’T HAVE ACCESS TO TAMPONS AND SISTERS WHO, DESPITE CRAMPING AND PAIN, HIDE IT AWAY AND PRETEND LIKE IT DOESN’T EXIST” marathon, the options weren’t great; a pad would chafe; she didn’t have her moon cup; and a tampon change during the course wasn’t an option. So, she ran with no protection. On her blog, she admits to using this as a shock tactic, explaining: “I ran with blood dripping down my legs for sisters who don’t have access to tampons and sisters who, despite cramping and pain, hide it away and pretend like it doesn’t exist.”

She fired back at critics, saying: “Women from a young age are told that their main value to society is that they

FREE BLEEDING Góngora acknowledges that free bleeding isn’t an everyday option [presumably, those yoga pants will never be the same again]; her aim was to get us talking. Hiding periods makes them seem like something shameful or dirty. It’s also harder for men to be supportive and understanding if the basic operations of the female reproductive system are shrouded in mystery. #periodpositive is working hard to bring guys into the conversation.

Ultimately, we need to normalise periods.

They indicate that we are fertile; that we can make new life; and that our bodies are in good working order. Sometimes, they give us trouble and we need to share knowledge about how to solve those problems. We should be able to give a friend a tampon in public; talk about our cramps in front of men; and help women who are having trouble with periods by making it acceptable to talk about the subject in unembarrassed detail. And we have to make the period path to womanhood easier for younger girls.

As Góngora says: “Educate your daughters. Make them understand that it can be both an inconvenience and a gift, but never something to be ashamed about. Educate your sons so they don’t recoil from the word ‘tampon’; so when a girl bleeds through her khaki shorts in third period [pun intended], they don’t perpetuate the cycle of shame and intolerance.”

And while we’re at it, let’s have our MEPs lobby the EU to remove the VAT on sanitary protection – after all, men’s razors are VAT free.

Pink December 2019 ∫ 61

ONFORM Maja Vähä

SPARTAN AND SPORTY DAIVA REPEČKAITĖ looks into what makes a gym feminist? She meets two Swedish sisters who want the women who come to work out to leave their inhibitions outside their space and just focus on what their body can do rather than what it looks like while doing it. Getting dirty, sweating and groaning are part of the fun!

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his is a body hate free zone,” proclaims a motto above a busy training room where people lift, shake and bend, sweat streaming down their skin like it was August in the midst of chilly winter.

“You will get exhausted – I can guarantee that!” This sales pitch has been working well for Maja Vähä, cofounder of Spartan Kettlebells, a unique gym, specialising in kettlebell training.

It is difficult to imagine her being exhausted though…

The businesswoman and mother of two, dressed in colourful training clothes designed by herself and her sister, moves with ease as she welcomes drop-ins and regulars in a compact space in St Julian’s.

Everything about her physique says she can lift loads, but she says her greatest achievement was lifting the veil of perceived fragility from many

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people’s understanding of motherhood.

Numerous expectant and new mothers now sweat, groan and lift with her.

The Vähä sisters, Maja and Linnea, believe that women especially need to leave their inhibitions outside and just focus on what their body can do rather than what it looks like while doing it.

Getting dirty, sweating and groaning are part of the fun. The gym does not have a single mirror!

Maja patiently welcomes all women who walk in “just to tone, you know, not to become muscular or anything,” and hopes they will convert – fall in love with movement for the sake of it.

“Sport is not a punishment for not fitting the norm,” she believes.

THE SWEDISH WAY Sport was a joy for Maja and her entire family from a very young age. “Both Linnea and I have done lots of different sports. Personally, I have done cross-

“EVERYTHING ABOUT HER PHYSIQUE SAYS SHE CAN LIFT LOADS, BUT SHE SAYS HER GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT WAS LIFTING THE VEIL OF PERCEIVED FRAGILITY FROM MANY PEOPLE’S UNDERSTANDING OF MOTHERHOOD”

ONFORM With her sister Linnea.

people would eventually become her main source of income. So, despite having tried more diverse sports in Sweden, it was in Malta that she took her first instructor course and started training others.

“It was on my bucket list. I just like sports, I’ve always been pretty good at it, and I have never had a problem with talking in front of people. In all my jobs, I’ve always done that as well – training people,” she continues, making the connection. What started as an activity to spread her love of sport among her friends and colleagues eventually grew as more people kept joining her beachside classes.

Before diving into the world of business, Maja and Linnea opened a small garage, training people on evenings and at weekends. In the beginning, very few Maltese got hooked on the type of workout they do, but now, she says, it’s about half and half.

STARTING UP

country skiing, many years of that, gymnastics, football, floorball, ice hockey, boxing, dancing… Never in my life have I not exercised or trained, and I would miss it like crazy if for some reason I could not do it,” she smiles.

“In Sweden, everybody trains. You’re not like a fitness freak because you train every day, or if you have an interest in

training – that’s just the normal average person. Here in Malta, it’s different; people who train are really into their training; they’re different from the others,” Maja compares.

Like many of her compatriots, she started her professional path in Malta in the online gaming industry, without expecting that working out with other

I am yet to hear an entrepreneur claim that starting a business was all roses and unicorns. So, I ask Maja about her main challenges since the sisters set up shop in late 2014. Perhaps it is difficult to carve out a niche for a type of training that is so specific… Or maybe the problem is about work-life balance?

Maja does not mince her words: it was bureaucracy. Getting certified as a trainer is the easy part, but changing the purpose of the available premises – less so.

“A lot of people run into similar issues – permits, having to deal with authorities obtaining those permits, […] that’s a lot of time and a lot of papers that need to be filled out,” she says about how anxious it made her as she risked losing loyal clients.

Then off it went! “Imagine, we started in an empty room, and the next year, we had a desk and more weights, and then we got a cupboard here – so it’s always been very small steps. Now we’re where we want to be; we have the staff we wanted to have and everything is working as it should. We sell training clothes as well,” she enthuses.

After a class is over, the gym quietens down and looks larger. There are Pink December 2019 ∫ 65

ONFORM “WHEN YOU’RE PREGNANT, YOU DON’T DO ANYTHING, YOU DON’T TRAIN, YOU DON’T LIFT ANYTHING HEAVY, AND WHEN YOU HAVE THE BABY, YOU’RE EXPECTED TO JUST BE A MUM” rooms with equipment for climbing and jumping, as well as a tea and coffee table. Socialising at Spartan Kettlebells is essential.

THINKPINK IT ALWAYS FEELS LIKE HOME AT TA’ MARIJA There’s nowhere quite like Ta’ Marija to meet up with work colleagues, family, or friends during the festive season. Combining delicious food and drink with an exciting and friendly atmosphere, Ta’ Marija has everything you need for a truly unique dining experience.

Awarded for over a decade as the Best Maltese Food Restaurant, the stylish surroundings are matched by the quality of our menu and varied entertainment line-up. Plus don’t forget the Saturday and Sunday all-inclusive extravaganzas at €32.50 per person with regular shows and entertainment, and Folklore Dinner Shows every Friday and Wednesday. With its festivities line-up, Ta’ Marija promises the perfect place to enjoy a festive feast in a unique setting, with good value for money. Visit www.tamarija.com to check out the great line-up in store this Christmas, or call on 2143 4444.

SPARTAN MUMS A part of the motivation to delve into the world of entrepreneurship was Maja’s first pregnancy. “I saw a need for training for mums, for pregnant women, for mums with kids,” she points out, revealing initial shock that expectant mothers are expected to stay put.

“When you’re pregnant, you don’t do anything, you don’t train, you don’t lift anything heavy, and when you have the baby, you’re expected to just be a mum. Pregnant women are just normal people! You have to break down the stigma – you’re still a person; you still want to do your own thing; and it’s healthy to move and train.

“So, first of all, I offer training here for pregnant women.

Afterwards, I provide a space where they can meet other mums to talk about everything. And that has been one of the biggest successes; it’s something that I’m most proud of – the Spartan Mamma classes.

“Kids love being here, and to see their mums happy doing something for themselves. They also get the idea of moving – there’s not one negative aspect in this,” Maja says as her eyes light up when she thinks about her community.

But she knows that not everybody has the same ideas.

One day, she posted a video on Facebook that was criticised in ways she did not expect. “It almost went viral in a customer complaints group. It was cute, showing a lot of mums, a lot of kids, a lot of stuff going on… Some were doing handstands; some were doing something with a box; it was just nice and cosy. I uploaded this as an advertisement.”

Perhaps the critics on parenting were males. They maintained that kids have no place in a gym and that the mums were selfish! Maja invited her sporty mothers to respond, and the bitter commentators were flushed out with positive feedback.

“We got this amazing publicity, so the whole thing did us a favour in the end. I don’t see any way to put this in a negative light; when parents come with their kids to a place everybody likes to do exercise in,” Maja beams.

There are gyms everywhere, she admits as she greets one veteran client, who has trained with the Vähä sisters since there was no studio yet to call home. “Our business idea is based simply on the fact that people want to come here... So that’s what we’ve been doing all this time – really welcoming people, and of course, being good at what we do as well,” Maja concludes.

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CHRISTMAS SPIRIT Dical House offers an extensive selection of quality wines, spirits and liqueurs some of which are exclusive to its cellar. They are ideal for gifting on their own or included in one of the distinctive Dical House hampers any time of the year. Dical House is open every day during the Christmas period. Order your Christmas gifts from the Dical House catalogue or pay us a visit to enjoy customising your own. Send an e-mail to foods@dicalgroup.com; or call on 2142 4600/1. www.dicalhouse.com

PERFECT HAMPERS Are you after a bespoke hamper, filled with unusual premium quality and artisan products that stand out from all the rest?

Dical House, in the outskirts of Mosta, is the obvious choice, stocking an extensive selection of gourmet products from various countries many of which are produced in small limited batches that can be packed in a basket or box. Think ahead to enjoy the widest choice possible. Pay a visit to Dical House to create exclusive gifts and hampers based on your taste and budgets. Call on 2142 4600/1; or send an e-mail to foods@dicalgroup.com; www.dicalhouse.com

PINKPROMO

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TABLETALK

JUST OUR CUP OF TEA Following the Absolutely-Christmas Tea Buffet Table, set up at the newly refurbished Dical House Concept Store, Honey & Zest and Tettiera get together again to show us how to host an exquisite tea party this festive season.

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ea brings people together. Yet serving it is actually far from a simple matter, and the host is required to go into certain detail to turn this into a Christmas memory…

But still, there is nothing more rewarding than organising a party for family and friends and turning your home into that perfect welcoming scene.

The sky is the limit when it comes to how pretty and versatile an afternoon tea table setting can be.

Pairing tea with a variety of nibbles and cakes is fun; and the actual tea leaves can be used as ingredients to create a number of delicacies that will be sure to tickle your guests’ taste buds.

Make sure you have at least four to five types of teas on your table, namely 70 ∫ Pink December 2019

a black tea, a chai, green tea, oolong and a tisane. Tettiera’s Morning Tune is a pleasant well-balanced black tea, while Ceylon & Assam Leaf is ideal for a breakfast cup, or an afternoon.

For a strong and malty cup, choose Assam Bukhail; and for a delicate black tea, there is nothing classier than the first flush Darjeeling Maharani Hills, with its champagne-like floral liquor.

as Ali Shan, or the velvety Milky Oolong.

A must-have infusion is the Rooibos Masala, a blend that smells and tastes of Christmas with its authentic Masala spices blended with Rooibos Vanilla. It’s a blend that can also be used to create your Christmas cake this year.

As for the tisane, it must be chosen carefully, depending on your cakes and biscuit selection. Berry Compote or

“THE ACTUAL TEA LEAVES CAN BE USED AS INGREDIENTS TO CREATE A NUMBER OF DELICACIES THAT WILL BE SURE TO TICKLE YOUR GUESTS’ TASTE BUDS” Choose a delicate and sweet green tea to go with your sandwiches, such as Longjing, a delicate floral oolong, such

Lemongrass & Ginger are good options.

You can also balance all the flavours out by serving the classic Chamomile Blossom.

TABLETALK around 1 ⁄4 inch in thickness. Get your cookie cutter [I used a star, but choose whatever you want]. Place the cookies on your parchment-lined baking trays and bake for around 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool.

Once cooled, sprinkle with icing sugar.

Enjoy the delicious smell of Berry Compote in your kitchen. You will make around 40 cookies, depending on the size.

EARL GREY COOKIES Once the Berry Compote biscuits had a nice soft crunch, I wanted to make a crispier biscuit, so I attempted these and the only difference was the flour.

I used buckwheat in this recipe.

INGREDIENTS 4 tsp Tettiera Earl Grey tea 1 packet unsalted butter 120g icing sugar 300g buckwheat flour 1 egg For the biscuits 2 tbsp icing sugar 1 ⁄2 tsp cardamom Some lemon juice

Stephy Zammit from Honey & Zest has used Tettiera teas in her cookies. Here’s how:

BERRY COMPOTE BISCUITS I decided to infuse the butter with the wonderful smelling Berry Compote before attempting these biscuits and it really worked, so I suggest you do the same. Prepare the butter in the evening and leave it covered in the fridge overnight. Before baking, remove the butter from the fridge so it will be at room temperature.

INGREDIENTS For the infused butter 1 packet unsalted butter 4 tsp Tettiera Berry Compote 100g fresh raspberries

METHOD Blend the berry compote tea leaves in your blender to get a soft powder and

then add the butter and berries and mix altogether. Set aside.

INGREDIENTS For the biscuits 120g icing sugar 300g oat flour 1 egg 1 tbsp mixed spice 1 ⁄ 2 a rind of an orange

METHOD Preheat your over to 160°C, line two large baking trays with parchment paper and set aside. Cream the infused butter and icing sugar in your blender, add the oat flour and your egg and blend once more until a soft dough forms. Don’t worry if the mixture is dry and crumbly at first; it will come together.

Add icing sugar to your kitchen surface and roll out the dough to

METHOD Blend the Earl Grey tea leaves into a fine powder and then add the butter.

Whether you want to leave the infused butter overnight is up to you.

However, the Earl Grey tea leaves are pretty strong and there isn’t any need.

The taste is just right!

Preheat the oven to 160°C and line two baking trays with parchment paper and set aside.

Add your icing sugar to your butter and Earl Grey tea and blend. Add the buckwheat flour and your egg and blend once more. Once the dough has formed, place on a surface with icing sugar and roll out to a 1 ⁄4 inch thickness.

Get a cookie cutter and cut out the cookies; place them on your baking trays, bake for 15 minutes and set aside.

To glaze, just mix the ingredients together with a teaspoon and pour over the cooled cookies. Add some coloured balls for festive cheer. You will have around 40 cookies if you use a small cookie cutter.

Pink December 2019 ∫ 71

TRAVELOGUE

A MOST UNCONVENTIONAL WHITE CHRISTMAS We all dream of a white Christmas. But for ADRIANA BISHOP, her dream took a rather extreme turn.

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s Christmases go, the one we celebrated in 2013 will remain the most memorable ever for me. You must understand right from the start that I had a very conservative and sheltered upbringing, where the biggest adventure in my young life was catching the bus from Ta’ Xbiex to Vittoriosa on my own at the age of 15.

Fast forward several decades and I found myself prepping for a much dreamed-of white Christmas of a rather extreme kind. By now, my husband and I were proud owners of a Knaus Sudwind caravan, and we had already clocked several miles touring Italy, Austria and Germany with our very young children.

I was a reluctant convert to the joys of “glamping” [glamour camping].

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Initially, I couldn’t understand why anyone would choose to squeeze themselves into a box on wheels smaller than a standard kitchen and walk half a mile to communal showers.

But the caravan’s charm won me over and my little doll’s house on wheels quickly became a favourite refuge.

The children, of course, were instantly enamoured by the cosy space and happy children make happy family holidays.

It also proved to be a cheap way of exploring my adopted country Switzerland and its neighbours. And it was on a scorching hot August day, sitting outside the caravan in a campsite in Northern Italy, that I, the Mediterranean who constantly craves sunshine and never stops missing Malta, suggested to

my English husband that we should spend Christmas in the caravan on a campsite in the snow.

Having ascertained I hadn’t taken leave of my senses, we started looking for the right campsite. Winter camping is not as crazy an idea as you might think and most campsites that have winter facilities [heated showers and storage rooms for skis and boots] are always heavily oversubscribed with years-long waiting lists.

By October, we were setting up the caravan in its seasonal home on a campsite at the foot of the famous Eiger mountain in the resort of Grindelwald, about two hours’ drive from Zurich. The caravan had to be positioned before the first snows and would stay there till the end of the season the following April. From

TRAVELOGUE

“FEELING POSITIVELY EUPHORIC WITH MY NEWLY DISCOVERED SENSE OF ADVENTURE, I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO A REAL WHITE CHRISTMAS. I WAS 22 WHEN I FIRST SAW SNOW ON A JOURNALISTIC ASSIGNMENT IN VIENNA AND I STILL REMEMBER GLUING COTTON WOOL TO WINDOWS AS A CHILD TO CREATE PRETEND SNOW SCENES IN BALMY DECEMBER IN MALTA, WHILE TOURISTS SAUNTERED AROUND IN T-SHIRTS, WONDERING WHY THE LOCALS WORE COATS IN 18 DEGREES” our vantage point right at the edge of the ski piste, we spent happy hours watching skiers woosh past our caravan. Many blatantly stopped to point and wonder loudly who in their right mind would choose to camp in the snow. They’d ask us: “Isn’t it cold in the caravan in the snow?”

“No,” I’d answer. “We have heating, thank you. In fact, I insist on keeping it at a Maltese 25 degrees inside the van.”

Feeling positively euphoric with my newly discovered sense of adventure, I was looking forward to a real white Christmas.

I was 22 when I first saw snow on a journalistic assignment in Vienna and I still remember gluing cotton wool to windows as a child to create pretend snow scenes in balmy December in Malta, while tourists sauntered around in T-shirts, wondering why the locals wore coats in

18 degrees. This time, there would be no cotton wool masquerading as snow.

We were going to have the real thing, by the bucket load. Guaranteed.

As we were going to spend two weeks in the caravan over Christmas and New Year, I decided to ease my workload by preparing as many dishes in advance as possible. My parents-in-law [veteran campers to an even crazier degree] had parked their little caravan next to ours and, despite the limitations of an onboard kitchen measuring no more than one metre in width, I was determined to serve up a traditional Christmas lunch with all the trimmings.

The oven on our caravan is about half the size of a conventional one, so a full turkey was out of the question. However, a turkey crown could just about fit, while the potatoes could be roasted on the barbecue outside. Simple. My local Swiss butcher obligingly prepared the turkey crown for me, at huge expense, and I pre-cooked the cranberry sauce, stuffing [in two ways], braised red cabbage, and several other special meals for the rest of our holidays.

As you can imagine, the caravan fridge is rather small and the freezer is barely the size of a shoebox, so my father-in-law dug a deep hole in the snow and buried a large polystyrene box in which all the Christmas food was stored.

Mother Nature would be our natural freezer and we felt very chuffed with our ingenious plan.

But we had forgotten all about hungry foxes. On Christmas Eve, we woke up to find some four-legged ‘locals’ had sniffed out our food store, dug it up and helped themselves to a veritable feast, leaving a trail of half-chewed foil parcels. Of course, the expensive turkey crown had been whisked off without a trace, no doubt feeding an entire pack of foxes for the rest of that winter.

I was devastated. At that point, however, I had Christmas to rescue and a ski resort was not the ideal place to go looking for a supermarket, and especially not on Christmas Eve. Undeterred, my mother-in-law and I hopped into the car and drove up to the village to the one and only grocery store. We elbowed our way through the throngs of tourists, stockpiling chocolate, and lunged at the last two remaining chickens. Well, it’s almost like turkey, no? Christmas was saved.

Pink December 2019 ∫ 73

TRAVELOGUE Christmas morning after the storm with all the snow depleted.

A makeshift barbecue under an umbrella for roasting potatoes.

“AS WE HUDDLED SLEEPLESSLY INSIDE OUR SHAKING CARAVAN, LISTENING TO THE FRIGHTENING CRASH OF THE WIND AS IT BLUSTERED THROUGH THE VALLEY AT 120KM/H, I SUDDENLY QUESTIONED THE MADNESS OF IT ALL.” But we almost didn’t make it to see Christmas Day for Mother Nature had another treat in store for us. By early evening, the wind started picking up.

Wind is very uncommon in the Alps, unlike our windy Mediterranean island.

And this was no ordinary wind. This was a warm wind, dubbed a föhn [hairdryer in German], which can melt all the snow in a resort overnight.

That night, the föhn storm howled to biblical proportions. As we huddled sleeplessly inside our shaking caravan, listening to the frightening crash of the wind as it blustered through the valley at 120km/h, I suddenly questioned the madness of it all.

There I was, a Maltese woman [possibly the only Maltese ever in the history of the Eigernordwand Campsite in Grindewald], with my very young family in a caravan in the snow when I could easily have been in a solid bricks and mortar house on a balmy Mediterranean island. What was I thinking?

As day dawned and the wind calmed down, the heavens opened and torrential rain drowned our last remaining hope of a white Christmas. The föhn wind had decimated all the snow around us, leaving 74 ∫ Pink December 2019

Boxing Day was white again!

Boxing Day was white again.

us stranded in a muddy field. Still reeling from the food burglary and shaken by the storm, there was barely any Christmas spirit left to ignite any joy that miserable morning. Still, I had a family to feed and I was determined to make it work.

I dispatched the children on to their bunk beds, cleared all the two surfaces in the van and set about recreating a fullblown Christmas meal from scratch. The two chickens were stuffed with a mixture made of locally produced alpine sausages and, despite the pouring rain, we set up the barbecue outside to roast the potatoes in it. This was a cookery challenge that would make any MasterChef contestant weak at the knees but, several patient hours later, and despite all the odds, our feast was ready.

And as we giggled somewhat drunkenly after our delicious impromptu lunch, Mother Nature seemed satisfied that we

were up to the challenge of camping in the snow, and gave us our reward: the temperature dropped, rain turned to snow and we had our white Christmas after all.

The next morning, we woke to find ourselves buried in glistening powder snow and we would spend the rest of Boxing Day building an ice bar outside the van from which to serve hot glühwein.

Should you be inclined to follow in our mad footsteps, you’ll be glad to know that you can generally rent a campervan with your standard Maltese driving licence, and some campsites in ski resorts take tourists for short stays. If you don’t mind trudging through the snow to reach the showers and emptying your own chemical toilet, then camping in the snow is an incredible adventure. At a fraction of the cost of bricks-and-mortar accommodation in ski resorts, it makes ski holidays in Switzerland more affordable. Just beware of the foxes.