The Greek National Opera Ballet presents a modern dance triptych composed of Point of No Return by Ioannis Mandafounis, Lieder ohne Worte by Konstantinos Rigos, director of the ensemble, and Plan B by Ermira Goro. The choreographies move between classical and modern styles, giving the dancers the opportunity to experiment with new dance forms, accompanied by the music of Giorgos Koumendakis, Dimitri Terzakis and Dimitra Trypani.
Lead Donor of the Greek National Opera
Aegean Airlines
Official Air Carrier
The performance is within the summer festival DANZA AI CHIOSTRI curated by Fondazione Nazionale della Danza / Aterballetto and Fondazione I Teatri di Reggio Emilia.
Choreographer, costume supervisor: Ioannis Mandafounis
Music: Giorgos Koumendakis
Lighting designer: Christos Tziogkas
Human Behaviour_Point of No Return_Photo Andreas Simopoulos
In Point of No Return, the internationally recognised dancer and choreographer Ioannis Mandafounis composes a modern piece out of dance elements deeply rooted in the tradition of classical ballet. In tune with the music of Giorgos Koumendakis, the GNO Ballet dancers focus on the transparency and authenticity of their moves via the arsenal of classical ballet steps. Although the group experience of their bodies reveals an extremely classical choreographical approach, one may discern the personal identity of the performers as well as a particularly modern treatment of presence and interpretation of movement – obvious elements that indicate the choreographer’s regular touch.
“Guided by the title Point of No Return, this dance piece highlights classical technique as performed by a dancer of today, without falsifying it. Joy, communication, complex choreography and performing immediacy are some of the elements presented by the dancers and shared with the public,” according to Ioannis Mandafounis. Giorgos Koumendakis’ music follows the example of the “anonymous” folksong creators, “recasting or recomposing traditional musical themes while retaining their energy and subtlety, the authenticity of their primordial model, their pulse and their soul.”
The choreography Point of No Return is a co-production of the GNO and the CIE Ioannis Mandafounis. The CIE Ioannis Mandafounis benefits from the joint support of the City of Geneva, the State of Geneva and the Pro Helvetia – Swiss Art Council for the 2018-2023 period.
Choreographer, set designer: Konstantinos Rigos
Music: Dimitri Terzakis
Costume designer: Yiorgos Mesimeris
Lighting designer: Christos Tziogkas
Associate architect: Mary Tsangari
The GNO Ballet director Konstantinos Rigos bases his choreography for the second part of this “alternative journey” on three works by the accomplished Greek-German composer Dimitri Terzakis, inspired by modern Greek history and the legacy of ancient Greece. The delicate Sprüche im Wind consists of ten brief, succinct “haikus” for violin and piano. The work Der Hölle Nachklang I constitutes the composer’s emotionally charged reaction to his unbearable childhood memories of the German Occupation of Greece during his early childhood in Athens in the years 1941-1944, while the third piece, Lieder ohne Worte, is an apotheosis of melody based on the musical system of antiquity.
The composer notes: “To present the infinitesimal melodic nuances and rapidly changing characters, the interpretation of this composition may and must be endlessly free, poetic, song-like, speech-like and, yes, ‘old-fashioned’ – like in the theatre of ancient Greece.”
Choreographer: Ermira Goro
Music: Dimitra Trypani
Set & costume designer: Christos Delidimos
Lighting designer: Christos Tziogkas
Ermira Goro, a movement and dance theatre artist always in search for new forms of researching and communicating her ideas, says about the choreography of Plan B:
“Plan B is a choreographic experiment on rigorously structured, asymmetrical sonic forms. The dancers move through space in a constantly shifting flux from the particular to the abstract and vice-versa. Plan B, because Plan A proved impossible and Plan C is already taking place.” In tandem, the composer Dimitra Trypani likens her music to a “sonic impression of an imaginary videogame in a single-level environment which is to be traversed by the player. However, within this level, there are many ‘trap-rooms’ in quick, unexpected succession, often without warning. The player’s goal, of course, is to survive until they exit the last ‘trap-room’ of the game.”
The performance takes place at the Chiostro Grande of the Chiostri di San Pietro complex.
TICKETS
Single seat 10 €.
The performances at the Chiostro Piccolo at h 19.30 entitle you to a reduction on the tickets for the performances of the review DANZA AI CHIOSTRI at the Chiostro grande: reduced ticket at € 8 instead of € 10
INFO & TICKET RESERVATION
info@aterballetto.it / 0522 273016 / 334 1023554 (Whatsapp)
TICKET PURCHASE
Online www.biglietteriafonderia39.it
At the Chiostri San Pietro: from one hour before the start of the performance
