Conflict is the situation where individuals or groups involved have differences with each other. These differences may be real or symbolic, and they could manifest as cultural or societal norms, goals and expectations, values, areas of interest, beliefs, perspectives, views, and interests. Disability and the disabled body are in themselves foreign, unknown, and therefore conflictual. And here is exactly where the conflict arises. The unknown causes fear, threatens the cohesion of identity, and creates disruptions in the prevailing normative setting. It seems that over its twenty-year course (on its 20th anniversary that will be celebrated this year), DAGIPOLI DANCE Co., has created a disruption, which is the precondition for a necessary change to come. Conflict is the starting point and the means, through which others can change, toxic and stagnant relationships can come to an end, and new, vibrant, groundbreaking, and inclusive interactions can be established.
The Dance of Death, a piece conceived and choreographed by Iris Karayan, focuses on the concept of conflict in times of war – a topical and deeply evocative theme.
Drawing inspiration from the painting Der Krieg [The War, 1929-1932] by German artist Otto Dix, as well as his collection of fifty etchings and engravings from 1924, Iris Karayan choreographs a performance that intertwines political, expressionistic, and allegorical elements, combining the art forms of dance and music. Hovering between opposite poles, such as chaos and harmony, conflict and concord, tension and calmness, the performance will revitalize the Ancient Theatre of Gythio with the energy of its four dancers’ movement, creating a powerful and dense choreographic narrative based on the concept of conflict.
The piece hot dark matter, inspired and choreographed by Zoi Efstathiou, explores the transit of refugees, drawing parallels to the passage from heaven to earth. It also compares refugee reception with the arrival of hot dark matter, a whirlwind moving leftwards and carrying information, an ambiguous mass.
Hot dark matter is a programme that tracks bodies in the deep sea, a programme that delves into the Odyssey-like journey of refugees who are driven away from foreign countries. Focusing on the body of a dancer moving leftwards as they strive to move towards the light, the concepts of exclusion and integration, intergroup contact and conflict, are being shaped. The piece treads a fine line between the presence or absence of a realistic conflict that arises during the reception of hot dark matter, as the bodies clash, align, merge, experience exclusion, and move forward together.
The new work by choreographer and dancer Dimitris Mytilineos titled Afternoon dances explores a choreographic language that is characterized by a horizontal approach, less emphasis on competition, and a lack of masks.
Afternoon dances could be described as a hybrid piece that draws its raw material from classical ballet, blending it with choreographic tools of postmodern and modern dance. Under the sounds of percussion, dancers perform in various formations – solo, as duos, trios, and a quartet –, relying solely on movement and music for aesthetic expression.