Where do ideas that have never reached their final form go? The unfinished films, plays, or poems? And what about the people who leave? Where do they go? What happens to incomplete reports? Farewells that never turned into embraces? Can the trace of those absent inhabit our present, opening a window for us to look the future in the eyes? These questions inspired a performance, a piece about unfinished artistic creations that continue to fuel, like combustible materials, both art and life itself.
This work is a poetic stage composition that proposes a metadramatic and transcendent meeting ground for both absent and present creators, their unfinished works, their communities, and humanity. Relying on a fragmentary dramaturgy, the performance employs words – images, sounds, concepts, and reflections – left hanging by great “poets” to challenge itself against the existential, artistic, and political anguish of a life that passes, ends, and is cut, while also touching upon the comforting, humanistic dimension of great art.
A Sunday family lunch featuring Greek flavours that have endured over the years sparks stories about traditional dishes and their contemporary perception. As different generations meet and interact, we become aware of how our culinary traditions, as well as life itself, have changed. Moussaka, pies, dolmadakia, and the spices of the famous Constantinopolitan cuisine evoke stories of our grandmothers, while bobota, also known as the pie of the poor, transports us back to the challenging period of the Occupation and the Greek people’s struggle to survive. Traditional melodies intertwined with the bustling sounds of frying pans and boiling pots, along with stories about people and recipes we’ve all tried, create a performance that pays tribute to the meals that raised us.
Flowers have been silent witnesses to acts of sacrifice since the dawn of time. In mournful songs, medieval ballads, and folk beliefs, eternal roses are born from tales of love and blood. From Narcissus and the roses of the Middle Ages to poppies (which symbolize remembrance for World War I, among other things), flowers shape, inspire, and lead us to new stories of our own through the stories they witness. From folk songs to medieval legends, flowers appear where sacrifice leaves an indelible mark on memory.
The Alcedo Folk Band guides us through a sound and narrative journey, where folk tradition meets contemporary musical creation. The Greek and European civilizations are bridged with precious elements from folk poetry, mythology, and medieval tradition.
How does contemporary society perceive the significance of ideas? Can we put a price on an idea and sell it, as a model of life? Under what conditions and by whom can its value be determined?
Following the satirical spirit of Lucian’s original work Vitarum auctio (Βίων πράσις) and assigning the role of the buyer to the audience, this performance contrasts the philosophical theories of ancient thinkers with the culture of modern influencers, exploring the impact of the past’s intellectual legacy on the present, as well as the fate of philosophical concepts in the contemporary world and its future versions. Through stark sarcasm and humour, and a unique fusion of the ancient and modern worlds, this performance transforms into a philosophical journey, inviting us to join in, if not as interlocutors, then at least as observers.
“Tselementés,” the Greek synonym for cookbook, grandma’s old and cherished item, represents an heirloom of significant sentimental value. Browsing through it, we begin to feel a sense of nostalgia. However, as we delve deeper into its pages, what starts to emerge before us is the repression of a perhaps not-so-distant time.
The performance, inspired by the introductory texts of Nikolaos Tselementés’ Cookbook, the most iconic manual of Greek cuisine, serves as an invitation to reflect on gender roles and societal expectations.
Four performers, “good housewives,” use the Tselementés as a storytelling tool, taking turns in the roles of narrator, commentator, and acting subject while calling upon us to engage with the past and contemplate women’s position across time. Through flavours, smells, humour, and satire, we follow the story of an entire generation, along with the thread that connects it to our own.
*The performance is accompanied by Sandra Domvrou’s visual exhibition titled “Good Housewife.”
The work Spider Mother is a visual, theatrical, and musical event, featuring twelve contemporary pieces of textile art selected and curated by distinguished art historian and curator Iris Kritikou.
These twelve wefts are crafted by the prominent textile artists Irini Gonou, Maria Grigoriou, Stathis Katsarelis, Eleni Krikki, Maria Kotsou, Anastasis Madamopoulos, Pandora Mouriki, Ioannis Papadopoulos, Ismini Samanidou, Hermione Syrogiannopoulou, Ioanna Terlidou, and Argyris Chatzimallis. Fixed on unevenly-sized frames, these pieces serve not only as representative samples of contemporary textile art, but also as a standalone, total work of art, which constitutes the performance’s setting.
The texts, selected and dramatized by Giorgos Giannarakos, who also directs the show, span the last three millennia and reference Greek textile art through epic poems, mythology, theatre, literature, legends, and poetry. The songs, including both adapted traditional tunes and modern creations, all tied together by the thematic “thread” of the performance, highlight the continuity of music and the importance of textile artistry across time.
Shattered Ground draws material and inspiration from the mythical figure of Persephone, reimagined to be reaching an uncertain present and heading towards a “shattered” future. Being a suspended soul in an Odyssean wander, she descends into the present moment tasked to rebuild it anew. Two selves, the light and the darkness, reflect Persephone’s division between the living realm and the underworld. A passing from one place and time to another that nurtures change and transformation.
Choreographer and Performer Athanasia Kanellopoulou choreographs a hybrid music performance in collaboration with Composer and Pianist Konstantina Polychronopoulou and Soprano Peny Deligianni. Three women compose a scenic universe where dance, live music, and various soundscapes, all converse on stage, floating between the mythical and the real, the earthy and the supernatural, and aspiring to – potentially – redefine the identity of modern humanity.
Mother Goose: A Modern Musical Fairytale is a musical performance by the Oros Ensemble based on an original text by Dimitra Kationi, featuring a score by Ismini Bek, and narrated by Maria Tsikara. It aims at creating a new form of musical fairy tale, drawing inspiration from Maurice Ravel’s classical work, Ma mère l’Oye (My Mother the Goose). By combining elements of tradition and Greek folk fairy tales, this performance aspires to revitalize the genre and place it in a contemporary context. The Oros Ensemble adapts Ravel’s original piece for a small ensemble, engaging in a dialogue with poetess Dimitra Kationi’s original musical fairy tale Without. The goal is to harmoniously blend the past, present, and future of fairy tales into a musical performance for all audiences.
Byzantium After Byzantium explores the enduring influence of Byzantine tradition on the lives and cultural works of the Balkan and Eastern Mediterranean peoples after the Fall of Constantinople in 1453. It features original musical compositions and songs created by Kyriakos Kalaitzidis, the artistic director of the musical ensemble En Chordais, with lyrics by Vasiliki Nevrokopli and texts by notable Greek literary figures that highlight the impact of the Byzantine legacy on modern Greek intellectual creativity.
Kyriakos Kalaitzidis’ approach is the ripe fruit of his extensive experience with Byzantine music as a cantor, as well as his profound knowledge as a researcher, with a strong scientific background. His pieces have been presented at some of the world’s top music venues and released by record labels in Greece and abroad. Byzantium After Byzantium is a musical performance that creatively engages with the Byzantine past as both a historical heritage and a source of inspiration for contemporary art, offering an artistic answer to the question: “Why Byzantium?”.
Drawing inspiration from Sakis Serefas’ multi-awarded book A Dinosaur On My Balcony, the music and visual performance How Many People Fit on My Balcony invites children and teenagers on a dreamlike wandering adventure through Thessaloniki across space and time: As little Giannis, who has climbed onto the head of a rare friend, the dinosaur Saurus, wanders through the city, he discovers “how old, continuous, and diverse Thessaloniki’s history is and how the things one experiences as the present will become a valuable testimony for future generations”.
Live onstage music, presented as both an original composition and a creative reimagining of Thessaloniki’s diverse musical tradition, interacts with visual art (video) and storytelling, offering the audience the chance to gain an experiential insight into Thessaloniki as a vibrant blend of cultures and also realize the importance of preserving and respecting cultural polyphony in our daily lives.
*The performance will be preceded by a music and visual workshop for children aged 6 to 12.