Visual artist, director, and performer Rabih Mroué creates two pieces of work for Dance On Ensemble, with the remarkable title of Elephant & You Should Have Seen Me Dancing Waltz, that reminds us of a trauma shared by all humanity, a trauma that is common to everyone yet so subjective at the same time.
Elephant is a piece about human nature. Its foundation is the 316 sketches of dead bodies that the artist drew, one each day for a year. Mroué, through his collaboration with two exceptional dancers, Ty Boomershine and Jone San Martin, shows how an extremely violent event, such as a war or a crime, transforms human nature.
You Should Have Seen Me Dancing Waltz, a co-production with Οnassis Stegi (SGT), is an exploration of the border between “inside” and “outside” that underlines the civil war between these two sides, using the dancer’s body as the vehicle for an allegory.
The work will make its world premiere at SGT Athens and will provide the audience with a unique opportunity to gain insight into Rabih Mroué’s experiences of war and political struggle, which are creatively expressed by this deeply political artist.
This long-awaited exhibition is organized on the occasion of the 80th anniversary from the birth of and 25 years from the passing of Greek artist, Alexis Akrithakis. The exhibition is exclusively devoted to one of the artist’s most recognizable techniques, the "tsiki-tsiki", as writer Kostas Tachtsis named it in the mid-sixties. According to another opinion, the artist himself came up with this name, since he used it to describe the meticulous repetition of patterns, that looked similar but were actually all slightly different. The exhibition features a significant part of Akrithakis' "tsiki-tsiki" works, created from the mid-60s to the early-70s, as well as other projects of particular importance for the creation, development, and differentiation of his artistic identity and characteristic style.
The exhibition’s curators, Alexios Papazaharias, and the artist’s daughter, Chloe Geitmann- Akrithaki claim that the chosen works are governed by the same logic. Akrithakis, to convey his thoughts and express himself, used the simplest means, the ones that little kids use, such as ink and paper. No matter their size or theme, Akrithakis’ works were always political. Through them, the artist comments on the status quo, but does so in a child-like, cheerful and optimistic way.
The exhibition will run until November 17, 2019 with guided tours every Saturday at noon.
One of Bellini’s most popular operas opens the Greek National Opera’s 2019-20 season. La Sonnambula is undoubtedly a masterpiece - a musical poem - that has achieved tremendous success since the opera's premiere performance in Milian in 1831. This piece of work uniquely reflects the composer’s maturity and features the most eloquent yet unpretentious melody of the global repertoire.
The opera’s plot unfolds in the symbolic innocence of the Swiss Alps and tells the love story of Amina and Elvino. Right before their wedding, it is revealed that Amina is a sleepwalker, which causes fear and generates feelings of prejudice among her fellow villagers. However, there is a happy end, as Amina eventually leaves behind this imaginary world and returns to reality!
This incredible work was brought again to the foreground thanks to Maria Callas, who in 1955 starred in Lucino Visconti’s critically acclaimed production at La Scala, Milan. In this production, Amina will be portrayed by Christina Poulitsi and Vassiliki Karayanni, while the role of Elvino will be portrayed by Yannis Christopoulos and Vassilis Kavayas.
La Sonnambula returns to the Greek National Opera for 8 performances and is a legendary production of lofty aesthetics, conducted by Philippe Auguin and directed by Marco Arturo Marelli, who built his directing style inspired by Thomas Mann’s masterpiece, “The Magic Mountain”. La Sonnambula, a co-production of the Vienna State Opera and the Royal Opera House, is considered to be one of the most interesting stories of Bellini’s masterpiece and has been presented in Vienna, London, Paris, and Barcelona.
Oresteia, the only extant ancient dramatic trilogy, will be presented in 2 performances at Theatro Vrachon Melina Merkouri on September 20 and 21, 2019: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, and Eumenides.
An innovative and bold concept from the National Theater of Greece, the three tragedies, are directed by three female directors - Io Voulgaraki, Lilly Meleme, and Georgia Mavragani - who staged their work for the first time at the Ancient Theater of Epidaurus, achieving great success.
Agamemnon, the first part of the timeless masterpiece and the starting point of a unique theatrical experience, will be presented on September 20. King Agamemnon returns from the Trojan war, only for his wife, Clytemnestra, to murder him in his own home. A remarkable cast, including Argyris Xafis, Despina Kourti, Evi Saoulidou, Alexandros Logothetis, Stelios Iakovidis, and Dimitris Georgiadis, is accompanied by the chorus which is the true protagonist and an integral part of the whole performance.
The second part of Oresteia, The Libation Bearers, will be presented on September 21 and takes place ten years after the end of Agamemnon. Orestes seeks vengeance for his father’s murder and wants to punish Clytemnestra and Aegisthus, the illicit lovers who seized power from the legitimate king. Violence begets violence but it’s the only way for justice to be restored. The lead roles will be portrayed by Filareti Komninou and Giorgos Chrysostomou.
On the same night, Eumenides, the final part of the trilogy will be presented. The enraged Furies follow Orestes who, spurred on by the ghost of Clytemnestra, anxiously seeks refuge and absolution by the goddess Athena who stands by him and declares him innocent. The trilogy ends with the restoration of balance amidst an atmosphere of reconciliation.
