2018
COMPAÑΙA SHARON FRIDMAN
FREE FALL
13 & 14.07.2018
Kalamata Dance Megaron - Main Stage | 22:00
Sharon Fridman choreographs an intriguing dance piece for five professional dancers and twenty volunteer dancers. Falls, verticality, contact, necessity and impulse are the core elements of Free Fall, an adventurous choreography that challenges the limits of instability.
Falling becomes an infinite starting point from which an unlimited repertoire of movement occurs, as the body resists abandoning its vertical state. Strong imagery, complex and delicate dynamics generate from the repeated separating and coming together of bodies.
Natural movement is the raw material used in the composition of movement; stripped of artifice and posturing in order to find true virtuosity, an essential dance occurs, whose honesty stems from the artist’s inner connection with the material he expresses. Caught up in an endless cycle of picking oneself up again after falling, Free Fall is a stunning performance that invites us to see for ourselves if a free fall is indeed possible.
Duration: 60’
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Artistic Direction: Sharon Fridman
Choreography: Sharon Fridman in collaboration with the dancers
Dancers: Tania Garrido, Richard Mascherin, Lucía Montes, Melania Olcina, Juan Carlos Toledo
Dramaturgy: Antonio Ramírez-Stabivo
Original Music: Luis Miguel Cobo & Idan Shimoni
Costumes: MIZO, by Inbal Ben Zaken
Lighting: Sergio García, Shahar Werechson
Live Projections: Ofer Smilansky
Sound: Iñaki Ruiz Maeso
Graphic Design: oficina 4play
Video: Damián Varela, Eva Viera
Photography: Ignacio Urrutia
Production & Management: Lola Ortiz de Lanzagorta
Booking: Frans Brood Productions
In co-production with:
With the support of:
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Compañía Sharon Fridman is a contemporary dance company founded in 2006 and based in Madrid. The company's Artistic Director is Israeli choreographer Sharon Fridman whose works have been presented at numerous festivals and venues in France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, U.K., Holland, Colombia, S. Korea and Singapore among others. His works has been awarded at the Choreography Contest Burgos-New York, Prize ICC Alicia Alonso, Choreographic Contest of Madrid, International Theatre and Dance Fair of Huesca, Tanzplatform of Bern or Max Award 2015, among others. The work of the company is based on three fundamental pillars: the language of contact, the social dimension of dance and the break of the fourth wall. Many international companies include on their repertoire creations by Compañía Sharon Fridman, such as Ballet Nacional de Paraguay, Kukai Dantza (Spain), Vertigo Dance Company (Israel), Compagnie Jus de la Vie (Sweden) or Compañía Nacional de Danza (Spain).
OLIVIER DE SAGAZAN
TRANSFIGURATION
13 & 14.07.2018
Kalamata Dance Megaron - Studio | 20:00
Transfiguration is a story of the painter and sculptor's unfulfilled longing to breathe life into his creation. In a gesture of desperation he sculpts clay onto his head, burying himself in the material, eradicating his identity and becoming a living work of art. Yet the material blinds him and he is forced to look inward, into the very depths of himself.
In a fascinating performance Olivier de Sagazan changes identities on stage – from man to animal and from animal to various hybrid creatures. He pierces, obliterates and unravels the layers on his face in a frenzied search for new essence and form. In this regard Olivier de Sagazan has stated:
“I am flabbergasted in seeing to what degree people think
it’s normal, or even trite, to be alive.”
In Transfiguration he gives new meaning to the notion of life, offering a captivating, disturbing and stirring glimpse into an alternative selfhood utterly unconstrained by inhibition.
Duration: 45′
Admittance: 16 years old and over
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Performer: Olivier de Sagazan
Artistic manager: Gaelle de Sagazan
With the support of:
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Olivier de Sagazan, born in the Congo and raised in France, is a biologist by training who more than two decades ago began to delve into art. In his work, Sagazan examines his body as well as the structures which come to define the individual such as the dictates of society, culture and history. Through the creative process, he forges and then peels away the layers of clay, until a wild, primordial and liberated individual is laid bare.
Transfiguration was created in 1999, as a series of works dealing with the search for the shamanistic, animalistic and untamable essence of human nature.
We can find him, as well on stage as in movies like Samsara of Ron Fricke, tv series like Channel Zero of Nick Antosca. In video clips with Mylène Farmer, or FKA Twigs, on a fashion film with Nick Knight and Gareth Pugh.
CIE CIRCONCENTRIQUE
RESPIRE
15 & 16.07.2018
Kalamata Dance Megaron - Studio | 15.07 | 20:00 & 16.07 | 21:00
Alessandro Maida and Maxime Pythoud, the members of Circoncentrique and friends so close as breath and exhalation, delve into the depths of their friendship with the company of Lea Petra’s piano music. We are swept by a whirlwind of acrobatic poetry through the rhythm of breath and the skillful flexibility of the two performers.
This internationally awarded project, which is on tour since 2012, is inspired by the tight correlation between an event, an emotion and their influences on respiration. The bodies of the two performers become the only canvas where to draw this trinomial. Breathing is the connecting line with the audience with whom the two performers share their emotions, surprises and fears.
By using a globe, cyr wheel and balls they perform daring acts of balance reminding us that in the space of risk, where we are totally vulnerable, is where we can appreciate things with honesty, simplicity and genuine emotion.
Duration: 55’
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Creation-Performance: Alessandro Maida, Maxime Pythoud
Music Composer: Lea Petra
Pianist: Isil Bengi
Production-Communication: Cécile Imbernon-La chouette diffusion
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Circoncentrique is a contemporary circus company: Alessandro Maida and Maxime Pythoud graduated from École supérieure des arts du cirque (ESAC) in Brussels. Their debut show as a group was the 40 minute piece Les voisins, presented in April 2010 that led to the creation of a longer version: Respire. They have both participated in a number of festivals around Europe performing in shows like Roberto Magro’s Le Stagioni and Tôle, Parenthèses d’harmonie, Sylvain Honorez’s Des Astres and Eclipses, Reynaldo Rampessard’s Ce que l'on ne nous raconte plus and Guillermo Heras’s Human Rights 60. They have been awarded several prizes such as the Public and Journalists’ prizes at the Pistes de Lancement Festival, as well as medals and prizes in Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain in Paris, D’Watt Festival in Budapest, and Young Stage Festival in Basel.
Lea Petra is an award-winning pianist and a collaborator of Circoncentrique in their most recent project. Throughout her career she has won several prizes including First Prize Beethoven Chamber Music of the BPSE (London). Today she is the pianist of the group L’Orchestre du Mouvement Perpétuel, first winner of the Biennial of French Song in 2004, while she participates in various projects as a songwriter.
ULTIMA VEZ / WIM VANDEKEYBUS
GO FIGURE OUT YOURSELF
15.07.2018
Kalamata Dance Megaron - Main Stage | 18:30 & 22:00
Maybe it’s a cabaret of questions with no answers
Maybe it’s all about ‘you’
Maybe you should come alone
Maybe you’ll find your true love at the end
Maybe it’s a trip to the dark side
Maybe it’s theater’s very last funeral ritual
Maybe it’s a maze of mirrors
Maybe it’s not for you
Maybe you’ll cry
Maybe it’ll remind you that you were born naked
Maybe you should ‘fear not’
Maybe boredom is the enemy to fight
Maybe it’s all a lie and you’ll like that
Maybe it’s like another drug
Maybe it changes you with no way back
Maybe finally we are at your feet and you decide
Maybe you don’t even reach the end
Maybe it’s time to abandon yourself
Maybe others can’t describe it
Maybe you should just Go Figure Out Yourself
Go Figure Out Yourself is an encounter with the audience in an unprepared space. Five distinct characters show you a place where you can give shape to your own thoughts – simply by watching and listening to others.
Go Figure Out Yourself is an all-embracing expedition. To a driving soundtrack of words, music and dance, you are invited to surrender to an unpredictable and exciting trail. And to the power of the eye. From close up.
Go Figure Out Yourself examines the boundaries between audience and performers. By making simple moves freely in the space, you become part of a collective happening.
Go Figure Out Yourself is a performance that leaves you with more questions than answers. The slowness of the many contrasts with the speed of the individual. The total is more than the sum of the parts. Everything is as it is.
Duration: 75΄
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Direction, Choreography, Scenography: Wim Vandekeybus
Created with and performed by: Sadé Alleyne, Maria Kolegova, Hugh Stanier, Kit King, Tim Bogaerts
Dramaturgy: Aïda Gabriëls
Movement Αssistant: Germán Jauregui
Lighting Design: Davy Deschepper, Wim Vandekeybus
Costume Design: Isabelle Lhoas
Assisted by: Isabelle De Cannière
Technical Coordination: Davy Deschepper
Sound Engineer: Bram Moriau
Stage Manager: Tom de With
Producer: Ultima Vez
Co-producer: Les Brigittines (Brussels)
With the support of Tax Shelter measure of the Belgian Federal Government, Casa Kafka Pictures Tax Shelter empowered by Belfius.
Ultima Vez is supported by the Flemish Authorities & the Flemish Community Commission of the Brussels Capital Region.
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Wim Vandekeybus is choreographer, photographer and filmmaker. He is founder of Ultima Vez and belongs to the pioneers of contemporary performative and visual arts developing his artistic work for more than 30 years with a strong base in Brussels and Flanders. Vandekeybus started his career with an international success, What the Body Does Not Remember, which made him win a Bessie Award (New York Dance and Performance Award) for its innovation. He has been collaborating with artists from a whole range of disciplines with Ultima Vez nevertheless remaining true to its own movement idiom.
In 2012 he received the Keizer Karel prize from the Province
of East Flanders and a year later he and Ultima Vez became the 6th laureate of the Evens Arts Prize. 2015 sees the screening of Galloping Mind, his first full-length film. In 2016, Ultima Vez published the long-awaited book The Rage of Staging which is a visual trip through the most powerful images from Vandekeybus’ repertoire and a quest for the ideas and themes that inspire him.
THI-MAI NGUYEN
ETNA
17.07.2018
Kalamata Dance Megaron - Studio | 20:00
After touring around the world, the solo Etna by Thi-Mai Nguyen is being presented in 24th Kalamata Dance Festival evolved and matured. Thi-Mai with her small body and her immense dance is a woman of multiple talents. She dances, sings and acts creating a heartbreaking performance. She plays Etna, a young tramp drowned in her madness, a tape recorder in her arms. We can hear, through the tape recorder, the sounds of her past life, which warm up her body and her memories.
Etna dances in order to ward off fate and bad luck, to keep alive inside her breast a little spark of life. Although stuck in the mire, she still dances having a strong desire to feel, to be, and to love. Homeless people are survivors of a tough and jarring reality. They disappear behind a veil of loneliness, wandering like shadows in the heart of our cities. These people who swing over the edge of death, seem to shift the challenge of existence: it is no longer about doing or succeeding, but about surviving.
The premiere took place at Théâtre de la Balsamine in Brussels on 7, 8 and 9 of March 2018, followed by two more shows at Théâtre Marni on 29 and 31 of May.
Duration: 45΄
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Direction & Choreography: Thi-Mai Nguyen
Performed by: Thi-Mai Nguyen
Sound: Benjamin Dandoy
Sound Creation: Antoine Delagoutte
Light Concept: Rémy Urbain
Co-production: Théâtre de la Balsamine
With the support of: Théâtre Marni and Garage 29
Subvention: Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles
Thanks to: La Maison de la création, Ultima Vez, Théâtre Marni, Théâtre de la Balsamine, Marie Hossenlopp, Laida Aldaz Arrieta, Lucy Debay, Hugues Anhes
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Thi-Mai Nguyen studied at the Conservatoire national supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris from 1995 to 1999 and then in PARTS from 2000 to 2002. Shortly after she graduated, she collaborated with the Belgium choreographer Wim Vandekeybus in the company Ultima Vez, in different shows as Blush, Puur, Spiegel, Radical Wrong, Oedipe as well in the films Blush and Here After. In 2010 she collaborated with Michelle Anne de Mey in Sinfonia Eroica. In 2012 she worked with La compagnie du Hanneton of James Thierrée in the show Tabac Rouge, then in La grenouille avait raison till the end of 2017. She was assistant to the choreographer James Thierrée for the show Frôlons, a performance for 56 dancers at the Opéra national de Paris (2018).
Etna is her first solo, a short version was presented at La Maison de la création, at the Festival of Kortrijk; in 2015 at the 14th Asia Arts Festival of Quanzhou; in 2016 at Deltebre Festival, and at the Auditorium CRR 93 at Aubervilliers.
TZENI ARGYRIOU
ANΩNYMO
17.07.2018
Kalamata Dance Megaron - Main Stage | 22:00
Anonymity and privacy convert into a paradoxical reality where natural presence, intimacy and contact are progressively being replaced by digital reality. ΑΝΩΝΥΜΟ [Anonymo] researches the course of the artistic practice originally being the starting line of human connection and social cohesion up to the present digital era.
Tzeni Argyriou creates an intriguing performance, proposing an innovative movement language generated by the notions of somatic memory, human contact and team cohesion. Founded on the routes of initiation and participation rituals, ΑΝΩΝΥΜΟ attempts to create a path that connects the digital with the somatic, in search of a present space.
Quirky and multi-dimensional, interesting and amusing, Argyriou’s choreographic work introduces the audience to an abstract world where dance takes human communication beyond music or words.
Duration: 70΄
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Concept & Choreography: Tzeni Argyriou
Performers: Hermes Malkotsis, Dimitra Mertzani, Konstantinos Papanikolaou, Ioanna Paraskevopoulou, Stavroula Siamou, Nancy Stamatopoulou, Dimitris Sotiriou
Dramaturgy: Miguel Angel Melgares
Scenography & Visual Concept: Vassilis Gerodimos
Original Music & Sound Designer: Pepe Garcia Rodriguez
Lighting Designer: Vangelis Mountrichas
Costumes Designer: Ioanna Tsami
Sound Engineering: Antonis Nikiforos
Research for the embodiment of Social & Digital Media: Erato Tzavara
Assistant to the Choreographer & Production Coordinator: Danai Giannakopoulou
Choreographer’s Assistant: Amalia Kosma
Scenographer’s Assistant: Marileni Vourtsi
R&D Assistant: Danai Arsenia
Artistic Direction: Amorphy
Production Design / Executive Producer: Konstantinos Sakkas
Production: Onassis Cultural Centre-Athens | www.sgt.gr
Co-production: Kalamata International Dance Festival (Kalamata, GR) Rencontres chorégraphiques internationales de Seine-Saint-Denis (Paris, FR).
Supported by: Isadora & Raymond Duncan Dance Research Center
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Founding member of amorphy.org since 2003, Tzeni Argyriou has been generating her choreographic artwork for more than 10 years, with a focus on the integration of Performing Arts with other artistic genres. Graduate of the National School of Dance (KSOT) in Athens, she continued her training in New York on a scholarship from the Onassis Foundation.
Her previous projects include untitled, a live performance/installation presented at Fast Forward Festival 2; X – apartments, a 2015 Onassis Cultural Centre production; Memorandum, a 2013-14 co-production of Théâtre des Bernardines, O Espaço do Tempo, tanzhaus nrw and Marseille-Provence; Memoria Obscura 2011-12 (V. Nikopoulos’ archive); leas(e)nter (Kunstkapel Museum, Amsterdam 2011); and Dr. Maybe Darling (Benaki Museum 2010).
In 2006-2007, she was the Artistic Director of the iMAP project funded by EU Culture 2000 in collaboration with the top media art organisations of Holland, Germany, Greece, and Bulgaria which led to the creation of See You In Walhalla (Athens Festival, 2007).
Tzeni Argyriou’s work has been presented among others at Virtual Museum – Amsterdam, Athens Festival, Benaki Museum and Camp (Athens), PACT Zollverein and Interactions Labor Media Lab (Germany), Lugar Comum (Portugal), Tri-Angle (France), and Fringe Festival (N.Y.C.).
EDIVALDO ERNESTO
TEARS
18.07.2018
Kalamata Dance Megaron - Studio | 22:00
Edivaldo Ernesto, one of the guest teachers of the 24th Kalamata Dance Festival, presents his famous solo Tears with the intension to involve the audience in the enraging reflection on human freedom.
A man between fear and wondering, bothered by unreasonable doubts. We watch his journey through rules that become uncomfortable roles.
Discharging the rage, imploding into claustrophobic corners, he dashes into transformative reactions, unpredictable blasts of energy, delicate micro-narrative gestures and an illustration of movement figures in sensitive contrast with the music.
In an unbreakable tension between the performer and the audience, Tears reflects on what you can or cannot do when you demand liberty.
Duration: 50΄
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Conceived and Choreographed by: Edivaldo Ernesto
Music: Zbigniew Preisner
Costumes: Edivaldo Ernesto
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Edivaldo Ernesto (Mozambique) is an improvisation expert, teacher and choreographer. He began to dance in 1997 Mozambican traditional dances and after attending seminars of contemporary dance he formed as a gifted dancer, teacher and choreographer. For a period of 14 years he worked with David Zambrano in duet improvisations and other performances and touring across the world. He collaborated with Sasha Waltz and Guests Company from 2007 until 2014.
Since 2012 he also developed various collaborative projects with famous artists such as Judith Sánchez Ruíz and the film composer Hauschka. In 2018 he collaborated with Linda Kapetanea in the duet Half-the-Thruth for Rootlessroot.
He has presented his work at Bouge B, deSingel Festival in Antwerp; Tanzfestival in Kulturzentrum Tempel, in Karlsruhe; Gdansk Dance Festival Poland; Radialsystem in Berlin; Exit Festival, Paris, with German Pianist and film composer Hauschka; FEC (Fundación Espacio Creativo), Panama City; Dresdener Musikfestspiel.
Since 2012 Edivaldo Ernesto has focused in the investigation and development of his own techniques: 'Depth Movement' and 'Next Level' giving workshops all over the world.
ANTON LACHKY COMPANY
CARTOON
18.07.2018
Kalamata Dance Megaron - Main Stage | 20:00
Anton Lachky choreographs a refreshingly unique and cheerfully overstated dance piece specifically created for children (6yrs+) and their families. Performed by high-ranking artists, Cartoon is a surrealistic tale of infinite possibilities that will lift up your spirit and take you away to an unknown, frenzied, nonsensical land. Four characters are being possessed by their inner creative demons as we watch them transform into cartoon-like creatures, engaging in enchanting, flamboyant dances and extravagant tirades.
This unusual children's tale, full of twists and turns, unfolds to an exquisite web of sounds from classical arias to pop music in a fantastic, intelligently detailed choreography. Exaggerated, at times grotesque forms, profound virtuosity and excellent timing are only a few of the elements that make Cartoon an exceptional performance, a fascinating experience not for children alone but for the whole family.
Duration: 50΄
Admittance: 6 years old and over
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Choreography: Anton Lachky
with: Mami Izumi, Anna Karenina Lambrechts, Luan De Lima, Angel Duran
Sound & Light Design: Tom Daniels
Costumes: Britt Angé
Production: Seventyseven
Co-production: Charleroi Danses - Centre chorégraphique de la Fédération Wallonie - Bruxelles, Krokusfestival
With the support of: La Fédération Wallonie Bruxelles and Wallonie-Bruxelles International
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Anton Lachky started his career at top speed, with the show Ma created by Akram Khan. At the age of twenty, he toured the world and danced in 48 countries. A few years later, he co-founded Les SlovaKs dance collective. In three creations, the company acquires a worldwide reputation. Anton is now an acclaimed choreographer, and is invited by some of the most important institutions in the world: Gothenburg Opera House (SU), Body Traffic Company/Los Angeles (US), Venice Biennale (IT), Helsinki City Theatre (FI), Τheatre of Scotland, etc.
This new season promises to be hectic with creations in Hong Kong, Mexico, Iceland and more. The phenomenal dancers of Cartoon are coming from all over the world to offer a flabbergasting performance.
JUKSTAPOZ COMPANY / CHRISTINE GOUZELIS & PAUL BLACKMAN
THE ART OF DYING
19.07.2018
Kalamata Dance Megaron - Studio | 21:00
Founded in 2010, the Athens-based Jukstapoz Company has performed at festivals and theatres around the world. The group’s choreographic style is strikingly cinematic and borrows from physical theatre.
The Art of Dying, a solo piece inspired by Hieronymus Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights, conveys the fragility of human existence through subtle humour and surrealism. Dance, visual imagery and ephemeral music will convey the transient beauty of that final moment before life comes to an end.
The performance examines the procedures of 'dying well'. Within a garden where both decay and life reside, the protagonist builds a landscape full of microcosms of both joy and corruption.
Dutch minimalist musician and New York-based Jozef Van Wissem – who has won the Soundtrack Award at the Cannes Film Festival for Jim Jarmusch film Only Lovers Left Alive – has composed original music for the piece.
Duration: 50΄
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Choreography: Christine Gouzelis & Paul Blackman (Jukstapoz)
Performing: Christine Gouzelis
Music: Jozef Van Wissem μastroKristo - Chris Parapagidis
Costumes: Angeliki Tsirou
Sound Design: Jeph Vanger
Lighting: Perikles Mathiellis
Scenographer: Dimitris Nasiakos
Assistant Choreographer: Maria Doulgeri
Production Assistant: Marilena Dara, Christos Xyrafakis
Creative Producer: Lena John Gomez / Delta Pi
Funded by: The Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports
Co-produced by:
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Jukstapoz Company was founded by Christine Gouzelis and Paul Blackman in 2010. The Athens based couple collaborate, tour and teach in several international platforms, educational and cultural institutions in Europe, Asia and Australia.
An acclaimed dancer, Christine Gouzelis has performed under top choreographers including Jasmin Vardimon, Wim Vandekeybus, Anton Lachky, RootlessRoot, David Zambrano, Pascal Rioult and others. Was awarded the DanceWEB scholarship in 2004 and received a full scholarship for the 50 Days project in Costa Rica 2010. She is a teaching member of the State School of Dance in Greece. In the last few of years, she was an Artist-in-Residence in Hong-Kong’s Dance Academy and she was nominated for Best Choreography and Best Ensemble in Hong Kong Dance Awards for Hong Kong’s Dance Academy production Fragile Matter.
JOSEF NADJ & JOËLLE LÉANDRE
PENZUM
20 & 21.07.2018
Kalamata Dance Megaron - Studio | 20:00
Penzum: the amount of work to be completed in one day and which one has to account for. This term appears in an untranslated poem by Attila József (1905-1937), the iconic Hungarian poet who influenced generations of writers and artists. Josef Nadj, choreographer, dancer and visual artist, and double-bass player and composer Joëlle Léandre, conceived Penzum as a tribute to the great poet. Both wearing masks, the two performers stage their duo in a mixture of choreography, music, drawing and free improvisation. It is an 'open' piece constantly written on the spot as a result of a total communion between the performers. It shows the work done to express the intensity of Attila József’s words. His poetry never ceases to operate on the heart and mind of both performers. It guides them, inspires them.
(…) Soon I’ll have to leave. I have to show myself that I am somebody except I don’t exist.
Only others see me.
For now, I still have my neck.
The train has not cut it yet.
My tongue has not been cut either.
But who can I talk to…?
This is a fixed point.
Attila József, “Free ideas”
(raw translation by Josef Nadj)
Duration: 50΄
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Conception-Performance: Josef Nadj & Joëlle Léandre
Lights-Technical Direction: Sylvain Blocquaux
Construction: Julien Fleureau
Mask: Jacqueline Bosson
Costumes: Aleksandra Pešić
Text: Attila József
Production-Touring: Bureau Platô | Céline Chouffot, Séverine Péan, Emilia Petrakis
Co-production: Centre chorégraphique national d’Orléans, Atelier 3+1
Atelier 3+1 / Josef Nadj receives the support of the French Ministry of Culture (DGCA).
With the support of:
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French double bass player, improviser and composer, Joëlle Léandre is one of the dominant figures of the new European music. Trained in orchestral as well as contemporary music, she has played with L’Itinéraire, 2e2m and Pierre Boulez’s Ensemble Intercontemporain. Joëlle Léandre has also worked with Merce Cunningham and with John Cage, who has composed especially for her – as have Scelsi, Fénelon, Hersant, Lacy, Campana, Jolas, Clementi and about 40 composers.
As well as working in contemporary music, Léandre has played with some of the great names in jazz and improvisation, such as Derek Bailey, Anthony Braxton, George Lewis, Evan Parker, Irene Schweizer, William Parker, Barre Phillips, Pascal Contet, Steve Lacy, Lauren Newton, Peter Kowald, Urs Leimgruber, Mat Maneri, Roy Campbell, Fred Frith, John Zorn, Mark Naussef, Marilyn Crispell, India Cooke and so many others…
She has written extensively for dance and theatre, and has staged a number of multidisciplinary performances. She got the DAAD at Berlin and is welcomed as artist resident at Villa Kujiyama (Kyoto). In 2002, 2004 and 2006, she was Visiting Professor at Mills College, Oakland, CA (Darius Milhaud Chair), for improvisation and composition. Her work as a composer and a performer, both in solo recitals and a part of ensembles, has put her under the lights of the most prestigious stages of Europe, the Americas and Asia. There are more than 150 recordings to her credit since she began recording in 1981.
Understanding dance above all as a site for encounter – this is how Josef Nadj defines his work.
Dancer, but also visual artist and photographer, Josef Nadj has a poetic and passionate vision of humanity. He is constantly in search of new forms and ceaselessly willing to explore humanity as close as possible to human truth.
Across his career, from Canard pékinois (1987) to Penzum (2017), Josef Nadj has relentlessly pursued exigent and passionate choreography where gravity and compassion take turns, where depth and humour alternate. Whether he is visiting atypical authors (Beckett, Kafka, Michaux) or bringing painting along on stage with him (in performance with Miquel Barceló), Josef Nadj flourishes in complete corporal freedom. Oscillating between reality and fantasy, tradition and modernity, he explores the essential: man’s relationship with himself. Because for Nadj, dance is fundamentally a humanist act.
Over the years, the works of Josef Nadj have become references in contemporary dance. Beyond his national influence (Carte Blanche at the Grande Halle de La Villette in Paris, 2014; Associated Artist at the 2006 Avignon Festival that officially designated him as 'creator without borders'), his work is recognized and celebrated around the globe. Enthusiastically received in nearly 50 countries, more than 400,000 audience members across five continents have appreciated his works in the most important international venues.
Drawing his inspiration from the depths of the great myths of humanity, passionately intertwining both artistic disciplines and cultural references, Josef Nadj is elaborating a universal language.
From 1995 to 2016, Josef Nadj has been director of the Centre chorégraphique national d’Orléans. Since 2017, he has been living in Paris and working with his new company Atelier 3+1.
SVALBARD COMPANY
ALL GENIUS ALL IDIOT
20.07.2018
Kalamata Dance Megaron - Main Stage | 22:00
All Genius All Idiot is not another circus performance. It is a multidisciplinary, extremely imaginative and totally outrageous composition of explosive vitality, striking imagery, raw expression and eerie sound. The awarded, debut performance of Svalbard Company, a powerful ensemble of four international highly skilled performers, All Genius All Idiot oscillates between the elegant and the ridicule in a perfect mixture of artistic creativity and outstanding skill.
Poetic and philosophic, atmospheric and dangerous, loud and sensual, messy and absurd, this is a work of art that challenges all boundaries. A juxtaposition of different forms of expression that questions notions of sexual identity, beauty and magnificence in a uniquely extravagant language.
All Genius All Idiot is an authentic, provocative, on-edge and full of energy performance you will not easily forget.
Duration: 70΄
Admittance: 16 years old and over
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Performers & Authors: Benjamin Smith, John Simon Wiborn, Tom Brand, Santiago Ruiz Albalate
Artistic Collaboration with: Peter Jasko
Sets: Kasper Svenstrup Hansen
Light & Sound Technician: Ernesto Javier Monza Alvez
Light Designer: Zuzana Rezna
Exterior Eye: Methinee Wongtrakoon
Exterior Eye & Acrobatic Coach: Bahoz Temaux
Musical Exterior Eye: Mae Karthäuser
Costumes: Michiel Tange van Leeuwen
Producer-Agency: Josefin Lindberg/Follow the Rabbit & Wolfgang Hoffman/Aurora Nova
Supported by: Konstnärsnämnden, Kulturrådet, Arts Council England, Glastonbury Arts Commission, Stockholms Stad, Subtopia, Cirk la Putyka, Cirkör LAB & Jacksons Lane
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Svalbard Company is a multidisciplinary circus company composed of four young international performers (Ben Smith – UK, John Simon Wiborn – Sweden, Tom Brand – Germany, Santiago Ruiz – Spain), currently based in Stockholm.
They all graduated from DOCH in 2014 and have a multitude of high level skills in various circus disciplines. Previous work includes their collaboration with Animal Religion in site-specific performances such as Chicken Legz performed in Fira Tàrrega Festival (Spain) and Japan, for which they won both the Moritz prize as well as the Zirkolika prize in 2014. In February 2015 they won Zirkolika’s biggest price, 'Best Circus Show 2015', with Sifonofor in collaboration with Animal Religion presented in Barcelona.
All Genius All Idiot, their debut show as a group, premiered at Jatka 78 in Prague in 2016, followed by sold-out performances at London International Mime Festival and a month run at Adelaide Fringe; it was awarded 'Best Circus and Physical Theatre' at the Adelaide Fringe Weekly Awards in 2016 and has been touring around the world since.
MARQUESE SCOTT & JOHN POPPIN
21.07.2018
Kalamata Dance Megaron - Main Stage | 22:00
Marquese Scott and Poppin John might need no introductions since their YouTube videos have millions of views. They are two of the most significant figures of animation and poppin dance in the world. Self-taught, pioneer and groundbreaking, they are a huge influence for millions of young people while they have changed our perspective on human motion and contemporary dance.
The duo from the US, with the extraordinary moves, visit Greece for the very first time to give a performance in the Main Stage of Kalamata Dance Megaron and an outdoor performance as well, showing people the richness and original expression of the street and freestyle dance culture that has been shaking cities for decades all over the world. Marquese Scott’s and Poppin John’s presence in the Festival is a small tribute to the magicians of contemporary dance.
Duration: 50΄
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Concept-Choreography: Marquese Scott & Poppin John
Production Manager: Aris Golemi
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Marquese Scott (born in 1981) is an American animation dancer who initially was a popping dancer. His work has been seen in music videos that he creates, TV shows, advertisements, and live performances at award shows. Marquese was first exposed to dancing when he noticed a dance contest at his local roller skating rink. He began to take dancing seriously while in high school in Indianapolis, Indiana, joining friends in a school dance club. In 2003, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia and it is there where he met other dancers and learned the technique of animations, and began uploading YouTube videos of himself dancing in public places. Marquese’s 53rd YouTube upload, a video of himself dancing to a Butch Clancy remix of Foster the People's 'Pumped Up Kicks' in 2011 is what propelled Marquese Scott to stardom. The video went viral, gaining 1.5 million views in four days, and currently has over 133 million views.
Poppin John, American poppin dancer, was born in 1986, grew up in Farmington, New Mexico and the first time he seriously thought about learning how to dance was at the age of 11 at a family reunion in Colorado. At adolescence he started a crew with his friends to enter competitions and ever since, having been shaped through endless practice and battles, he has evolved into an internationally famous top dancer at poppin, animation and dubstep. A few years ago he launched his website learn2boost which has made him the teacher of thousands of online students around the world.
KOKAKEPANU / KONSTANDINA EFTHIMIADOU & PANAGIOTIS MANOUILIDIS
IN CASE OF LOSS
22.07.2018
Kalamata Dance Megaron - Studio | 20:00
Chords and Threads; two performers, one musician and one dancer. Failing and restarting, rewinding and reconstructing, a man and a woman are unfolding a visual and musical landscape of missing objects, situations, people that are seeking their way back, returning from Darkness into Light.
Looking for the end of the thread – or is it the beginning? Konstandina Efthimiadou’s captivating, boundless movement and Panu’s individual sound create an intensely atmospheric performance.
In Case Of Loss is an exceptional dance piece where sound and movement are being treated as a means to rewind space in the present moment, a manifestation of always being lost and found, unable to rewind time itself. Threads that look like orientation lines become puppet strings, restricting and at the same time guiding the dancer's body through space.
An inevitable journey of constant return, In Case Of Loss is the magnificent outcome of an original collaboration between two very gifted artists.
Duration: 50΄
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Conception-Creation: Panagiotis Manouilidis, Konstandina Efthimiadou
Choreography: Konstandina Efthimiadou
Music Composition: Panu (Panagiotis Manouilidis)
Performed by: Konstandina Efthimiadou & Panagiotis Manouilidis
Sound mixing and Mastering: Leonidas Beilis
Lighting Designer: Dimitra Aloutzanidou
Set Designers-Costumes: Kόkakepanu
Video Art-Photos: Panagiotis Andrianos
World premiere in 24th Kalamata Dance Festival.
Co-production:
Supported by:
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Kόkakepanu is the duo of Konstantina Efthimiadou and Panagiotis Manouilidis.
Κonstandina Efthimiadou (Κόka)
A State School of Dance (Athens) graduate. She has collaborated with Akram Khan, Wim Vandekeybus & Ultima Vez, Roberto Olivan & Enclave Dance Company, Jozef Frucek & Linda Kapetanea (Rootlessroot), Cristine Gouzelis & Paul Blackman (Jukstapoz). Her own choreographic exploration began in 2012. She has since created two solos Henshin and Lapses of Light and two group pieces Looking Forward to Meeting and Mind the Heart. In Case of Loss is her new creation in collaboration with Panagiotis Manouilidis.
Panagiotis Manouilidis (Panu)
Musician and composer, Panu has released three personal records and three records with the music band Lemonostifel. He is steadily collaborating with Michalis Siganidis, Vassilis Mantzoukis - Martha Frintzila (Baumstrasse), Prodromos Tsinikoris and Anestis Azas. Over the years he has worked for the National Theatre of Greece, Athens & Epidaurus Festival, Onassis Cultural Centre, Münchner Kammerspiele, Rootlessroot and has collaborated with several Greek musicians in recordings and live concerts in Greece and abroad. He is an Athens based artist.
LES SLOVAKS
JOURNEY HOME
22.07.2018
Kalamata Dance Megaron - Main Stage | 22:00
Journey Home by Les SlovaKs premiered in November 2009 in Brussels and ever since it has been touring around the world to excite audiences with the playfulness, power and sensitivity of this unique ensemble.
Les SlovaKs, five engaging dancers, create along with their long-term collaborator, musician and composer Simon Thierrée a polyphonic performance inspired by traditional dance. It is an amalgam of short dance vignettes full of emotions, imagination, shared history and humour that brings each dancer to the fore as a soloist and at the same time as an instrumental part of a dynamic and familial collective. Simon, as a careful tailor-kapelmeister, is instantly knitting his colorful music to a perfect fit for each dance scene and Les Slovaks sing and dance from their hearts reminding us the challenging though rewarding experience of collective creation and living.
Duration: 60΄
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Choreography-Dance: Les SlovaKs Dance Collective (Martin Kilvady, Peter Jasko, Anton Lachky, Milan Herich, Milan Tomášik)
Composition-Live Music: Simon Thierrée
Set Designers: Les SlovaKs Dance Collective, Joris De Bolle
Lighting Designer: Joris De Bolle
Costume Designers: Mat Voorter, Pepa Martinez
Lights-Sound Technician: Tom Daniels
Production: Phileas Productions
Co-production: Kaaitheater (Belgium), Charleroi/Danses (Belgium), Teatro Mercat de les Flors (Spain), Hellerau - European Center for the Arts Dresden (Germany)
Partners: DCJ - Dans Centrum Jette (Belgium)
With the support of:
Ministry of the Flemish Community, the Flemish Community Commission in Brussels
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Les SlovaKs: a collective of five independant, energetic dancers coming form Slovakia (Milan Herich, Peter Jaško, Anton Lachký, Milan Tomαšik and Martin Kilvády). Ηaving danced and lived together at different periods from childhood to present, Les SlovaKs officially formed a collective to make in 2006. Opening Night, which premiered in November 2007, was their first creation and it was an experience that laid a ground stone for their collective way of working and decision making. It was also the beginning in their developing a common skill for composing while performing and finding their movement language (later called New Traditional Dance). The creations that followed, Journey Home (2009) and Fragments (2013), represent the maturing of this language. Without any boundaries of style, Les SlovaKs use music, Slovak folk dance, polyphonic singing, humour and sensitivity to create performances with vivacious and unbound dancing.