This production, part of a tribute to the 2021 bicentennial of the Greek Revolution, is made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF)[www.SNF.org].
The GNO Ballet returns with a vengeance to the Alternative Stage, presenting the first complete live version of the exciting modern dance triptych Human Behaviour.
The Greek National Opera Ballet presents a modern dance triptych in collaboration with three acclaimed choreographers, Ioannis Mandafounis, Ermira Goro and Konstantinos Rigos, director of the ensemble. The choreographies hover between classical and modern style, giving the dancers of the GNO Ballet a chance to experiment with new, smaller-scale forms, powered by the music of Giorgos Koumendakis, Dimitri Terzakis and Dimitra Trypani, as recorded by the distinguished instrumentalists Guido de Flaviis (saxophone), Stefanos Nasos (piano), Antonis Sousamoglou, David Bogorad (violin), Angels Giannaki, Athanassios Sourgounis (viola) and Yannis Stefos (cello).
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.
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 Spr?che 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.
Finally, 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.
