The Kalamata Dance Festival is synonymous with the flourishing of contemporary dance in Greece. From 1995 to the present, it provides the public with works dedicated to the poetics of the human body, hosting creators who are writing the very history of contemporary dance. For ten days, from 16 to 25 July 2021, leading Greek and international artists will be showing their work to art lovers from all over the world.
This year's program includes 31 productions, 18 from abroad and 13 from Greece. These are dance performances that combine different genres, from modern dance and hip hop to acrobatics and modern urban African dances. The title of this year’s programme "On The Move. Constantly On The Move. Together; Or Alone?".
Main Stage
There will be 4 performances in Kalamata Dance Megaron and in Kalamata Castle Amphitheatre. Anchored in the fertile territory of acrobatics, Compagnie XY presents Möbius, a collaboration with Rachid Ouramdane on 16 & 17 of July. It follows one of the most important British dance groups, Far From the Norm, with the revolutionary project BLKDOG of Botis Seva, for first time in Greece on 18 of July. It follows The QDance Company of Qudus Onikeku from Lagos, Nigeria, to the project Re:INCARNATION on 24of July. At the end, the project Stones and Bones from the group RootlessRoot, produced by the Onassis Foundation on 25 of July.
Black Box
The Alternative Stage of Kalamata Dance Megaron. The program will start with four mixed duets of dancers with and without disabilities, under the general title Mixed Doubles. There are duets Cornered of Faizah Grootens, Re-call of the choreographer Venetsiana Kalampaliki, Feeling Good with references to Vitruvius Man in choreography Diego Tortelli and Fine Lines choreographed by Roser López Espinosa. They follow the work One More Thing of Adi Boutrous, the DEN.TRO of Maria Fonseca from Portugal and Evangelia Rantou with Ǝ V A: The solo performance Ǝ V A is the narration in a story of wandering. They follow Zeppelin Bend of Katerina Andreou, the new project of Athanasia Kanellopoulou Nadja – Who am I?, Through the Grapevine, of the group not standing of Alexander Vantournhout and the debut in Greece and internationally awarded Oona Doherty from Ireland, with Hope Hunt and the Ascension into Lazarus.
Dance in the city - Kalamata Central Square
There will be 16 outdoor performances in eight dance nights, all with free admission. In the standard evening appointment at 21:00 in the square.
Workshops
The workshops, seminars and masterclasses of the 27th Kalamata Dance Festival are addressed to professionals but also to all those who love dance, including all ages and social groups.
This year's vocational training program consists of two main seminars, Physicology with Jos Baker and Mindcross with Lívia Balážová and five masterclasses, Up, but down, but fast, but slow, but wild, but sensitive with Akira Yoshida, Sensitive Skills with Chey Jurado, The QDance Company with Adila Omotosho, Fighting Monkey Practice – Coordinations with Jozef Fruček and Monkey Practice – From the other side with Linda Kapetanea.
In addition to the program for professionals, dance programs and workshops continue for the residents and visitors of Kalamata, with emphasis on young and old, the whole family and special groups of the population. The workshops aim to strengthen the Festival's relationship with the city and to educate the public on contemporary dance and movement.
Intensive dance workshop for children and teenagers (ages 5-18) with title FREEDOM from Vitoria Kotsalou, dance workshop for parents and children with the title YUM from Vitoria Kotsalou, movement workshop for adults 50+ from Penelope Morout, movement workshop for adults 70+ from Vitoria Kotsalou and dance workshop for people with disabilities in collaboration with the Onassis Stegi and Choreographer Venetsiana Kalampaliki and dancers Irini Kourouvani and Vivi Christodoulopoulou
The 27th Kalamata Dance Festival will take place following the special instructions issued by the Ministry of Health, with priority given to public health and with a sense of responsibility.