Dance show links Greece and Britain
»For us ‘Megla’ means made in England. It means being the land, the hills, the trees of England, liking a variety of different things, being introverted and quiet, having a particular sense of humor with a dose of irony. Feeling guilty for what Tony Blair does now and all those bad things the British did in the past,» said Nigel Charnock, one of Britain’s most interesting and controversial dancers and choreographers, at a recent press conference. «Megla» is why he is on his first visit to Greece: It is the dance show he is preparing with Greek choreographer Constantinos Rigos, a joint production of the State Theater of Northern Greece Dance Theater and the British Council. The two choreographers present their different views on people’s relationships and the premiere will take place at the Arts Center of Halandri, April 7 to 9. Charnock came to Thessaloniki last December, to begin rehearsing with the dancers. The choreographers’ initial idea to «create a road between Greece and England» evolved into two very different choreographies. The show starts with Rigos’s «White Noise,» a work which is in complete harmony with its music (Pergolesi’s «Stabat Mater») and which deals with «human pain and its presence in daily life,» according to Rigos. «Midnight Minus Three» is Charnock’s choreography, which was, literally, created underground: The dancers rehearsed in a venue three floors below the ground. «No matter what time it was, we felt it was midnight,» joked Charnock. «There was a lot of rain and Thessaloniki was very cold at the time, the dancers were depressed.» «My work is usually a reaction to my environment. In this case I reacted against the darkness, the depression and the cold and created a choreography about light, happiness and love. It is a celebration of life which deals with human relations (as most of my works do) with the background of songs by Aretha Franklin, David Bowie, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Billie Holiday and others. «Theater is about what happens in real life, but also about the feeling that nothing is real. I believe theater must deal with people who are in extreme situations, who love, suffer or are very bored. What is also important is that the audience genuinely participates in what takes place on stage.» The show, which features Poly Voikou, Panayiotis Kondonis, Yiannis Martos, Stephan Baier, Savvas Baltzis, Amalia Bennett, Evangelos Poulinas, Nancy Stamatopoulou, Dimitra Haralambous and Penny Christopoulou, will travel to Thessaloniki, May 20 to 28.
