MAD festival wants to shake up dance world
The director and choreographer of the Horeftes ensemble, Aliki Kazouri, is busy promoting a contemporary dance festival running until May 7 that brings together some of the most innovative dancers, musicians and artists in Greece and Europe today. Titled MAD (Music, Arts, Dance), the festival was organized by the Horeftes dance group and is running at the Foundation of the Hellenic World on Pireos Street. The event includes rockers Illegal Operation, choreographer Antonis Foniadakis, Balkan jazz artists Mode Plagal and Portugal’s Compania de Dansa de Almada in its first appearance in Greece (though the troupe has collaborated with Horeftes in the past). Other participants include Happy Dog and Yelp, Persa Stamatopoulou’s Contemporary Dance Company, Haris Mandafounis and Katerina Skiada, Griffon, Ad Lib, Amalgama, X-Soma and the Dalika Dance Theater as well as the bands Film, Palyrria and Sigmatropic. The artists taking part in the event include Makis Faros, Ash Bulayev, Rika Krithara and Vassilis Boutos. The project is funded by the General Secretariat of Youth. Kazouri says MAD grew out of a wish by Horeftes members Michalis Nalbandis and Maria Anthymidou to shake things up a bit on the Greek dance scene. «Seeing as our funding was being delayed, we decided rather than putting together a string of performances, as usual, to work more with other groups,» she said. «At first we thought about working with one other group. At the end of the day, the audience for dance in Greece is always more or less the same. But what would happen if we could all get together? we asked ourselves. Musicians could watch dance and dancers could participate in live music shows and artistic events. The dance companies and music groups we approached seemed to like the idea.» MAD was organized last November and now has drawn in 18 bands, 15 dance groups and eight artists. The event started yesterday. So far, the response has been vigorous. «First of all, people going to see a dance performance can also see an art exhibition. In the foyer, we are showing video dance works in which every artist who was interested was allowed to participate,» Kazouri explained. «There is something different happening all the time, all over the venue and you can see it if you are walking around or just sitting, enjoying a cup of coffee, such as small events by young dancers, actors and mimes. The performances begin daily at 9.30 p.m. with appearances by two or three dance groups and the evening rounds off with live music performances.» Horeftes members say changing the landscape of Greek dance will reinvigorate the art. «There are a lot of things happening, and some are a step in the right direction, such as the Month of Dance, the Hellenic Festival being put under the authority of Giorgos Loukos, more funding going to certain groups, and festivals such as MAD and Dia-Roes,» Kazouri said. «There is very little support for the overall scene from the government. Maybe our event will help change things just a little bit.»
