Surprises at this year’sAthens Dance Festival
his year’s Athens International Dance Festival has many surprises in store. The festival, organized by the City of Athens for the fourth consecutive year, will run July 1 to 14 at the Technopolis arts complex. The festival will feature performances by top modern dance companies such as the Phoenix Dance Theater and the Ballet du Grand Theatre de Geneve in their first appearances in Greece, as well as the latest works by Greek artists Antonis Foniadakis, Yiannis Mandafounis and Katerina Skiada. Also in store is a choreography by Japan’s award-winning Saburo Teshigawara and a production by Toula Limnaios, a Greek choreographer who lives abroad and will present her work in Greece for the first time. Margo Perdiki-Archondaki returns as artistic director. The festival will kick off on July 1 and 2, with performances by the Phoenix Dance Theater. One of Great Britain’s top modern dance companies, the group will stage Henry Oguike’s «Signal,» Darshan Singh Bhuller’s «Laal» and Javier de Frutos’s «Nopalitos.» Richard Siegal and The Bakery will follow with «If/Then» on July 4 and 5. On July 7 and 8, Israel’s Niv Sheinfeld, former member of the Liat Dror & Nir Ben-Gal Co, will present «Covariance» and «Don Quixote.» At the same time, Yiannis Mandafounis in collaboration with Katerina Skiada and Anastassis Gouliaris will stage «Human Dimensions,» a production which, according to Mandafounis, explores the possibilities of returning to natural simplicity through creativity. Toula Limnaios will be next, on July 10 and 11. Born in Greece, Limnaios grew up in Brussels, where she studied dance. She has been working as an independent choreographer since 1996. The same year she founded a company, the cie, with Ralf R. Ollertz. In Gazi, she will present «Short Stories,» two duets and a solo based on many short and very personal stories. Athens’s Fourth International Dance Festival will close on July 13 and 14 with the Ballet du Grand Theatre de Geneve. The company is equipped with some extraordinary dancers, who can render the work of four different choreographers with the same precision. Hence, the program will consist of choreographies by Japan’s Saburo Teshigawara, known for his particularly aesthetic approach to both the kinetic and the visual portions of the choreographies. Others include the rising talent Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, the gifted French choreographer Michel Kelemenis and Antonis Foniadakis, whose work is already known to the Greek public. During the shows, the festival will allow – for the first time – young Greek artists (graduates of dance schools) to present their choreographic work. Dancers and students can attend the educational seminars, which the guest choreographers will conduct. For further information, tel 210.323.5353.
