Dance holds strong in Kalamata - The Best from Greece

Despite the necessary cutbacks in the event’s length and the number of featured shows, festival organisers voiced their determination to make no concessions whatsoever when it came to the quality of performances.

At a June 8 press conference, artistic director Vicky Marangopoulou said that, given Greece’s harsh financial situation, she was pleased she still had a programme to announce. “We have reduced our budget since last year and the festival’s duration from ten days to one week. This year we also had to cut back on taxes and the number of performances,” she said.

However, she voiced optimism that something positive could come out of the crisis and added that words that might sound commonplace in normal circumstances betray their true meaning in tough times. “Through art we get to know ourselves and the others,” she noted. “Art contributes to social unity and reveals the human face of culture.”

The festival is co-sponsored by the city of Kalamata, which has also suffered budgetary cutbacks. Mayor Panayiotis Nikas said the municipality’s proceeds were reduced by 40 percent in 2010 and would most likely lose another 20 percent in 2011. He stressed the need to include the festival in the national roster of cultural events: “The festival has gone far beyond our region. It is a national affair and it has to be handled as such so that its longevity is guaranteed in the future.”

Handpicked

Showcasing renowned choreographers and promoting Greek dance remain among the festival’s priorities, while further emphasis is given this year to the collaboration between different art forms - dance, music, narrative and artistic installations.

Among the festival’s highlights, Belgian choreographers Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Damien Jalet’s Olivier-awarded Babel(words) (July 14-15 at the Kalamata Castle Amphitheatre) and Israeli choreographer Hofesch Shechter’s Political Mother (July 21, same castle venue) deal with the political and social predicament the Western world currently finds itself in.

Tender and harsh at the same time and featuring sets by British sculptor and Turner prize winner Antony Gormley, Babel(words) reverses the original story to one of dreams, reconciliation and togetherness, with music acting as a stand-in for the absence of communication.

Political Mother analyses power mechanisms, suppression and resistance, as well as political contradictions in human coexistence. The dynamic score is written by Shechter himself and performed live by a rock group and a military band.

Also politically oriented, Patricia Apergi’s Dopamines of Post Athenians (July 18, Kalamata’s Polykladikon Gymnasium) offers a penetrating perspective on issues like national pride and identity as well as on Greeks’ entertainment preferences.

At the threshold between reality and fantasy, French choreographer Christian Rizzo’s enigmatic bc, Janvier 1545, fontainbleau (July 20, Polykladikon Secondary School) addresses man’s relationship with time and the least explored regions of the subconscious. Also preoccupied with time issues, Croatian avant-garde choreographer Ivana Mueller’s Playing Ensemble Again and Again (July 15-16, same school venue) is humorous and melancholy at the same time.

Dance and music collaborate in Projections, a sinequanon group performance (July 17, Castle Amphitheatre) set to percussion music by Iannis Xenakis, John Cage, Yoshihisa Taira and Vangelis Katsoulis and performed live by Dimitris Desyllas’ Tympana group.

Parallel events will include master classes for professional dancers and advanced students by Spanish choreographer Laura Aris Alvarez (a collaborator of Wim Vandekeybus’ Ultima Vez group) and Dutch academic Maaike Bleeker, as well as workshops, concerts and film screenings.

For more information, contact Kalamata International Dance Festival (6 Pan Kaisari St, tel 27210-83086 and 27210-90886, www.kalamatadancefestival.gr)