LABYRINTH from darkness into light Pallas Theatre

«LABYRINTH» from darkness into light Pallas Theatre Athens Greece/ May 2016 CREDITS: Director / artistic conception: Pavlos Kourtidis Concept: Giannis & Giorgos Megalakakis Choreography: Giannis Megalakakis, Pavlos Kourtidis, Giorgos Megalakakis Onstage dancers (Crete): Giannis Megalakakis, Giorgos Megalakakis, Giannis Pidiktakis, Christos Vlachopoulos, Christos Petrakis, Giorgos Sidiropoulos, Panagiotis Diamantoglou Spyros Lolis, Adam Kokkinogenis, Nikoleta Kourkouta, Peggy Barouni, Maria Karela, Pelagia Piperaki, Gogo Livieri, Evi Androulaki Onstage dancers (Contemporary Dance): Pavlos Kourtidis, Zoi Sotiropoulos, Angelos Antonakos, Christos Kafetzis, Ioanna Korina Palaska, Iris Paulou Katraki, Olia Mourouzidou, Eirini Zatta, Anastasia Kontopidi, Dimitris Antonopoulos, Ioannis Damianos Stephos Μusicians: Vasilis Tsentouros: Drums Giorgos Kontoyiannis: Lyre Dimitris Varelopoulos: Lute Andreas Arvanitis: Lute-Bagpipes-Thiampoli (Fipple flute) Marino Tranoudakis: Daouli (Davul drum) Original musical compositions (modern): Vasilis Tsentouros Orchestration (Traditional): Giorgos Kontoyiannis Sets: Dimitra Papadimitriou Costumes: Christina Leontiadou Lighting: Apostolos Tsitsonis Assistant choreographer: Zoi Sotiropoulou Makeup artist: Foteini Makridou Coordination of production:Sofia Karayianni e-mail: sofiakarayianni@gmail.com

The creators of the performance: Pavlos Kourtidis having a rich bibliography, creates performances for many years.

Among those stand out: House Of Bridges (2015-2016) / Trelospito (Insane House) (2014-2015) / Deadend (2012-2013) / Frankenstain (2010-2011) / Society says (20092010), presented in Egypt: Alexandria-Sayed Darwish Theater and Cairo-El Gomhouria Theatre) etc. Recently (2015) he initiated performances whose proceeds were offered to humanitarian assistance (Doctors of the World, Greece).

Giannis and Giorgos Megalakakis have devoted their lives to research, teaching and dissemination of the Cretan dances. They have appeared at the closing ceremony of the

Athens Olympic Games in 2004 and in the years that followed, they have presented with their Dance Group, original performances in Greece and abroad, in order to highlight the Cretan dance as a world cultural monument. They have issued rare audiovisual material on Cretan dances and have conducted more than 150 seminars on Cretan dances in Greece and abroad.

The Cretan virtuoso dancers Giannis and Giorgos Megalakakis and director-choreographer Pavlos Kourtidis intoduce the dance theatre performance "LABYRINTH, from darkness into light" at Pallas Theater, in Athens on the occasion of the anniversary of the historic battle of Crete. Main goal is to highlight the cultural characteristics of the island.

For the first time Cretan and Modern dance steps are combined to offer a unique spectacle/escape, in an original attempt to visualize the culture of Crete through the art of orchestral and theatrical conception.

Onstage twenty seven dancers and five musicians unite their talent, art, worldview and their souls, to offer their very own art thread to the viewer, that will lead them, albeit for just a few hours, away from the maze reality of everyday life and beyond any individual impasses.

"It is a challenge to find yourself confronted with your own culture while you depict it though movement and image at the same time. It is an enormous responsibility because ‘Labyrinth’ is a journey into the very heart of our culture, "says director Pavlos Kourtidis.

"It is a meeting with our ancestors, and a bridge of communication with the future. The primeval history of our dance steps illuminate the darkness of the Labyrinth (maze) we face at all times" say Giannis & Giorgos Megalakakis.

Stories from Cretan tradition, history (Taurokathapsia (bull-leaping), Daskalogiannis), traditional rhyming couplets (mantinades), myths (the Ariadne's Thread) and music (Andreas Rodinos) become one with the Pyrrhic, Geranos and Orsiti, the primeval folk dances that evolve and are redefined in the present, through the parallel Action and recuperative energy of modern dance, following a singular directorial idea.

The music is composed exclusively for the show, and is a blend of traditional Cretan music and fresh sounds that reflect the trends of our time. Viewers are confronted with a realistic Labyrinth depicting the primitive and the renovation - the past and the present. Complex, versatile and yet so familiar ...

Grounding, takeoff, ritual, spiral, improvisation are the words that characterize Cretan dance and the LABYRINTH is a journey into the heart of our culture.

Contact info: Pavlos Kourtidis tel: +30 210 9011677 M: +30 6977664272 site : www.pktheater.gr mail : info@pktheater.gr Giannis Megalakakis tel : +30 6971870962 site : www.megalakakis.gr e-mail : gmegal@hotmail.com

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