Towards 2022: Onassis Stegi productions out on tour

The myth of Sisyphus reached Mittelfest. On the occasion of its 30th anniversary, this festival organized by the municipality of Cividale del Friuli in the north-east of Italy chose to include a Greek concert in its programming, and in doing so made clear its genuine interest in the artistic output of Greece. And so it was that on September 3, 2021, “Sisyphus” – the first solo album by composer Sofia Labropoulou – was presented there, a work that draws its inspirations from a wide range of eras, forms and geographical locations, including “The Myth of Sisyphus” by Albert Camus, Ottoman and Arabic music, and the Sex Pistols. Back in July 2019, Mittelfest presented an extensive tribute program to the Greek arts scene that included a series of theater and dance productions, all in partnership with and supported by the “Outward Turn” Program.

From Thessaloniki to Graz in Austria: the dissonArt ensemble took part in the 54th edition of the renowned musikprotokoll festival. On October 9, 2021, this music ensemble founded in Thessaloniki in 2005 journeyed to a stage that to date has hosted more than 30 world and Austrian premieres, embracing composers and musicians that have embarked on a nomadic search for an “in-between”.

The ARTéfacts ensemble put in an appearance at the Salle des Colonnes in Strasbourg on November 7, 2021 as part of the HANATSUmiroir festival, in what was a continuation of the international partnerships it has built up in recent years with the support of Onassis Stegi.

Christos Papadopoulos’ “Larsen C” went dancing in French quarters. On September 28, 2021, the work had its official premiere at the Théâtre Jean-Vilar in Vitry-sur-Seine (hosted in partnership with La Briqueterie) alongside productions that enter into dialogue with the culture of the Other. On October 2, it made its way to La Manufacture, the CDCN (National Choreographic Development Center) in Bordeaux, where it became the talk of the city’s arts scene. The third French stage to host Christos Papadopoulos and his ten-member “Larsen C” ensemble was another CDCN, this time POLE-SUD in Strasbourg, which has partnered with Onassis Stegi as part of the GRAND LUXE network for the 2021–22 season and a good few years to come.

Dance House Lemesos presented its international Open House dance and performance festival for a twelfth year, whose program included the screening of a film by Konstantinos Papanikolaou titled “The Diving Horse and Other Mythologies” on October 2, 2021.

Based at the magnificent Egomio Cultural Center’s black box theater, the international Dance Waves festival in Nicosia presented eight works this year that set the bar high. Among them was “Vanishing Point” by Alexandros Vardaxoglou and Dafin Antoniadou, performed on November 14, 2021 – a work inspired by the visual arts and film that takes endless transformations and the plasticity of bodies as its vehicle.

“RE-CALL (reloaded)” is one of four dance duets comprising Mixed Doubles, commissioned and organized by Onassis Stegi alongside three partner institutions from the Europe Beyond Access program, and involving the participation of disabled and non-disabled dancers. This inclusive work was presented on November 18 and 19, 2021 at the DansFunk 3.0 Festival in Malmö, Sweden.

Some way further south, in Slovenia, this year’s CoFestival played host to such internationally acclaimed artists as Jonathan Burrows & Matteo Fargion, Vito Weis, and Anna Nowicka. On December 1, 2021, Christos Papadopoulos also put in an appearance at the festival, presenting the minimalist universe of his much-admired work “Ion” at the Kino Šiška Center for Urban Culture in Ljubljana.

The singular RootlessRoot left their mark on Bratislava, Slovakia with “Stones and Bones”. This production, that takes the transience of human existence as its theme, was presented at Slovakia’s largest international contemporary dance festival – Bratislava in Movement – on October 7, 2021. To date, the festival has hosted more than 180 companies and artists from 27 countries, and is also active in the field of education, organizing workshops, talks, and conferences.

The extensive and wide-ranging “Focus Greece” program was presented in Bulgaria for the first time as part of the One Dance Week international contemporary dance festival, from September 9 to 24, 2021 – a tribute program to the contemporary Greek dance scene featuring Onassis Stegi productions, film screenings, recorded performances, and online talks. Participating artists included Dimitris Papaioannou with “Transverse Orientation”, Katerina Andreou with “Zeppelin Bend”, and Alexandros Vardaxoglou and Dafin Antoniadou with “Vanishing Point”. Over the last ten years and more, One Dance Week (the only forum in Bulgaria entirely devoted to the art of contemporary dance, and one of the country’s largest festivals overall) has hosted world-first performances and avant-premières of works by acclaimed artists.

The journey doesn’t end there. Onassis Stegi productions and co-productions are already making preparations for their next destinations. From Belgium through to Spain, and on from there to a stage in Norway, Onassis Stegi is heading out.

In 2022, Théâtre de Liège will be spotlighting the contemporary Greek scene, bringing four Onassis Stegi productions to the international Liège dance biennale Pays de Danses. January and February 2022 will see the presentation of “Larsen C” by Christos Papadopoulos, “Faded” by Ioannis Mandafounis and Antigone Frida, “ELENIT” by Euripides Laskaridis, and “Vanishing Point” by Alexandros Vardaxoglou and Dafin Antoniadou.

Having hosted “Clean City” in 2019 and “Transverse Orientation” in November 2021, Teatros del Canal is getting ready to welcome “We Are in the Army Now” by Elias Adam. Four “wannabe superheroes” offer up a call to arms, this time in Madrid, from January 27 to 29, 2022.

Last but not least, Christos Papadopoulos’ electrically charged “Ion” will be descending on Oslo, Norway, four years after the success it enjoyed at Onassis Stegi. This multi-sensory experiment founded on the primal elements of rhythm and movement, space and time, will be presenting itself to audiences at Dansens Hus – Norway’s national stage for dance, and one of the most important institutions in the country and more broadly in Scandinavia – from February 18, 2022, for three singular performances. This will be Christos Papadopoulos’ second time bringing work to Norway following the presentation of his work “OPUS” at Dansens Hus in March 2019.