Nicosia International Festival 2022

ΕΝΗΜΕΡΩΣΗ / Announcements / Announcements (2022) / Nicosia International Festival 2022
Mon, 31 Oct. 2022 11:45
NICOSIA INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
THEATRE 26.11 Saturday 17:00, 18:30, 20:00 (45')
ROUTES λ2
 
Following its premiere at the Nicosia International Festival 2021, Routes λ2 returns to the streets of Nicosia! A bus full of inspiring stories of the LGBTI+ community shall be departing from the Nicosia Municipal Theater for routes around the city.
 
This pioneering theatrical event will take place inside a Cyprus Publilc Transport bus, and the stories told are those of the LGBTI+ community, stories that often remain on the sidelines. The audience is no longer a simple spectator in the theatrical act since it will be an integral part of it, thus inaugurating a new relationship between the spectator and the action.
 
Routes λ2 is based on the theatrical event Routes that took place in March 2019 with stories inspired by the theatrical workshop held within the European program "Perform to Reform" in collaboration with ACCEPT LOATI - Cyprus.
 
Why (λ2):
 
The Greek letter lambda (λ) was chosen in 1970 to depict the campaign of the Homosexual Activist Alliance for the freedom of homosexuals. Four years later, the International Gay Rights Congress in Scotland chose this symbol for gay and lesbian rights. In physics, lambda is used to represent the wavelength associated with energy and is therefore used to symbolize the energy of the Gay Movement.
 
Directed by: Maria Varnakkidou
Dramaturgy: Ellada Evangelou and the company
Production: Zoe Kakota
Costume design: Konstantina Andreou
Graphics: Popi Pissouriou
Cast: Elena Kallinikou, George Kyriakou, Kostas Silvestros
 
NICOSIA INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
DANCE 15.11 Τρίτη | Tuesday 20:30 (50')
BODY OF MINE by Panayiotis Tofi
  
Through his new choreographic creation, premiering at the Nicosia International Festival, the Cypriot choreographer Panagiotis Tofi, in collaboration with the performers and the creative team deals with the beauty and mortality of the human body, focusing on its anatomy, its basic functions and the emotions which are trapped in it or expressed through it.
 
Through a kinesthetic, visual journey enriched with text, sounds of electronic music and recordings, four female performers of different ages negotiate the ownership of their bodies and the redefinition of the body and life itself through it.
  
Research, director, choreographer: Panagiotis Tofi
Performers: Magda Argyridou, Vicky Kalla, Vasiliki Kypraiou, Alexia Nikolaou
Music composition: Marios Takousis
Solo cello: Jakub Otčenášek
Set design: Giorgos Yiannou
Costume design: Rea Olympiou
Lighting design: Panagiotis Manousis
Photos: Theodora Iakovou
Video Trailer: Renos Gavris (Make-Up: Giorgos Vavanos, Hairstyling: Sotiris Foiniris)
Optical Communication: Panagiotis Tofi
 
NICOSIA INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
DANCE 16.11 Wednesday 20:30 (18΄)
RE-CALL (reloaded) by Venetsiana Kalampaliki
  
Nicosia International Festival continues its collaboration with Onassis Stegi with a contemporary dance diptych consisting of the following works created within the framework of the Europe Beyond Access program, which aims to bring to the forefront of the European cultural scene performing arts artists with disability.
 
The performance takes the personal stories of its performers as its starting point and, specifically, the points where their various paths converged. The aim was not to relive these stories or to describe them, but rather to use them as elements of a bodily identity that drives them on stage so as to map out their presence in the space. This is fashioned on stage through the use of the square, an absolutely defined shape that signifies both precision and logic. A square constantly reformed to hold stories, to embrace bodies, and to create in the present: the square as a shape that remains constant while everything changes, bodies mature, and time flows by.
 
Choreographer: Venetsiana Kalampaliki
Performers: Eirini Kourouvani, Venetsiana Kalampaliki (previous original cast: Vivi Christodoulopoulou)
Sound composition: Thalia Ioannidou
Lighting design: Eliza Alexandropoulou
Executive Producer: Christos Papamichael - Liminal
Production Manager, touring coordinator: Christina Liata – Onassis Stegi, “Outward Turn” Program
European Programs coordinator: Dora Vougiouka – Onassis Stegi
Commissioned and produced by ONASSIS STEGI, via Europe Beyond Access, a project co-funded by the Creative Europe program of the European Union

Supported in touring by ONASSIS STEGI’s “Outward Turn” Program
 
NICOSIA INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
DANCE 16.11 Wednesday 20:30 (17΄)
DO ROBOTS HAVE EMOTIONS? by Manolis Saridakis
  
Nicosia International Festival continues its collaboration with Onassis Stegi with a contemporary dance diptych consisting of the following works created within the framework of the Europe Beyond Access program, which aims to bring to the forefront of the European cultural scene performing arts artists with disability.
 
“The performance you’re going to see has to do with robots. I chose this topic because I feel like a robot sometimes too.”
 
Debut choreography, created by choreographer Manolis Saridakis. The sci-fi adventure transports us to a universe where artificial and emotional intelligence compete against each other. The “robots" on stage perform each and all together of a personal dance, and then are taken to a virtual bar/club, where they become new commands for emotions on demand!
 
Concept: Manolis Saridakis
Choreography: Manolis Saridakis, in collaboration with the dancers
Dancers: Olympia Antonena, Eirini Kourouvani, Christos Christakopoulos, Manolis Saridakis
Mentoring - dramaturgy -: Medie Megas
Costume design: Marilena Kalaitzantonaki
Lighting design: Konstantinos Bethanis
Make-up: Alexandra Rentzou
Original music: Christos Christakopoulos
Additional music: “Techno Eskalation!!!” by Max Minimal also features in the performance
Executive producer: Christos Papamichael - Liminal,
Production manager, touring coordinator: Christina Liata – Onassis Stegi, “Outward Turn” Program
Special thanks to: Niki Saridaki, Fotini Gioti, Giannis Makris, Manolis Andriotakis, Rodia Vomvolou
European Programs coordinator: Dora Vougiouka – Onassis Stegi
Commissioned and produced by ONASSIS STEGI, via Europe Beyond Access, a project co-funded by the Creative Europe program of the European Union
 
Supported in touring by ONASSIS STEGI’s “Outward Turn” Program
 
NICOSIA INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
MUSIC 19.11 Saturday 20:30
DIMITRIS PAPADIMITRIOU
  
Composer Dimitris Papadimitriou in a concert centered on the most beloved songs he has composed in his long career, in a revelatory musical journey.  He is joined by Kostas Makedonas, the up-and-coming Veronika Davaki and the composer’s longtime close collaborator. The 10-member ensemble of excellent musicians is conducted by the composer himself.
 
With a rich, varied and multi-layered work, Dimitris Papadimitriou occupies a pivotal position among contemporary Greek composers. He has composed musical works for cinema, theater and television, opera, chamber music and music for ballet and has been honored with important Greek and international awards. He was a collaborator of Manos Hadjidakis in recordings and concerts, while in 1993 he was chosen by the Boston Symphony Orchestra as one of the seven best young composers in the world, to be a member of the Tanglewood team.
 
A unique concert of high aesthetics, with indelible melodies, great poetic text, wonderful interpretations and the prestige of one of our leading composers.
  
Musicians: Yiannis Angelopoulos (drums), Artemis Vavatsika (acordeon), Michalis Vrettasa (violin), Achilleas Wastor (piano), George Karayiannis (bouzouki), Chrysostomos Karantoniou (classical guitar), George Kastanos (saxophone, clarinet), George Patsiotis (acoustic and electric guitar), Demitris Sintos (double bass)
Sound Engineering: Yiannis Lambropoulos
  
NICOSIA INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
ΜUSIC 19.12 MONDAY 20:30
SEPTETO SANTIAGUERO
  
Winner of two Latin Grammy Awards (I don't want to cry (2015) and What to me. Tribute to Cuban classics (2018)), Septeto Santiaguero is currently one of the most important exponents of traditional Cuban music.
 
Their repertoire is a journey through different aspects of the Cuban music, with an emphasis on the traditional.  With more than 27 years of artistic trajectory the group has been presented on important international stages in Spain, Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Holland, Hungary, England, Italy, Mexico, Venezuela, Portugal, Switzerland, the United States and others. They have recently concluded a successful International Tour through 8 European countries and, for the first time, Japan.
 
In their long musical journey, they had the opportunity to share the stage with important music figures from inside and outside of Cuba, such as José Alberto El Canario, Rubén Blades, Gilberto Santa Rosa, Oscar D´León, Pancho Cespedes, Omara Portuondo, Alexander Abreu, among others.
  
Fernando Dewar (tres cubano, vocalist)
Rudens Matos Matos “Chiquitín” (electroacoustic guitar, singer)
Inocencio Heredia Castillo “Chencho… El Legendario” (singer, minor percussionist)
Dairon Robert Salazar (contrabass)
Alaín Antonio Dragoní Cotorruelo “El Dulce” (trumpet, choir)
Gabriel Montero González “La Historia” (las congas)
Giraldo Bravo Ramírez “El Flaco” (singer, minor percussionist)
Carlos Danger Plana «Carlos Bongó» (percussionist)
 
NICOSIA INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
THEATRE 22.11 Tuesday 20:30
THE FATHER by August Strindberg
Produced by: ETHAL
  
"I was particularly surprised to come across a work in which my own conception of love - as a weapon of war springing from the deadly hatred between the sexes - is magnificently expressed" (from Nietzsche's letter to Strindberg)
 
The play is a psychological drama of the 19th century, which has been characterized as a modern tragedy. The themes that plagued Strindberg and the society of the time - the eternal conflict between the sexes, marriage and the conflicts within it, authority over the child and who makes the decisions about its future - remain always relevant.
 
Plot: An underground war rages in the family's living room regarding the upbringing and education of their daughter. The father and mother are so different and so committed to their perceptions that they refuse to compromise. The mother's hint that he might not be the natural father has explosive results and sends the father into a spiral of insanity.
  
Directed by: Nehir Demirel
Sets / costumes: Giorgos Giannou
Music composition: Dimitris Zachariou
Lighting design: Vassilis Peteinaris
Assistant director: Çaḡkan Cevdet Gökcev
Starring Achilleas Grammatikopoulos, in the role of the Father
Cast: Penny Foiniri, Christos Grigoriadis, Stelios Kallistratis, Maria Mesariti, Michalis Christou and Ioanna Siafkali
Production organization - Projection: Gianna Georgiadou
Poster-Print Design: ARTemis Graphics & Visual Communication
Visualization: Campak Productions
 
NICOSIA INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
DANCE 23.11 Wednesday 20:30 (16+, 50')
LANDSCAPE by Elena Antoniou 
 
As “all landscapes are autobiographical” so is LANDSCAPE, Antoniou’s third piece in a row, where she continues to observe as a woman her interaction with the patriarchal culture of the 21st century.
 
The artist unapologetically makes herself available in order to highlight one’s personal experience as a collective landscape. She overexposes the female body with pleasure, and extends the boundaries of the impressive spectacle to its limits, by skillfully and intentionally inviting the gaze of the spectators. She creates the space and the environment for the political body to exist as both deeply traumatised and superficially sexual.
  
Conceived, choreographed and performed: Elena Antoniou
Music/ sound sesign: Stavros Gasparatos
Art direction: Christos Kyriakides
Dramaturgy: Odysseas I. Konstantinou
Lighting design: Vasilis Petinaris
Photo: Stelios Kallinikou
Graphics: Nikos Stephou
Project coordinator: Loukia Vassiliou
Sound engineering: Orfeas Pitsillidis
 
NICOSIA INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
DANCE 28.11 Monday 20:30
O DARK, DARK, DARK  by Fotis Nikolaou 
 
What is not said,
doesn't mean it does not exist...
Everyone is fighting a silent struggle.
Ioanna Karystiani
 
The new work of Fotis Nikolaou attempts a dive into the subconscious, in an attempt, to give body to what we do not dare to say or do, to shed light on what we hide and fortify behind protective shields.
 
On stage we witness the architecture of a modern hell, of a purgatory, through an endless labyrinth that keeps shifting, transforming and constantly changing names and titles, like a dream within a dream. A dark mind game that keeps us trapped in the company of our fears and weaknesses, away from life, away from the light, and plunges us into loneliness and idleness. An endless battle, a hand-to-hand fight with our darkness, a head-on collision with ourselves, a constant effort to reach "nowhere". Again and again.
 
One maze always leads to another, one nightmare brings the next. As in dreams, we are trapped in a vicious circle, unable to find the thread, the one that will lead us out, back to life. Where we will be able to (re)love, (re)fall in love, (re)dream and (re)desire.
 
Aim to push to try to stand with courage, vulnerable as we are against real life and now, to accept the diversity of others and ours which is not defined as a peculiarity but a gift.
 
Conception - Choreography: Fotis Nikolaou
Set design: Elena Kotasvili, Alexis Vagianos
Music: Mohammad
Costume design Konstantina Andreou
Lighting design: Karolina Spyrou
Mask creation: Martha Fokas
Assistant choreographer: Sofia Barka
Photos: Dimitris Loutsios
Contact: Loukia Vassiliou
Dancers: Elina Karakosta, Regina Markidou, Anna Nikolaou, Yannis Economidis, Augustina Triarou, Katerina Tilliridou, Tzouli Charalambidou, Bartosz Przybylski and Fotis Nikolaou
 
NICOSIA INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
MUSIC 30.11 Wednesday 20:30
GIRL POWER: POP DIVAS THROUGH TIME
by Sarah Milne & Sofia Patsalldou
  
Emerging singer-songwriter Sophia Patsalides, professional West End performer, author, singer-songwriter Sarah Milne along with the Vixens Girl Group, take us through a journey of Pop Divas through time, showcasing girl power through music. A celebration of creativity empowered by women whose musical career changed the realm of the music industry and the world.
 
Iconic songs that will each speak to a different part of you, taking you through the music of the greats, such as Edith Piaf, Aretha Fraklin, Whitney Huston, Carol King, all the way to world renowned pop sensations, like Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Amy Winehouse and Adele, and to the younger generation of singers like Billie Elish, Celeste and our own talent Sophia Patsalides.
 
“Thank you for every woman who paved the way for me to be standing in this room
doing what I love to do”.
  
Creative Director: Sarah Milne
Choreography: Ioanna Kamenou
Cast: Sarah Milne, Sophia Patsilidou, Ioanna Kamenou, Elena Zacharia, Gloria Lagou, Maria Raspa, Maria Kasapi
Assistant Director: Elena Zacharia
Stage Manager: Emma Kerr
Sound: Emma Avedissian
Hairstyling: Antonis
 
NICOSIA INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
MUSIC 2.12 Friday 20:30 (90΄)
ALKINOOS IOANNIDIS: TOGETHER IN THE LIGHT
  
Alkinoos Ioannidis Invites the Nicosia International Festival audience to a concert in complete darkness. An invitation the objective of which is promote empathy and understanding of what it's like to live with visual impairment and the fact that the visually impaired have the same rights to access life, art and society.
 
Standing next to Alkinoos the writer and singer Thodoris Tsatsos who was born blind. Through their artistic coexistence, they shall accompany the audience from darkness to light.
 
The idea behind this concert in the dark, started in Greece in order to support the voluntary organization Reading for Others, a volunteer network founded in 2015 with the aim of recording books for people who are blind or visually impaired.
 
The initial initiative for the concert in the dark "Together in the Light", which took place for the first time in May 2021 at the Michalis Cacoyannis Foundation in Athens, belongs to "Great Events", a Greek Urban Non-Profit Company that organizes concerts and cultural events with the aim of the financing of organizations that inspire and contribute to society as a whole.
 
The net proceeds of the concert will be donated to the School for the Blind, thus inaugurating a partnership with the Nicosia International Festival. The goal of this collaboration is the development of a series of joined actions related to culture, as part of the School’s educational program.
  
Guitar: Avraam Kontos
Sound engineer: Vassilis Drungas
 
NICOSIA INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
DANCE 6.12 Tuesday 20:30 (45΄)
ON WEDNESDAYS WE WEAR PINK by Alexandros Stavropoulos 
 
How does a woman live in a pink world?
 
Five women share a repetitious daily existence and the dream of escape, like living mannequins in a window display searching for the exit. In the gilded cage of a dream-like, fairy-tale refuge, the give themselves over to a series of transformations: confirmed feminists and misunderstood Barbies, Disney princesses and amazons, all seeking satisfaction and emancipation.
 
Concept & Choreography: Alexandros Stavropoulos
Performers: Gabriela Antonopoulou, Eleftheria Iliopoulou, Despoina Lagoudaki, Daphne Stathatou, Stefania Sotiropoulou
Choreographer’s assistant: Christiana Kossiari
Dramaturgy & research: Steriani Tsintziloni
Original music score: Konstantina Polychronopoulou
Set design & construction: Mairi Tsagkari
Lighting design: Marietta Pavlaki
Costumes design & construction: Francesco Infante
Choreographer assistant & latin dance teacher: Marios Hadjantonis
External eye: Anastasios Koukoutas
Production management: DELTA PI
 
Touring Production coordinator: Christina Liata - Onassis Stegi’s “Outward Turn” Program
Touring Technical Manager: Antonis Kokoris - Onassis Stegi
Commissioned and produced by ONASSIS STEGI
 
The presentation at Nicosia International Festival is supported by ONASSIS STEGI - “Outward Turn” Program
 
NICOSIA INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
DANCE  6.12 Tuesday 20:30 (45΄)
A BOUNCE 4 MEN by Ilias Chatzigeorgiou
  
Beyond the stereotypes of male-dominated hip hop culture, which demands proof of
your strength, dominance, and power, four men, young, strong, and handsome, violent, and immature, trapped inside the identities they were handed, battle to find their own pulse, to be led into something deeper, more essential, more primal. Sometimes through humor and self-deprecation, other times through brutality, violence, and fear.
 
Choreography: Ilias Chatzigeorgiou
Performers: Periklis Petrakis (Virtuozo), Dimitris Karageorgos (D Wave), Kostas Phoenix, Haris Hatziandreou (Haribo), Alexis Falantas
Music: Alexis Falantas
Lighting Design/Stage Direction: Nikos Vlasopoulos
Set & Costumes: Ilias Chatzigeorgiou - A Bounce 4 Men
Line Production: Goodheart Productions
 
Touring Production coordinator: Christina Liata – Onassis Stegi’s “Outward Turn” Program
Touring Technical Manager: Antonis Kokoris – Onassis Stegi
Commissioned and produced by Onassis Stegi
 
The presentation at Nicosia International Festival is supported by Onassis Stegi - “Outward Turn” Program
 
NICOSIA INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
THEATRE 27.12 Tuesday 17:00 (70')
28.12 Wednesday 17:00
STILL! A STATUE THAT TRAVELED THE WORLD
 
The Nicosia International Festival 2021 hit comes back for two final performances to mark the end of the 2022 edition of the Festival. The play, watched by over 6000 children and adults, centres on the friendship between a girl persecuted by a war and a statue-soldier, and praises peace, acceptance of diversity, and the power of true love.
 
The director Kostas Silvestros and choreographer Panagiotis Tofi jointly compose a musical feast of images and colors having been seduced by the story invented by the lyricist Stavros Stavrou and the original music by the leading Greek pianist and composer Thodoris Economou.
 
The show is for audience members of all ages and nationalities given that language is not an obstacle; the language used in the play is an imaginary
one, “invented” by Stavros Stavrou especially.
 
A girl in a boat embarks on her journey into the unknown, trying to escape the horror of war. He finds refuge in an unknown country and rests on a
bench, underneath a soldier statue. Very soon a crazy revelation overturns everything: it is a statue that is alive! Can a statue and a girl become forever
friends and travel the world together? Can the girl teach the statue what it's like to be truly alive and convince him to leave the sword that he holds firmly all the time?
 
Conceived-lyrics: Stavros Stavrou
Direction-choreography: Kostas Silvestros- Panagiotis Tofi
Music composition: Thodoris Economou
Set & costume design: Konstantina Andreou
Screening design: Anna Fotiadou
Lighting design: Vassilis Petinaris
Assistant director/ vocal instruction: Konstantinos Andronikou
Cast: Andreas Koutsoftas, Christina Papadopoulou, Anthony Papamichail
Pianist on stage: Andreas Michalopoulos
 
PARALLEL PROGRAM
 
NICOSIA INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
15|11 – 2|12
ANIMA
A virtual and augmented reality installation by Michalis Charalambous 
 
In his innovative on-site virtual realilty (VR) and augmented reality (AR) installation ANIMA (latin for “soul”)Michalis Charalambous focuses on the radical transformation of the meanings of the concept of the "human" in the late 20th and early 21st c., through the term’s theoretical, material and/or virtual reconfigurations within the contemporary techno-scientific context. Charalambous explores the transcendence of entrenched perceptions of the limits of the human condition and the transformations observed in the meanings of "human nature”, following an opposite route: through in depth research in ancient Cypriot representations of the “post-human”, conducted at the Cyprus Museum in Nicosia and the British Museum in London.
 
The show was first launched in June 2022 at the Cyprus High Commission in London, United Kingdom, sponsored by the Cultural Services, and supported by the Department of Antiquities, CYENS Centre of Excellence and the British Museum.
 
Curated by Marios Psaras
Research Advisors: Thomas Kiely, Eftychia Zachariou, Efthymia Alphas
VR & AR development: Panayiotis Kyriakou.
Άλλες Ανακοινώσεις
31 Oct
Nicosia International Festival 2022
30 Sep
1st Nicosia International Festival