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Annex 1
Swan Lake City
SYNOPSIS
A ballet in four acts.
A young woman, who is confined in the form of a swan, falls in love in the hope that
she will become a woman again. However, society in the guise of an evil magician,
sends the black swan to destroy the promise of love. When the girl realises there is no
way out for her, she and her lover drown themselves in the lake. The “Swan Lake”, a
symbol of our confinement in a conventional society, sets the stage for the unfolding of
the personal stories of the performers.
How can we define contemporary man’s confinement in the role assigned to him by
society? What does it mean to be a “swan”? What are the limits of the lake? Can we
break free of its restrictions? If so, what is the solution?
Annex 2
Swan Lake City
PRODUCTION AND CAST LIST
Choreography
Konstantinos Rigos
Directed by
Konstantinos Rigos
Set designer
Kenny MacLellan
Costume Design
Konstantinos Rigos
Natassa Dimitriou
Lighting Design
Stelios Tzolopoulos
Tasos Dailidis
Text
Elena Penga
Assistant to Choreographer
Amalia Bennett
Dramaturgical Consultants
Elena Penga & Iphigenia Taxopoulou
Dancers
Stefan Baier
Savas Baltzis
Amalia Bennett
Dimitra Charalambous
Peny Christopoulou
Oliver Hartmann
Panagiotis Kontonis
Giannnis Martos
Konstantinos Rigos
Nancy Stamatopoulou
Elena Topalidou
Poly Voikou
Nikoleta Xenariou
Musicians
Tilemahos Mousas
Apostolos Leventopoulos
Production
N.T.N.G. Dance Theatre
Annex 3
DANCETHEATRE OF THE NATIONAL THEATRE OF
NORTHERN GREECE
The Dancetheatre of the National Theatre of Northern Greece (NTNG.) was founded in
1982, when the Aenaon Dancetheatre was incorporated into the NTNG. From 1982 to
1988, the Dancetheatre was directed by choreographer Daniel Lommel, performing in
Thessaloniki and touring all over the northern Greek region.
In 1988, the group was renamed Dancetheatre of Thessaloniki. From 1988 to 1994, the
Dancetheatre was directed by Rene Kammer and Dimitra Koroneou. It staged works by
Greek and international choreographers such as Lia Meletopoulou, Leonidas de Pian,
Rene Kammer, Nicola Gabriel, Jean Vinclair, Rallou Manou and Nana Vahla.
Anastasia Theophanidou took over the direction of the Dancetheatre from 1994 till
2000. In 1998 she invited Haris Mantafounis to choreograph Excuse Us, Mr
Shakespeare. Konstantinos Rigos was invited to choreograph Sleeping Beauty in 1999
and Bluebeard in 2000.
In 2000, the Dancetheatre of Thessaloniki changed its name to Dancetheatre of the
National Theatre of Northern Greece and staged the play Invisible Cities,
choreographed by four different choreographers, namely A. Papadamaki, N. Nalbadis,
P. Stamatopoulou and Konstantinos Rigos.
In 2001, Konstantinos Rigos became the new artistic director and brought together the
dancers of the Dancetheatre Oktana with those of the Dancetheatre of the NTNG, thus
creating a dynamic team of 14 dancers.
Under Konstantinos Rigos’s direction, the Dancetheatre has toured Bluebeard in
Athens. Its dancers K. Kervanidou and K. Gerardos won the State Award of
Interpretation for Sleeping Beauty, which toured Cairo. The co-production with the
Dancetheatre Oktana, Ring, won the State Award for Choreography. In 2002, Swan
Lake City, choreographed by Konstantinos Rigos, sold more than 5,000 tickets, a record
in the Dancetheatre's history. The production then toured Athens and Volos.
Ariadne - Mt. Kithaeron, choreographed by Irina Pauls and Konstantinos Rigos and a
co-production of the Dancetheatre of the NTNG with the TanzTheater Heidelberg and
Dell' Arte Company, was presented in Thessaloniki and toured Germany, performing in
Heidelberg Hamburg. The productions, Handle with Care by A. Foniadakis, and The
day of my birthday I took the train to Thessaloniki, a co-production with the company
Lathos Kinisi headed by K. Michos, were presented in Thessaloniki and toured to
Athens.
The series of installations Winterreise trip edition by Konstantinos Rigos took place in
Vassiliko Theatre of Thessaloniki and was a co-production with the Oktana
Dancetheatre. The production also toured Montenegro, Athens and Belgrade. The
Dancetheatre also presented Equus by A. Bennett and Kokkinizoume Arga by K.
Papageorgiou in Thessaloniki.
Annex 4
ARTISTS’ BIOGRAPHIES
Konstantinos Rigos
Choreographer
A native of Athens, Rigos is a graduate of the State School of Dance in the city of his
birth. He also studied Economics at the University of Athens. In 1990, he founded
Oktana Dance Theatre and choreographed all its productions, including Les Noces,
Room 5, The Garden, Daphnis and Chloe, The Athlete, The Five Seasons, Orpheus
Hotel, Icarus-Sudden Decompression, The Ring and Crazy Happiness. That same year,
he won the second prize in the choreography competition held by the Municipality of
Athens, with his work Are you in favour of an excursion? In 1992, in collaboration with
V. Papachristos, he won first prize for the work Good morning there.
He has also choreographed for Theatro Technis, the Simio Theatre, the Cultural
Organisation MORPHES, the Notos Theatre, the Municipal Theatre of Volos, the
National Theatre, the Thessaloniki Film Festival and the Dance Theatre of the State
Theatre of Northern Greece.
He has also represented Greece in various international festivals, such as the Biennale
Festival in Lisbon (1994); the American Dance Festival in North Carolina (1995);
Tiphlis in Georgia; the Lyon Biennale de la Dance; dance festivals in Bologna (1998),
Stockholm (1998), London (1999), Amsterdam (1999), La MeziaTerme (1999),
Sarajevo (2000), Bogota (2000), Cologne (2001) and Karakas (2001).
Rigos has garnered numerous accolades for his work. In 1995, he won the Best
Choreography award for his work Daphnis and Chloe. The following year, he was
awarded the same prize for his work The Five Seasons. In 1998, he was awarded the
Melina Merkouri prize. In 1999, he won the prize for Best Production for his work
Boxing Ring.
Rigos has been the principal choreographer and artistic director of the Dancetheatre of
National Theatre of Northern Greece since October 2001.
Savvas Baltzis
Dancer
When he first started as a dancer, Baltzis was a member of the Kaleidoscope group,
Sevastopol, Ukraine, for a number of years. In 2000, he began attending the State
School of Orchestral Art during which he became a member of the Lyra Dance Group.
In the midst of his third year, he also became a member of the Ballet of Cyprus. Upon
graduation, he joined the Choreftes Dance Group and also became a member of the
NTNG Dance group. In 2004, Savvas joined the Oktana Dance Theatre.
Amalia Bennett
Dancer
Born in London in 1968, Bennett studied at the Laban Centre for Movement and Dance.
She was a founding member of the Exit Dance Company and the Kinitiras dance group.
She has been assistant choreographer and dancer of the OKTANA Dance Theatre since
1993 and a member of the NTNG for the last two years. She choreographed the
theatrical performances Flight, Μormolis, Heracles, The Tempest (N.T.N.G.) and The
Wizard of Oz (IVI Theatre). Currently, she is a teacher at the Fotiadis School of
Dramatic Art and the NTNG Drama School.
Dimitra Charalambous
Dancer
Charalambous was born in 1980 in Piraeus and studied at the State School of Orchestral
Art. Upon graduation, he became a member of NTNG Dancetheatre and has performed
in the following productions: Swan Lake City, Winter Journey (Konstantinos Rigos),
Ariadne/Kitheronas (Irina Pauls – Konstantinos Rigos) and Handle with care (Antonis
Foniadakis).
Peny Christopoulou
Dancer
Christopoulou was born in Cyprus in 1975. She graduated from the Amalia
Strinopoulou Higher Professional Dance School. Since 1995, she has been a member of
the NTNG Dancetheatre and has performed in Transformations, Peaks, Verses, Blood
Wedding (Anastasia Theophanidou), Excuse me, Mr Shakespeare (Charis Mantafounis),
Sleeeping Beauty, Bluebeard, Swan Lake, Winter Journey (Konstantinos Rigos),
Invisible cities (M. Nalbantis, A. Papadamaki, Konstantinos Rigos, P. Stamatopoulou),
Handle with care (Α. Foniadakis), On my birthday I took the train to Thessaloniki (Κ.
Μichos). She has also collaborated with Michail Marmarinos (Hamlet Machine,
NTNG), Goran Brecovic and Daniel Lommel.
Oliver Hartmann
Dancer
Born in Worms, Germany in 1977, Hartmann studied classical and modern dance at the
Mannheim Dance Academy and the Ballet Institute of North Rhine-Westphalia. He has
a Diploma in Dance and Dance Education. His collaborations in dance and musical
theatre include Smooth (choreographed by Marc McClain), Future of Work
(choreographed by Fréderic Flamand, Hannover EXPO 2000), Unio Mystica
(choreographed by Raoul Valdez, Operettenhaus Hamburg), Fest am
Bundestkanzleramt (choreographed by phase7, Berlin), Carmina Burana
(choreographed by Bettina Owczarek, Philarmonie, Berlin), Blutenbeisser
(choreographed by Alexandra Auf der Strasse, 3.Stock, Volksbuehne), Laboratory 2
(choreographed by Bernard Baumgarten) and Die Wahlverwandtschaften
(choreographed by Barbora Kryslova, Dock11, Berlin). Since January 2003 he has
been a member of the Oktana Dance Theatre and performed in Winter Journey
(choreographed by Konstantinos Rigos).
Panagiotis Kontonis
Dancer
Born in Athens in 1981, Kontonis studied at the State School of Orchestral Art. After
graduation, she joined OKTANA Dance Theatre and was part of Icarus-Sudden
decompression, Mad joy and Utopia (choreographed by Konstantinos Rigos). Now a
part of Dance Theatre of N.T.N.G., Panagiotis danced in Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake,
Kitheronas, Winter Journey (choreographed by Konstantinos Rigos) and Αriadne
(choreographed by Irina Pauls).
Giannis Martos
Dancer
Martos was born in 1970 in Kayaj, Albania and studied at the Vaganova Higher
Institute of Dance, Tirana. Prior to joining Dancetheatre of NTNG, Martos was a soloist
at the Tirana Opera (1987-89), and a dancer at La Scala Opera House in Milan (198990). Since 1991, Giannis has been a member of the Dancetheatre of NTNG, Martos has
collaborated with choreographers Jean Vinclair in The Chronicle of a Simple Story and
Psalm; Anastasia Theophanidou in Transformations, Peaks, Verses and Blood Wedding;
K. Rigos in Ring, Sleeping Beauty, Bluebeard, Swan Lake and Winter Journey; Ch.
Mantafounis in Excuse me, Mr Shakespeare; A. Papadamaki and M. Nalbantis in
Invisible cities; Α. Foniadakis in Handle with care; Κ. Michos in On my birthday I took
the train to Thessaloniki. Martos’ theatre collaborations include The dithyramb of the
rose directed by E. Pitta and The Birds directed by A. Voutsinas.
Nancy Stamatopoulou
Dancer
Stamatopoulou was born in Thessaloniki in 1976. She graduated from the Thessaloniki
Municipal Higher School of Dance in 1997. Participated in the dance groups
Chorokyttaro (A. Strinopoulou) and Emmeleia (D.Koronaiou). She has worked with
numerous choreographers including: Jean Vinclair, Malvina Protogerou, Jackie
Taffanel, Alfredo Fernandez, Apostolia Papadamaki, Kiki Baka, Christine Bastin,
Karen Levi, Claudi Bonbardo and Konstantinos Rigos. She has also appeared at the
Young Artists’ Biennale in Turin (1997), the Corsica Festival (2000), the “Mesogeios”
Festival in Limassol (1996), and was a member of the dance group sent by the Council
of Greeks Abroad to seven Russian cities (1998). She has been a member of the NTNG
Dance Theatre since September 2003 and has performed in Winterreise and Slowly
Blushing.
Elena Topalidou
Dancer
Topalidou, born in Athens born in 1971, was an honours student at the State School of
Orchestral Art before she joined the Oktana Dance Theatre in 1992. She has
collaborated with the Theatre of Art (Brecht-Weill Happy End), the Theatre of the
South (Εleni–Epidaurus, Macbeth), the Omada Edafous (Μedea, Oresteia), the
Municipal Regional Theatre of Volos – Th. Moumoulidis (Wherever I travel to...), the
National Theatre (Papadimitriou-Doxiadi Midsummer Night’s Dream) and the NTNG
Dance Theatre (Bluebeard, Swan Lake, Ariadne – Kitheronas, Winter Journey). As an
actress, she has collaborated with the Theatre of the South (Εleni–Epidaurus, Macbeth),
the Nees Morfes group (Hamlet) and the NTNG (Τooth of Crime). In 1999, she was
awarded the First State Prize for best actress in the play, Lady of the Camelias.
Poly Voikou
Dancer
Voikou, who was born in Thessaloniki, began dancing at the age of five at the
Terpsichore school run by Nikolaos Bazakas. After graduating from high school, she
entered the Thessaloniki Municipal Higher Professional School of Dance. In 1996, she
became a member of the modern dance group Emmeleia, through which she had the
opportunity to work with major choreographers such as Jean Vinclair, Jackie Taffanel,
Christine Bastin, Alfredo Fernandez, Claudi Bombardo, Karin Levi and many more. In
2001, she collaborated with the French group Jean Francois Duroure in the production
of La Paix and in 2003, with the Distesa group in Marseilles. Since 1996, she has been
the overall coordinator of the International Month of Dance organised by Emmeleia and
the Municipality of Thessaloniki, under the direction of Dimitra Koronaiou. Since
September 2003, she has worked as a dancer with the NTNG Dancetheatre.
Nikoleta Xenariou
Dancer
Born in Thessaloniki in 1980, Xenariou attended the Roula Kafantari School of Dance
and the Kalamaria Municipal Dance School for 10 years. Upon graduating with
honours from the State School of Orchestral Art SSD in 2001, she furthered her
training at the Dance Academy of Rotterdam and received her RDA Bachelor of Dance
in 2003. She has performed in the International Theatre School Festival 2003
Amsterdam / Rosas Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and participated in M.T. Bulla/Philip
Adams, Noces/Angelin Preljocaj, Arnem – Bartokzaal, Paradox of Oneness/Anna May
De Lijser, Nonsensitivity/Eva Baumman, On Line/Rita Vilhena. She has performed in
the NTNG Dance Theatre (Swan Lake, Konstantinos Rigos) as well as with
Dansateliers Rotterdam (Addressing the Memory, Ayn Camerlang)
Kenny MacLellen
Set Designer
MacLellen studied textile design at the Glasgow School of Fine Arts and stage design
at the Motley’s School of Theatre Design, where he was awarded the Linbury Prize for
Theatre Design. His collaboration with various theatres includes Royal Shakespeare
Company, The Royal Court, The Traverse Theatre, Wexford Festival Opera, Opera de
Montpellier, NTNG, National Theatre, Athens Megaron Mousikis, Stoa Theatre, Ivi
Theatre, New Israel Opera, and the dance theatres Oktana and Sine qua Non. He has
worked on stage design for the short films Tugo-Tugo and Fotagogos, for which he was
awarded a prize at the Drama Short Film Festival.
Natassa Dimitriou
Costume Designer
A native of Athens, Dimitriou studied fashion at the Veloudakis School of Liberal
Studies. She has worked on projects for television advertising, and was the assistant
costumer to Kenny MacLellan for Modus Vivendi (Choreftes) and Stories of Dance
(K.S.O.T.). She was the costumer for The Little Prince (X ART, choreographed by K.
Andreopoulou), Swan Lake City and Kitheronas (NTNG, choreographed by
Konstantinos Rigos), Utopia (“Oktana”, by Kostantinos Rigos), On my birthday I took
the train to Thessaloniki (NTNG) and Lathos Kinisi (by Κ. Michos)
Stelios Tzolopoulos
Lighting Designer
Born in Thessaloniki, Tzolopoulos graduated in electrical engineering in 1988. He
designed the lighting for NTNG, the Bald Theatre - Dept of English Literature
(Aristotle University of Thessalnoniki), the Municipality of Thessaloniki (Month of
Dance, Dream Nights, Open theatre festival), the Italian Consulate of Thessaloniki, and
the Thessaloniki Cultural Capital of Europe Organization ’97. He has also designed
lighting for the concerts of various artistes and theatre groups performing in Athens
including Philip Glass, Beautiful South, Nits, Cesaria Evora, Madredeus, Stereo Nova,
Lulu, Trypes, Agamoi Thytai, Dimitra Galani, Dionysis Savvopoulos and Manolis
Rasoulis.
Iphigenia Taxopoulou
Dramatist
Taxopoulou studied Greek literature at the Faculty of Arts, Artistotle University of
Thessaloniki, and graduated with an MA degree in Arts Criticism and Theory at the
Department of Arts Policy and Management from the City University London. She has
published articles on theatre in newspapers and reviews in Greece and abroad. She has
served as Associate General Secretary of the International Association of Theatre
Critics and co-edited the I.A.T.C. magazine. Since 1995, she has been in charge of
International Relations for the National Theatre of Northern Greece, where she has also
worked as a dramaturg and editor for the publications department. She has collaborated
with various theatre festivals as a programmer and organiser. She is currently the
artistic advisor of the Athens Festival for international theatre programming.
Tilemachos Mousas
Musician
Mousas started a rock band, Acetic Voice, at age 17 and was vocalist and co-composer
for the band Medieval Death. His interest in jazz led to his attending the Modern
Odeum of Thessaloniki, the Agostini Music School and the F. Nakas Odeum. He was
also awarded a scholarship to attend the Berklee College of Music. His has played with
the bands Methexis, Ble, Atractors. (with Marite Sanchez from Mexico) and performed
with the singer and pianist Heleen Schuttevaer from Holland. Mousas also took part in
M. Mouzakis film, From the moment he set foot in Athens. In addition to forming the
Tilemachos Mousas Quintet in 2002, he has worked with Lena Norin from Sweden,
Michel Chatzigeorgiou and orchestrated for Banu Unuvar. He is not only the guitarist
in Swan Lake (NTNG Dancetheatre by Konstantinos Rigos), he has also adapted
Tchaikovsky’s work. This multi-talented musician is also an applications professor at
the Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki.