To Have Been So Close So Many Times

Alternative Stage Founding Donor  

Major Sponsor of the Greek National Opera

The new production by the Greek National Opera Ballet, To Have Been So Close So Many Times, crafts a multidimensional stage universe where contemporary dance and music theatre intersect and viscerally coexist in a never-ending conversation. Three chamber music works by Giorgos Koumendakis engage with four poems by Constantine P. Cavafy, set in the amanes style, creating a profoundly esoteric, contemplative, and constantly evolving soundscape.

Three distinguished choreographers – Patricia Apergi, Ilias Hatzigeorgiou, and Eva Georgitsopoulou – approach the material through diverse aesthetic and movement languages. The body is brought to the fore as a carrier of memory, desire, and loss, while movement hovers between group coordination and individual deviation. Nine dancers move within a setting of constant transition, where time seems to slow, repeat, and take on an almost ritualistic dimension.

Petros Touloudis’ sculptural installation turns the stage into a moving soundscape. By generating and conveying sound, it serves as a mechanism that transforms the stage into a space where emotions do not scream but rather echo across time, allowing room for imagination. Zacharias Karounis delivers a unique vocal performance, accompanied by Angelina Tkatcheva on the santoor, the Oros Ensemble, and the Osmosis Saxophone Quartet. John Papatzanis is in charge of percussion coaching and performs on a wide variety of percussion instruments on stage, alongside the dancers.

This performance does not tell a linear story; instead, it plunges the audience into an immersive, emotional experience – an inward ritual.