Golden Age

Lead GNO & Tour Supporter

As part of the Greek National Opera’s tours in Greece and abroad, the GNO Ballet participates in a happening at the Art Athina art fair, in collaboration with Flux Laboratory Athens. The international tour is made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) [www.SNF.org] to enhance the Greek National Opera’s artistic outreach.

Golden Age discusses the present and future of dance, while also serving as a reflection of Rigos’ 35-year-long journey, in which the concepts of irony and nostalgia appear as identical. From his time at the National School of Dance (KSOT), the spring of Greek dance in the 1990s, and the Dance Theatre Company OKTANA, to his work at the Art Theatre, the National Theatre of Northern Greece, the National Theatre of Greece, the Athens Festival, and the Greek National Opera, Konstantinos Rigos’ iconoclastic imprint transcends the boundaries of dance and converses with the art forms surrounding it. His artistic identity remains restless, subversive, provocative, poignant, and deeply emotional.

With Golden Age, Konstantinos Rigos introduces the vocabulary of dance theatre to the Greek National Opera Ballet, creating a new work about the future of dance from a surprising blend of highlights that have marked his 35-year-long career, in conversation with new materials and modern influences. The performance features moments made of past materials yet viewed through a contemporary lens; moments that speak of bygone things while projecting into the future.

Through golden reflections, vertical screens, mottos, and a grand chandelier created by visual artist Petros Touloudis, the dance performance Golden Age signs the declaration of a new faith that places its beliefs not in God but in humans, not “in the heavens” but “on earth”—a declaration that, although it may not promise salvation, does ensure an exit from hell.

With Konstantinos Rigos’ musical selections and an original music score composed by his collaborator Ted Regklis, Golden Age features the vibrant sounds of a wild dance party, showcasing pieces that range from “reworked” melancholic compositions by Verdi and Bizet to Greek songs by Hiotis, Loizos, and Mamangakis, as well as rock and jazz hits from the 1960s and 1970s. From the aria “Addio del passato” and the line from Hotel California “Some dance to remember, some dance to forget” to texts and songs performed by Rigos’ special guests—including, among others, Eleftheria Arvanitaki, Myrto Vasiliou, Dimitris Kapouranis, Idra Kayne, Dorothea Merkouri, Konstantinos Bibis, and Elena Topalidou—Golden Age aspires to remind us that, since we cannot escape who we are, we ought to continue dancing to affirm our existence.

Erie Kyrgia collaborates on the dramaturgy, Petros Touloudis is responsible for the art installation, Daglara designed the costumes, Christos Tziogkas is in charge of the lighting, and Vasilis Kehagias created the videos.

Featuring Dancers from the Greek National Opera Ballet.