The art of rhythm

GNO Learning & Participation Lead Donor 

The 2025/26 season welcomes The Art of Rhythm, an innovative educational programme focused on music, rhythm, and community expression for adults 18 and older who want to explore the art of rhythm through singing and percussion (bendir) performance.  After nine years of continuous presence and development on Crete and in other regions of Greece, this year the programme inaugurates its collaboration with the GNO, opening a new cycle of “rhythmic” events in Athens. During the new season, a series of workshops will take place, culminating in an original music theatre performance scheduled for May 2026 at the GNO Alternative Stage in the SNFCC.

 The Art of Rhythm is a groundbreaking educational programme that places rhythm and music at the core of a broader artistic and social experience, starting from the Eastern Mediterranean region. The programme’s methodology is based on experiential knowledge and the formation of collaborative communities, aiming to develop participants’ musical perception, rhythmic skills, and individual creativity. Its goal is to enhance participants’ musicality, personal well-being, mental strength, and social cohesion and awareness. Through artistic activities, it offers tools for self-managing stress, improving communication, developing self-confidence, and enhancing collectiveness. The programme The Art of Rhythm is connected to health, well-being, solidarity, and respect for diversity, while also serving as an adult training programme that uses music and the arts as catalysts for lifelong learning, personal growth, and social integration. The groups that particularly benefit from this programme include students in music, theatre, and general education; music and general education teachers; musicians; adults aged 65 and older; persons with disabilities; and their caregivers.

To participate in the programme, no prior musical knowledge is required. It is targeted at all adults who want to explore the art of rhythm, both for educational purposes – such as using tools in teaching settings and cultivating one’s relationship with rhythm –  and for participating in a music group, where expression, release, and creative composition are the basic pillars for building a music-producing community.

 A few words about the programme

The programme was designed by Giannis Papatzanis. It ran for the first time during the 2017/18 academic year in Chania, Rethymno, and Heraklion, and it has already been extended to Ierapetra, Agios Nikolaos, and Siteia. The programme is funded by the Region of Crete and the island’s six Municipalities, in collaboration with the Laboratory of Theater, Film and Music Studies of the Philology Department at the School of Philosophy of the University of Crete. The programme’s scientific manager is Manolis Seiragakis, Assistant Professor of Theatre Studies at the University of Crete. Vital to the programme is the collaboration, in a research and advisory context, with the Psychology and Special Education Laboratory of the Pedagogical Department of Primary Education at the University of Crete, under the scientific and advisory guidance of Ilias Kourkoutas, Psychology Professor at the Pedagogical Department of the School. On Crete, it is carried out by the Laboratory of Theater, Film, and Music Studies within the Philology Department at the University of Crete’s School of Philosophy, and it has been in consistent operation for 7 years. Its activities are constantly renewed and expanded across Crete’s four Prefectures (Chania, Rethymno, Heraklion, Agios Nikolaos, Ierapetra, and Siteia), making it the most outward-looking, widespread, and successful initiative to connect the University of Crete with local government bodies (The Region of Crete and its Municipalities).

More than 3,000 people have already taken part in the programme, most of them being General and Special Education teachers of all specializations, students from the University of Crete and the Technical University of Crete, as well as health professionals. Additionally, during the 2023/24 academic year, the programme was also carried out at Centres for Prevention, SOS Children's Villages, Community Care - Open Protection Departments for the Elderly, the Regional Association of the Blind of Crete, and with nurses from Venizeleio Hospital, helping to strengthen social structures.

The collaborating organizations are the following:

• Association “Living Well With Cancer” (Ef Zo Me Ton Karkino)
• Alzheimer's and Healthy Aging Society of Heraklion "Solidarity”
• Social Policy Department of the Municipality of Chania
• Public benefit organizations active in Crete, including Orizondas Association, the Day Care Center for People with Autistic Characteristics and Intellectual Disabilities - KIFAP Megalochari, KEFMAAAA, and ELEPAP.
• Alzheimer's Disease & Related Disorders Day Center
• ASPERGER ASSOCIATION
• Synanthropos Support Group & Department for the Elderly
• Community Center of the Social Service of the Municipality of Rethymno
• Community Pharmacy of the Municipality of Heraklion

This programme is part of the Act “Regional Observatory for Social Inclusion of the Attica Region – Attica Social Network,” with code OPS (MIS) 6001401, which is funded by ESF+ resources of the "ATTIKI 2021-2027" Programme.