The GNO participates in the Kalamata International Dance Festival

The 31st edition of Greece’s most important Dance Festival will feature the dance productions Future Cargo by the GNO Ballet and Epilogue by the GNO Professional Dance School

The Greek National Opera will participate in the Kalamata International Dance Festival, which is scheduled to take place for the 31st consecutive year in the Messinian capital from 18 to 27 July 2025, with two remarkable dance performances: Future Cargo by the GNO Ballet and Epilogue by the GNO Professional Dance School. The GNO tour across Greece is made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) to enhance the Greek National Opera’s artistic outreach.

GNO BALLET – FUTURE CARGO
The GNO Ballet will participate in the 31st Kalamata International Dance Festival, presenting the sci-fi dance performance Future Cargo, which takes place inside a 40-foot futuristic haulage truck. The premiere is scheduled for the 19th of July at the Central Square of Kalamata, with a repeat performance set for the 25th of July at Kalamata Port. Moreover, as part of the Kalamata International Dance Festival’s outreach programme “Dancing in Cities of the Peloponnese”, which runs for a fifth year in collaboration with the Peloponnese  Region and the Municipalities of the involved cities, Future Cargo will tour to Sparta, Astros, Nafplion, Xylokastro, Tripoli, Pylos, and Ancient Olympia. This co-production between the GNO and The Place, London, on Future Cargo, as well as the tour to Greece, are made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) to enhance the Greek National Opera’s artistic outreach.

Future Cargo, a work by  Frauke Requardt & David Rosenberg, delivers the delicate integrity of a deeply intimate experience within a large-scale dance spectacle. The show takes place inside a 40-foot haulage truck, which appears to be carrying a mystery shipment. As the sides roll up, its unusual stage is revealed – a transparent polycarbonate plastic window that allows audiences to see inside.

The GNO Ballet dancers perform on a moving conveyor belt, showcasing a fascinating movement language that explores the concept of performing within an extremely confined space. Audience members receive a pair of headphones upon arrival, allowing them to hear inside the container and experience the show’s immersive music as well as the world within in a unique way. This special show is a captivating blend of surreal reality and everyday life elements.

As the creators of Future Cargo, Frauke Requardt & David Rosenberg, note: “We envisage creating an impossible internal space that defies the preconception of the viewer. We want to invite an audience into a world they never thought possible.” Future Cargo is the first co-production between the GNO and The Place, London’s creative powerhouse for dance development that has been leading the way in dance training, creation, and performance for 50 years.

Ballet of the Greek National Opera – Future Cargo | Kalamata International Dance Festival
A co-production between the GNO and The Place, London
19/7 – Kalamata, Central Square | 20.30
20/7 – Sparta, Central Square | 21.00
21/7 – Astros Kynourias, Karytsiotis Square| 21.00
22/7 – Nafplio, Port – Pier Π | 21.00
23/7 – Xylokastro – Evrostini,  Concert Venue inside the Wooden Park | 21.00
24/7 – Tripoli, Areos Square | 21.00
25/7 – Kalamata, Port – Dock | 22.30
26/7 – Pylos, Pier of the Port of Pylos | 21.00
27/7 – Ancient Olympia, Parking lot underneath the Museum of the History of the Olympic Games | 21.00

Free admission – Audience members can obtain headphones for the show by temporarily exchanging their identity cards. 

Future Cargo's performances in the Peloponnese are part of the 31st Kalamata International Dance Festival and the outreach program “Dancing in Cities of the Peloponnese”, which is held for a fifth consecutive year in collaboration with the Peloponnese Region and the Municipalities of the involved cities: Municipality of Sparta, Municipality of North Kynouria, Municipality of Nafplio, Municipality of Xylokastro-Evrostini, Municipality of Tripoli, Municipality of Pylos-Nestoras, Municipality of Ancient Olympia, as well as the International Festival of Ancient Olympia.

Direction, choreography: Frauke Requardt & David Rosenberg | Design: Hannah Clark | Sound design & composition: Ben & Max Ringham | Lighting design: Malcolm Rippeth
Rehearsal manager (The Place): Valentina Formenti | Musician: Jack Baker | Assistant to the choreographers: Rachel Bowen | Assistant to the choreographers (GNO Ballet): Dimitra Laoudi
Driver: Ektor Bollano (19, 20, 21 & 22/7) / Florian-Michalis Pappas (23, 24, 25, 26 & 27/7) | Driver’s voice: John Tsemperlidis | Alien: Stefano Pietragalla, Eleftheria Stamou, Yorgos Hatzopoulos (19, 20, 21 & 22/7)   / Areti Noti, Elton Dimrochi, Zoi Schoinoplokaki (23, 24, 25, 26 & 27/7)

GNO PROFESSIONAL DANCE SCHOOL – EPILOGUE
The Greek National Opera’s Professional Dance School participates in the 31st Kalamata International Dance Festival with the performance Epilogue, under the guidance of its Head of Studies, Yorghos Matskaris. The School’s students will present a challenging diptych of modern dance, featuring choreographies by Ermira Goro and Edouard Hue, on 22 July at 22.30 at Kalamata Port (Dock). The GNO Dance School’s tour is made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) to enhance the Greek National Opera’s artistic outreach.

The internationally acclaimed Greek dancer and choreographer Ermira Goro has created a new piece titled Skipping on Stardust, commissioned by the GNO Dance School. In this choreography, movement becomes a lively conversation between the body, space, and emotions. Dancers mould images that sometimes flow smoothly and other times burst out, creating a dialogue between light and shadow, tension and serenity. This piece does not follow a linear narrative; instead, it unfolds like a corporeal poem, open to interpretation.

The world-renowned French choreographer and founder of the Beaver Dam Company, Edouard Hue, recreates, especially for the GNO Dance School, an excerpt from the second act of his work, Dive. Here, instinct strips movement, reducing it to its purest form, shaped by immediacy, impulsion, and necessity. The performers reveal the creation process, exposing a dance that is both deeply intimate and captivating.

Performance by the GNO Professional Dance School – Epilogue | Kalamata International Dance Festival
22/7 – Kalamata Port, Dock | 22.30
Free admission

SKIPPING ON STARDUST – Choreography: Ermira Goro
Assistant to the choreographer, rehearsal manager: Iro Konti
Music: Franz Schubert, 2. Andante con moto from the String Quartet No. 14 in D minor,  D.810 (Death and the Maiden) –  performed by the Alban Berg Quartet   (ABQ) & Beats Pliz, Happy Days in C Minor feat. Lex
Lighting design: Dimitris Koutas

Dancers: Lambrini-Michaela Arfara, Maria-Elpida Vasilopoulou, Maria Giannouli, Orest Gountouni, Georgia Dimou, Angeliki Kalogeropoulou, Lydia Kapouni, Michaila Karataraki, Sofia Karipoglou, Kyriakos Kontozis, Maria Konstantellou, Maria Lambrinou, Paraskevi-Maria Mavriki, Eleni Mermigka, Danai-Aikaterini Mitsiani, Lambros Bintakos, Eleni Nikodemou, Sofia Nikolaou, Chrystallena Panayiotou, Maria Pichler-Gaspari, Argyro Solomonidi, Ilektra-Ioanna Souliou, Alexandra Spanou, Theodosia Stathopoulou,  Georgia Strati, Georgios Tsingos, Olga Chalkia, Patra Christodoulou

DIVE – Choreography: Edouard Hue
Musical composition: Jonathan Soucasse
Lighting design: Arnaud Viala | Lighting supervision: Dimitris Koutas
Dramaturgical contribution: Hugo Roux
Rehearsal managers: Jaewon Jung, Alison Adnet

Dancers: Orest Gountouni, Georgia Dimou, Kyriakos Kontozis, Lambros Bintakos, Eleni Nikodemou, Maria Pichler-Gaspari, Ilektra-Ioanna Souliou, Alexandra Spanou, Theodosia Stathopoulou, Olga Chalkia, Patra Christodoulou, Chrystallena Panayiotou, Georgios Tsingos

Artistic curator: Yorghos Matskaris, Head of Studies at the GNO Professional Dance School | Coordination, rehearsal managers: Alkistis Lala, Zeta Theodorelou, Komi Kloukina | Technical supervision: Vaso Papadopoulou | GNO Costume coordination: Ira Karagouni | Sound manager: Giorgos Rekoutis

Lead Donor of the GNO
Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF)