The Greek National Opera is joining the 32nd Kalamata International Dance Festival with two dance productions

To Have Been So Close So Many Times
Greek National Opera Ballet & Giorgos Koumendakis
25 & 26 July 2026
Kalamata Dance Megaron – Main Hall

Metamorphosis
GNO Professional Dance School
18 July 2026
Kalamata Central Square

The Greek National Opera is travelling to Kalamata with two special dance productions to join the Kalamata International Dance Festival, which will be held for the 32nd consecutive year in the capital of Messenia, from the 17th to the 26th of July 2026. The new GNO Ballet production, To Have Been So Close So Many Times, centred on Giorgos Koumendakis’ new piece, will be presented on the 25th and 26th of July 2026 at the Main Hall of the Kalamata Dance Megaron. Furthermore, on the 18th of July 2026, audiences will have the opportunity to enjoy the performance Metamorphosis by the GNO Professional Dance School. The GNO’s tour across Greece is made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) to enhance the Greek National Opera’s artistic outreach.

The new GNO Ballet production, To Have Been So Close So Many Times, crafts a multidimensional stage universe, where contemporary dance and music theatre unite in a visceral symbiosis—an eternal conversation. Three chamber music works by Giorgos Koumendakis engage in dialogue with four poems by Constantine P. Cavafys, which are set to music in the amanes style, creating a deeply inward, reflective, and constantly shifting 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 personal deviation. Nine dancers move through an environment of constant transition, where time seems to slow, repeat, and take on an almost ritualistic dimension.

The sculptural installation by visual artist Petros Touloudis turns the stage into a moving soundscape, functioning as a mechanism that produces and conveys sound, and transforming the stage into a space where emotions do not scream but instead echo across time, allowing room for imagination. The production features a unique performance by Zaharias Karounis, 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 a wide range of percussion 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.

The Professional Dance School of the Greek National Opera presents the performance Metamorphosis under the guidance of its Head of Studies, Yorghos Matskaris. The School’s students will be tested on a demanding diptych of contemporary dance featuring choreographies by Cyril Baldy and Jesús Rubio Gamo. The internationally acclaimed French dancer and choreographer Cyril Baldy revisits his choreography With Love and All That, which was first performed at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris. With Love and All That – ACT II explores the essence of dance, drawing on classical ballet as a foundation to shape thoughtful, carefully constructed choreographic landscapes. Originally conceived as a three-act work, ACT II focuses on dynamic group formations in which structure, momentum, and shifting spatial patterns drive the choreography. The piece seeks to reconnect with the raw, expressive power of movement, offering a contemporary take on ballet’s timeless beauty. The internationally acclaimed Spanish choreographer Jesús Rubio Gamo stamps his mark on the revival of an excerpt from his choreography Gran Bolero. Awarded the MAX Prize (Spanish awards for the performing arts) for Best Dance Show in 2020, Gran Bolero is a powerful piece. It’s an ode to hope and to dance itself. Lightness fights with gravity on the very thin line between pleasure and exhaustion. It is a dance celebrating the time and space we share.

To Have Been So Close So Many Times
Giorgos Koumendakis
Saturday, 25 & Sunday, 26 July 2026
Starts at: 22.00
Kalamata Dance Megaron – Main Hall
Music: Giorgos Koumendakis
Poetry: Constantine P. Cavafys
Singer: Zaharias Karounis
Choreography: Patricia Apergi, Ilias Hatzigeorgiou, Eva Georgitsopoulou
Audiovisual installation: Petros Touloudis
Costumes: Daglara
Lighting design: Nikos Vlasopoulos
Percussion coach: John Papatzanis
Santoor: Angelina Tkatcheva
Oros Ensemble: Konstantinos Zigeridis (accordion), Eirini Krikoni (violin), Apostolis Koutsogiannis (recorder), Antonis Fotiadis (alto saxophone)
Osmosis Saxophone Quartet: Pantelis Lykoudis (soprano saxophone), Antonis Fotiadis (alto saxophone), Theofilos Sotiriadis (tenor saxophone), Yannis Myralis (baritone saxophone)
Featuring dancers from the GNO Ballet: Angelos Antoniou, Yannis Gantsios, Elena Kekkou, Marita Nikolitsa, Stefano Pietragalla, Daniele Pecorari, Yorgos Hatzopoulos, Cecilia Hatziemmanouil-Magiorkinou, Despina Chrysostomou

Tickets are available via:

• ticketmaster.gr
• Call Center: (+30) 211 1981535 (Monday–Sunday: 10.00–20.00)

Metamorphosis
A performance by the GNO Professional Dance School
Saturday, 18 July 2026
Starts at: 21.00
Kalamata Central Square - Admission free

Artistic curator: Yorghos Matskaris
Head of Studies at the Greek National Opera Professional Dance School
Rehearsal coordinators: Alkistis Lala, Zeta Theodorelou
Lighting design & supervision: Dimitris Koutas
Technical supervision: Sofia Theodoraki
Costume coordination (costumes from the GNO costume department): Sofia Patsinakidou
Sound manager: Giorgos Rekoutis

WITH LOVE AND ALL THAT – ACT II
Choreography: Cyril Baldy
Musical composition ‘Gleiter’: Matthias Muche
Costume & lighting designer: Cyril Baldy
Assistants to the choreographer: Anne Jung, Eleni Kladou, Olia Tornaritou
Performers: Alexandros-Anastasios Karalis, Anastasios Kilibas, Nikoleta Kloni, Konstantinos Kreouzis, Areti-Maria Kostoglou, Isidora Lantzi, Alexandra-Evangelia Manteli, Loukia Miliaki, Georgia-Spyridoula Beligianni, Stefanos-Efthymios Botsas, Klio Skiada, Aggelos Tsani, Nicolas Harca, Maria-Elpida Vasilopoulou, Michaila Karataraki, Maria Konstantellou, Paraskevi-Maria Mavriki, Lambros Bidakos, Chrystallena Panagiotou, Argyro Solomonidi, Theodosia Stathopoulou, Georgia Strati, Maria Giannouli, Georgia Dimou, Lydia Kapouni, Maria Lambrinou, Sofia Nikolaou, Maria Pichler-Gaspari, Alexandra Spanou, Georgios Tsiggos, Patra Christodoulou

GRAN BOLERO (excerpt)
Concept, choreography: Jesús Rubio Gamo
Music: José Pablo Polo, after Maurice Ravel
Costume designer: Sofia Patsinakidou
Lighting designer: David Picazo
Assistants to the choreographer: Alberto Alonso, Clara Pampyn
Performers: Konstantinos Kreouzis, Isidora Lantzi, Klio Skiada, Aggelos Tsani, Nicolas Harca, Lambros Bidakos, Georgia Dimou, Lydia Kapouni, Alexandra Spanou, Georgios Tsiggos, Patra Christodoulou, Orest Godouni
Covers: Stefanos-Efthymios Botsas, Maria Giannouli

For more information, please visit: www.kalamatadancefestival.gr

The Greek National Opera is funded by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture

Air transportation service sponsor: Aegean Airlines

Lead Donor of the GNO & Tour Programme Donor: Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF)

FEDORA platform and the European Union’s Creative Europe programme