To have been so close so many times

The new Greek National Opera Ballet production To Have Been So Close So Many Times features a long-anticipated new music piece by composer and Greek National Opera artistic director Giorgos Koumendakis, along with four poems by Constantine Cavafy, contributions by four choreographers, ten GNO Ballet dancers, one singer, a visual and sound installation, and a small instrumental ensemble.

Modern dance and music theatre come together in the new compositions by Koumendakis, one of Greece’s most prominent contemporary composers. Four chamber music pieces influenced by Greek traditional music converse with four poems by Cavafy, set to music in the amanes genre, and performed by singer Zaharias Karounis. Four distinguished choreographers—the GNO Ballet Director Konstantinos Rigos, Patricia Apergi, Eva Georgitsopoulou, and Ilias Hatzigeorgiou—create new pieces based on a musical idiom that is rooted in Greek traditional and Byzantine music.

Visual artist Petros Touloudis has created a striking new visual and sound installation for this performance, which, along with percussion, converses with Cavafy’s poetry. Thus, the isokratima (pedal tone) of the onstage musicians will blend with that of the dancers, who will be playing percussion of great timbral variety to accompany the amanes pieces.

This production is made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) to enhance the GNO’s artistic outreach.

Participants
Giorgos Koumendakis, Music 
Constantine Cavafy, Poetry 
Κonstantinos Rigos, Patricia Apergi, Eva Georgitsopoulou, Ilias Hatzigeorgiou, Choreographies  
Petros Touloudis, Visual and sound installation
Zaharias Karounis, Singer  
GNO Ballet