Rituals of Now

When exposed, the hidden body forces us to face uncertainties, allowing us to see what makes sense in our being in the world. Exposing it, however, requires a strength that Calaïs and Zetes seem to lack, focused as they are on the shape of things and forgetting that the wind can only be seen by the movement it generates.

 

 

 

The Boreads, wind brothers of the ancient Greek mythology, were known for their physical prowess and courage, as they chased away the harpies during their days as Argonauts, thus saving Phineus. Our modern Boreads, choreographed by Polina Kremasta from Creo Contemporary Dance Group, retain their airy feature, at the same time struggling to combine the apparently incompatible earth element within their bodies. Indeed, «the basic axiom of the research, which wants the movement to start from the earth», produces a new “offshore” kinetic – as the choreographer herself describes it – aimed at creating «a new kinetic proposal through the study of traditional rhythms and dances and their connection with modern dance».

The performance is thus placed in the gap between contemporary and traditional dance, «in the time of modern Babel, when everyone talks about the end of history, about the end of all certainty». Here, the dancers come to dialogue using the tools of repetition and difference in order to create our sense of being in this world, trying to channel the organic forces that traverse us and to leave out the legitimated, academic and official ones. The myth of our own corporeality is announced and denied at the same time, allowing us to see our richness and our bodily sadness, cherishing the fleeting moment and yet foreboding the derided and tragic meaninglessness of existence.

As with any research project, Boreads too presents a struggle to find new ways of communication, mapping «a perpetual coexistence effort» made of demanding technical skills but (unfortunately) lacking in content (despite the glorious soundtrack). Indeed, the «new city» supposedly created by the “offshore breeze” movement – a wind blowing from the land to the sea – is nowhere to be seen. One possible way of interpreting contemporary dance performances is as profane rituals, body stories about a rite of passage between reality and the imaginary, self and other which, when the show succeeds, put our own selves into movement – the original meaning of “emotion”. Kremasta’s research, however, offers a multiplicity of actions to watch, all apparently taking place autonomously, forcing us to have a nomadic view focused on the quality of the movement rather than on its ritualistic meaning, thus undermining the whole creative attempt. The new language falls short of words, lost in arabesque-like decorations that paint a nice image devoid of content. It is not a case that humanity never recovered from Babel…

 

The show was played
National Theatre of Northern Greece
Ethnikis Aminis st. 2 – Thessaloniki
Thursday 7 of June 2018
21.30

Creo Contemporary Dance Group presents
Boreads – Βορεάδες

choreography and research Polina Kremasta
original music composition Babis Papadopoulos
dancers Giorgos Amentas, Erikethe Andreadaki, Theia Antoniadou, Eleni Vlachou, Angeliki Dalgalli, Rallou Karella, Natalia Baka, Yannis Stavropoulos, Stella Tripolitaki
assistant choreographer Thienia Antoniadou
second assistant choreographer Danae Baruta
lighting Melina Masha
dramaturgist Orestis Tatsis
stage design Kostas Gravas, Vassilis Thalassinos
photos Yannis Zindrilis
design of printed material Evgenia Kottika
promo trailer Chrysanthi Badeka
contact Aris Asprolis
production organization REON AMKE