Lead Donor of the GNO & Production donor
Following its triumphant world premiere at the Belgrade Dance Festival, Golden Age, created by Konstantinos Rigos, will be presented for five unique performances in the Stavros Niarchos Hall, at the SNFCC on 9, 10, 14, 16, and 17 May 2025. The first co-production between the GNO Ballet and the Belgrade Dance Festival was met with great enthusiasm at the packed Serbian National Theatre in Novi Sad, with the Festival's international audience giving the performers and creative team a standing ovation. This co-production with the Belgrade Dance Festival and the international tour are made possible by a grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) [www.SNF.org] to enhance the Greek National Opera's artistic outreach.
With Golden Age, the GNO Ballet Director, Konstantinos Rigos, creates a never-ending party. Inspired by the references, obsessions, and images that have marked him, the dance vocabulary he has made up himself, and the diverse music styles constantly playing in his headphones, he creates a manifesto of a generation that rushes forward to sweep everything away. The performance attempts to map a new age that promises everyone happiness, while also acknowledging that sadness, melancholy, and the struggle for acceptance are always present. Golden Age brings us a new messiah who promises to subvert everything, along with numerous new deities who lay claims over our ephemeral vows.
Through golden reflections, vertical screens, mottos, and a grand chandelier created by visual artist Petros Touloudis, the dance performance Golden Age signs the declaration of a new faith that places its beliefs not in God but in humans, not «in the heavens» but «on earth» - a declaration that, although it may not promise salvation, does ensure an exit from hell.
Golden Age aims to speak about the present and future of dance, while also serving as a reflection of a mixtape of Rigos' 35-year-long career, where the concepts of irony and nostalgia seem to be identical. From his time at the National School of Dance (KSOT), the spring of Greek dance in the 1990s, and the Dance Theatre Company OKTANA, to his work at the Art Theatre, the National Theatre of Northern Greece, the National Theatre of Greece, the Athens Festival, and the Greek National Opera, Konstantinos Rigos' iconoclastic imprint transcends the boundaries of dance and converses with the art forms surrounding it. His artistic identity remains restless, subversive, provocative, sharp-edged, and brimming with emotions.
With Golden Age, Konstantinos Rigos introduces dance theatre vocabulary into the Greek National Opera Ballet, creating a new piece about the future of dance, through a striking blend of highlights that have marked his 35-year-long journey, while also incorporating new materials and present-day influences. Highlights featuring old materials viewed through a modern lens, moments that tell of times gone by, and their projection onto the future. Since the 1990s and into the new era of the GNO Ballet, Konstantinos Rigos has raised new questions with each movement he choreographs, about classical ballet, modern dance, dance theatre, the use of music, his movement vocabulary, imagery, music, singing, and speech.
With Konstantinos Rigos' musical selections and the original music score composed by his collaborator Ted Regklis, Golden Age features the vibrant sounds of a wild dance party, showcasing pieces that range from «reworked» melancholic compositions by Verdi and Bizet to Greek songs by Hiotis, Loizos, and Mamangakis, as well as rock and jazz hits from the 1960s and 1970s. From the aria «Addio del passato» and the line from Hotel California «Some dance to remember, some dance to forget» to texts and songs performed by special guests, including Eleftheria Arvanitaki, Myrto Vasiliou, Dimitris Kapouranis, Idra Kayne, Dorothea Merkouri, Konstantinos Bibis, and Elena Topalidou, Golden Age aspires to remind us that, since we cannot escape who we are, we ought to continue dancing to affirm our existence.
Konstantinos Rigos, who also stamps his mark on the production's sets, notes: «A golden age, a new wave will sweep everything away, images from the past or the future, thoughts about love, faith, absence, and abandonment. The person and the place. Are we dressed or naked, like the emperor? Are we free or besieged? Are we God's marionettes or travellers into the winter, always carrying inside of us the summer nights? Within a ring, we fight with our own selves or our own shadows, in both dark and clear blue lakes. Do we live in the Neverland, utopian Arcadias, enchanted Cithaerons, utopias, or in invisible cities? Events that have left a lasting impact on our lives and humanity, a mixtape of music and songs played on gramophones, reels, record players, Walkmans, and boomboxes, along with a small orchestra accompanying, just like in Titanic, the perishing humanity. A musical Babel. Are we looking for peace or a piece of 'America'? What is this white noise surrounding us? Perhaps, it's a wind that blows away these 35 creative years, exceeding the boundaries of thought, movement, performance, and physical constraints. Besides, the body remembers! Once I had encountered a sad scuba diver. He talked to me about wild happiness that resembles the sleeping beauty lying within us, ready to burst forth after an abrupt release in a hotel where the seasons drift past us. And finally, we go back to the initial question: Are you coming along on the excursion? Happy End.»
Collaborating on the dramaturgy is Erie Kyrgia, the art installation was created by Petros Touloudis, and the costumes were designed by Daglara. Christos Tziogkas is responsible for the lighting design, and Vasilis Kehagias is in charge of the videos.
Featuring the dancers Vangelis Bikos, Manex Alberdi, Yannis Gantsios, Stavros Ikbal, Elena Kekkou, Yannis Mitrakis, Elton Dimrochi, Petros Nikolidis, Marita Nikolitsa, Daniele Pecorari, Stefano Pietragalla, Marta Rivero de Miranda, Ariadni Filippaki, Anna Frangou, Yorgos Hatzopoulos, and Despina Chrysostomou.
Fully accessible performances of Golden Age
The performances of Golden Age will be fully accessible on the 9th & 10th of May 2025, providing an inclusive audiovisual experience for all audiences in collaboration with ATLAS E.P. In this context, there will be designated seats for individuals who are D/deaf or hard of hearing and use Greek Sign Language, places for those who rely on captions (CAPS) covering the entire audio channel, as well as seats for individuals who are blind or have limited access to the visual channel of communication and use the audio description (AD) service. Guide dogs for the visually impaired will also be permitted.
Audience members who wish to use the accessibility services are requested to purchase their tickets at the GNO Box Office, over the phone at 2130885700, or via email at . If you need assistance with your reservation, you can also contact ATLAS E.P. at 6993507553 or via email at .
The full accessibility services for this production are funded by the Ministry of Culture, as part of the project«SUB.1.1.6 Attracting 65+ individuals and persons with disabilities to events of the Greek National Opera». This project is implemented as part of the «Greece 2.0 - National Recovery and Resilience Plan» with funds from the European Union-NextGeneration EU.
