Ballet / Dance

POINT OF NO RETURN

Ioannis Mandafounis

24'

Expired

Description

In Point of No Return, the internationally recognised dancer and choreographer Ioannis Mandafounis composes a modern piece out of dance elements deeply rooted in the tradition of classical ballet. In tune with the music of Giorgos Koumendakis, the GNO Ballet dancers focus on the transparency and authenticity of their moves via the arsenal of classical ballet steps. Although the group experience of their bodies reveals an extremely classical choreographical approach, one may discern the personal identity of the performers as well as a particularly modern treatment of presence and interpretation of movement – obvious elements that indicate the choreographer’s regular touch. “Guided by the title Point of No Return, this dance piece highlights classical technique as performed by a dancer of today, without falsifying it. Joy, communication, complex choreography and performing immediacy are some of the elements presented by the dancers and shared with the public”, according to Ioannis Mandafounis. Giorgos Koumendakis’ music, both in Point of No Return for string quartet (2008, dedicated to the Kronos Quartet) and in Typewriter Tune for violin solo (2004), follows the example of the “anonymous” folksong creators, “recasting or recomposing traditional musical themes while retaining their energy and subtlety, the authenticity of their primordial model, their pulse and their soul”.

Point of No Return is part of the Human Behaviour triptych, presented from 24/3/2021 to 31/12/2021 and filmed at the Stavros Niarchos Hall of the SNFCC on 7th and 9th of February 2021.

Creative team – Cast

Point of No Return

Choreographer, costume supervisor Ioannis Mandafounis
Music Giorgos Koumendakis
Lighting designer Christos Tziogkas

Cast Jovanka Zarić, Elena Kekkou, Margarita Kostoglou, Anna-Maria Markopoulou, Ayuka Nitta, Rina Shimada, Eleftheria Stamou, Rea Tsantouri
Stelios Katopodis
Yannis Gantsios, Cristian Luce, Ángel Martínez Sánchez, Yannis Mitrakis, Giordano Bozza, Elton Dimroci, George Hadjopoulos

Antonis Sousamoglou (violin I, solo violin)
David Bogorad (violin II)
Athanassios Sourgounis (viola)
Yannis Stefos (cello)Film production company DK Films

Biographical notes

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Point of No Return

Ioannis Mandafounis Choreographer, costume supervisor
Born in Athens in 1981, Ioannis Mandafounis studied dance at the Greek National School of Dance and the Paris Conservatoire. Before becoming a freelance choreographer he was a member of the Göteborg Opera Ballet, the Nederlands Dans Theater II, and the Forsythe company (2005-2009). At the same time, along with Nikos Dragonas and Katerina Skiada, he founded the Lemurius Company and created several pieces that toured around the world. In 2007 he choreographed L’Après-midi d’un faune for the Greek National Opera and started his collaboration with Fabrice Mazliah and May Zarhy, with whom he co-created the art collective Mamaza as well as many choreographies and installations. That collaboration was followed by collaborations with celebrated artists such as Olivia Ortega, Elena Giannioti, Aoife McAtamney, Laurent Chétouane, Roberta Mosca and Bruce Myers, Emilia Giudicelli, Brice Catherin, Manon Parent, Antigone Fryda. Moreover, he has been commissioned by theatres and companies across the world to create choreographies with the Corpus Ensemble / Royal Danish Ballet, the Ballet Junior de Genève, the Theater Junge Generation in Dresden, La Manufacture, the National Theatre of Greece, the Grand Théâtre de Genève, the Lyon Opera Ballet, Norrdans and more. The choreographies and installations that marked his path are: Shadow Projections, Human Dimension, Twisted Pair, P.A.D. Eifo Effi, Cover Up, ApersonA, One One One, NU, Sing the Positions, Faded, It Finishes When It Finishes, Make Sure and many more. In total, he has created about 46 pieces. In 2015 he received the Swiss Dance Award in the category of Outstanding Male Dancer. In the same category, he had been honoured by the Greek Ministry of Culture in 2004.

Christos Tziogkas Lighting designer
He was born in Thessaloniki, Northern Greece, where he started working professionally as a photographer and lighting designer in theatre for dance and music performances. He has collaborated with numerous artists.