Dance with My Own Shadow Greek National Opera Ballet Athens Greece

Last night, I attended a performance at the Odeon of Herodes on Acropolis Hill. The Greek National Opera (GNO) Ballet performed different works of renowned composer and “theorist of Greek music,” Manos Hadjidakis. The production, Dance with My Own Shadow, includes four of Hadjidakis’ compositions in a flawless, mesmerizing performance.

The well-received production premiered at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) in November 2019. Director Konstantinos Rigos choreographed the ballet.

Before describing the beautiful ballet, I’ll provide a few side notes about the history of the venue, composer Manos Hadjidakis, and choreographer Konstantinos Rigos. I’m incredibly lucky to be staying an 8-minute-walk from Acropolis Hill – a special place that captivated me from day one.

The Odeon of Herodes was built between 160 A.D. – 174 A.D. by Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herod. Herod was a generous Athens benefactor and descendant of an Athenian family. He built the Odeon in memory of his wife, Rigillas.

In ancient times, “Odeons were built for musical contests”. The Odeon of Herodes was the third Odeon built in Athens. Its “distinct Roman style is a noticeable contrast to the nearby Theatre of Dionysos”.

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“Few composers have defined Greece’s musical landscape and modern culture as much as Manos Hadjidakis.”

“With its Roman arches and three-story stage, the original Odeon was partly covered with a wood and tiled roof. Today, the circular orchestra is an open semi-circle that’s paved with black and white marble.

The Odeon has a somewhat violent history. Along with other buildings of ancient Athens, it was burned, looted, and destroyed by invaders like the Erouloi in 268 A.D. For protection, the Odeon Conservatory “joined the fortifications of the city of Athens,” which included its famous Walls and embankments. Later, Athens was occupied by the Ottomans in 1458-1833, and the Germans during World War II.

Since 1957, it’s been used for artistic events like concerts and drama performances. The “ancient stone theatre has hosted some of the world’s best musical performances and artists, including Greek singer Nana Mouskouri, Italian opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti, and American singer Frank Sinatra”.

Before its grand opening in 1955, Athens “fully reconstructed the Odeon of Herodes”. It became the prime location in Athens for the Epidaurus Festival. Today, the magnificent Odeon of Herodes Atticus is “one of the festival’s main venues”. From “majestic ballets and arias, to Greek tragedies,” I can attest to the fact that a performance in the Odeon is an experience you won’t forget!

Collaborating with fellow composer Mikis Theodorakis, Hadjidakis helped “elevate Greek folk and popular song into respected art”. His movie soundtracks were popular in Greece and abroad, and Hadjidakis won an Oscar in 1960 for the music of the movie Never on Sunday. His works are classics in Greece and the cornerstone of Greek modern popular music.

Rigos also directs international and Greek contemporary and ancient plays, combining “his expertise in a wide range of fields”. He has choreographed many performers. As a contributing artist and photographer, he collaborates with magazines like Vogue and Marie Claire. Rigos has been Director of the Greek National Opera Ballet since 2018.

Rigos’ choreography “makes a journey across the four cardinal points of Hadjidakis’ compositions, by incorporating an equal number of emblematic works into a single performance with interlocking parts – four rooms, four directions”. Each “point of the horizon is a room, each cardinal direction is contained within an interior space, where dancing becomes one with the music”.

During the performance, images were projected onto the monument’s giant stone columns behind the dancers. I admit that with a limited knowledge and understanding of Hadjidakis’ work, Greek poetry, and folklore, I struggled to comprehend the meaning of the four pieces presented. Like professional opera singers, the amazing talented dancers did a fantastic job of relaying the meaning behind their performance. Still, I had to do research both before and after the performance. The four pieces performed last night represent the four points of Hadjidakis’ compositions – north south, east, and west, as described below.

Kapetan Michalis (Captain Michalis) – south, “based on the theatrical adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis’s novel of the same name depicting the wet, nocturnal, southern wind romantically caressing people’s bodies, as an unrealistically over-sized Kazantzakis-man figure falls upon women like a man and upon men like a woman in the dry Mediterranean landscape”

Katarameno Fidi (Accursed Serpent) – east, “music composed for Hellenic Dance Drama, representing the accursed serpent in a land of shadows and fairy tales, where old and new co-exist devouring one another, and the iconic figure of Karagiozis epitomises the timelessness of folk art”

Chamogelo tis Tzokontas (Gioconda’s Smile) – west, “a study by Hadjidakis on the history of Western music and the glamour, hustle, and bustle of New York City accentuating loneliness and despair – also an exercise for Hadjidakis and his personal compositional discipline”