TO HAVE BEEN SO CLOSE SO MANY TIMES

The Greek National Opera Ballet’s new production, To Have Been So Close So Many Times, creates a multidimensional stage universe where modern dance intersects and viscerally coexists with music theatre in a never-ending conversation. At its core lies a new work by Giorgos Koumendakis featuring four chamber music pieces based on four poems by Constantine P. Cavafy, set in the style of amanes and performed live, producing a profoundly introspective, contemplative, and constantly evolving soundscape.

Four distinguished choreographers—Konstantinos Rigos, Patricia Apergi, Eva Georgitsopoulou, and Ilias Hatzigeorgiou—explore the material through distinct aesthetic and movement languages, composing four independent yet interconnected choreographies. The body is highlighted as a carrier of memory, desire, and loss, with movement oscillating between group coordination and individual variation. The ten dancers perform within a setting marked by constant transition, where time seems to slow down and repeat, taking on an almost ritualistic dimension.

Petros Touloudis’ visual and sound installation transforms the space into a lively field of vibration, where sound moulds and shapes movement. Voice, music, and the body coexist, creating a space where emotions flow, and tension transforms—not by bursting forth but by pulsating beneath the surface. Performing onstage will be Zaharias Karounis, accompanied by Angelina Tkatcheva on the santoor. The work will also feature the Oros Ensemble and the Osmosis Saxophone Quartet, with John Papatzanis in charge of percussion coaching.

This performance does not follow a straight storyline; instead, it immerses the audience in an emotional experience that feels like an inner rite.