The Foundation of the Hellenic World, in cooperation with the Peloponnesian Folklore Foundation, presents the exhibition “Yannis Metsis – Athens Experimental Ballet” at the Cultural Centre “Hellenic Cosmos”.
The exhibition is a tribute to the work of the important Greek dancer, choreographer and teacher Giannis Metsis (1931-2010), who died unexpectedly on the 5th of August 2010.
The exhibition presents unknown material from the personal archive of Giannis Metsis, donated by him to the Peloponnesian Folklore Foundation, as well as material from the personal collections of his friends and associates, from the performances of the historic group “Giannis Metsis Dance Group”, later called “Athens Experimental Ballet”.
The exhibition aims to promote and highlight the work of Giannis Metsis, underlining his important contribution to:
1. Presenting classical ballet repertoire, since he staged full-length ballet works and extracts for the first time in Greece, based on classical choreographies (for example Paquita, La fille mal gardee, Coppelia and others).
2. Creating the first works of neo-classical ballet in the history of Greek modern dance based on music by international composers of the 20th century, but also contemporary Greek composers (Episode, Episode No. 2, The Stranger, Dances, Nomine Jesu, Antigone, The Choice: Kassiane and Theophilos and many more).
3. Making a name for the music of Greek composers (such as Sisilianos, Skalkotas, Theodorakis, Hatzidakis, Plessas, Papathanassiou) through the choreographies of Metsis, but also through works that were commisioned by the Athens Experimental Ballet to Greek composers (Dimitris Marangopoulos, Theodoros Antoniou).
All the above are represented in the exhibition by means of visual and other informative material from different performances that were presented in the period 1965-1985.
Apart from the exhibition, which will last from the 21st of November 2011 to May 2012, a new volume was published, including rare archival material that was found during the research, as well as original texts by Giannis Metsis associates. The curation and design of the exhibition and the catalogue was carried out by the scenographer Dr. Sofia Pantouvaki.
Exhibition Hours
Monday-Tuesday-Thursday: 09:00 – 14:00
Wednesday – Friday: 09:00 – 20:00
Saturday: 11:00 – 16:00
Sunday: 10:00 – 16:00
Cultural Centre “Hellenic Cosmos”
254 Pireos street, Tavros 177 78
Tel: +30212 254 0000
Fax: +30212 254 0123
Contact : hellenic-cosmos@ime.gr
Web Page: www.hellenic-cosmos.gr
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