The Department of Modern and Contemporary Culture of the Deputy Ministry of Culture, in collaboration with Rialto Theatre, presents the 4th Cyprus Choreography Showcase, taking place from 18 to 20 September 2026 at Rialto Theatre in Limassol.

The Cyprus Choreography Showcase (SKX) is an established platform dedicated to presenting selected choreographic works from Cyprus to international artistic directors, curators and contemporary dance festival organisers, who are invited specifically for this purpose. Through this international encounter, the Showcase aims to create opportunities for Cyprus-based artists and choreographers to present their work abroad and develop new professional collaborations.

The 4th edition brings together nine choreographic works representing the diversity and vitality of Cyprus’ contemporary dance scene. Addressing themes including power and abuse, identity, gender, social justice, female strength, collective experience, transformation, instinct and our relationship with the future, the programme reflects a broad range of artistic approaches and choreographic practices.

The Showcase is complemented by MEANWHILE, a series of parallel activities organised by the Dance House Limassol, Dance House Lefkosia and Nea Kinisi, offering further opportunities for exchange, discussion and networking within the local and international dance community.

PROGRAMME

Friday, 18 September 2026

19:00 | Panos Malactos – NO IM NOT | 25’

NO IM NOT digs into the abuse power dynamics within the dance world. Challenging the façade of wellness often presented in the sector, the piece shows how dancers struggle with their mental health in a toxic work environment – navigating systemic abuse, manipulation, and unrealistic expectations in their professional lives. NO IM NOT is a continuation of Are You Okay?, Panos’ previous full evening group work, which showcases the duality of the dancers’ experiences, unravelling the dissonance between the societal pressure to appear “okay”, and their inner turmoil.

Choreography: Panos Malactos

Dancers: Styliana Apostolou, Natalia Vasiliki Vagena / Andrea Ordonez Torre, Melina Sophocleous

Assistant: Magda Argyridou

Lighting design: Vasilis Petinaris

Costume design: Orestis Lazouras


Music Credits: Aenaa – Die Arkitekt, The Swan – Camille Saint-Saëns, Dystopia – Wax Wings&Die Arkitekt

Music Production: TEO.x3

Lyrics: Ody Icon

20:00 | Petros Konnaris & Rodia Vomvolou – The future is dark which is the thing a future can be | 120’ | Seating on Stage

The future is dark which is the best thing a future can be is a performance–board game that seeks critical ways of engaging with the urgencies of contemporary reality while activating alternative speculations about the future. Three players, guided by two facilitators, move like pawns across a floored landscape of stations of knowledge/ notions such as The Palace of Feminist Governance, The Rock of Responsibility, and The Cavern of Care, and through scores, they produce poetic manifestoes, imaginary narratives, critical questions, and embodied landscapes. The project investigates the relationship between the logic of a board game and choreographic thinking, blurring the line between performing arts and everyday life, proposing a horizontal redistribution of agency and power hierarchies. Drawing on the performativity and aesthetics of the (90s) TV game shows, the performance activates an open, vulnerable, and playful space for dialogue, reflection, and collective imagination.

Concept & Artistic Direction: Petros Konnaris, Rodia Vomvolou

Scenography, Game’s Visual Identity: Chrysa Georgiou

Performers: Eleana Alexandrou, Konstantina Skalionta, Costantina Peter, Petros Konnaris, Rodia Vomvolou

Original Cast: Eleana Alexandrou, Konstantina Skalionta, Costantina Peter, Miriam Gatt, Areti Chourdaki, Petros Konnaris, Rodia Vomvolou

Graphics: Mary Pilakouri

Electronics Advisor: Yiannis Poulakis

Production: A moment to Perform

In the frame of the Terpsichori 2025 programme of the Department of Contemporary Culture – Deputy Ministry of Culture.

* The title is borrowed from a quote that Virginia Woolf wrote in her diary in 1915, following the outbreak of the First World War, as an attempt to preserve hope. 

Saturday, 19 September 2026

19:00 | Harry Koushos – NOT ALL WARS ARE VISIBLE | 40’ | Seating on Stage

In this gripping performance, the audience is called upon to take responsibility for the dancers’ safety. The instruction “Shout the word STOP if women are in danger” establishes a dual reality: a battle unfolding before the spectators’ eyes and another, invisible one, within their minds. The space is shaped like an arena, with the audience surrounding the action. As the performance unravels, the dancers rely on their sense of hearing and touch—the spectators’ bodies become their reference points in space. Perhaps the real battle is not the one you see, but the one happening inside you.

Choreography: Harry Koushos

Performers: Styliana Apostolou, Magda Argyridou, Anna Nicolaou, Melina Sofocleous, Katerina Tylliridou

Lighting Design: Vasilis Petinaris

Set & Sound Design: Harry Koushos

Costumes: Harry Koushos

Production: Limassol Municipality

Co-production: Cyprus New Movement of Dance Groups, Dancers and Choreographers

Photos: Pavlos Vrionides

20:15 | Eve Dimitriou / En Drasei – Say Yes! Again and again | 50’ | 16+ | Seating on Stage

Say Yes! again and again is a performance exploring questions of identity and gender through a playful and optimistic lens. Inspired by Adrienne Maree Brown’s Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good (AK Press, 2019), the choreographer, together with the creative team, reflects on what activism can mean today, engaging with positivity and empowerment in saying ‘yes’ to ourselves and to our needs. On stage, three performers from Cyprus, Greece, and the Netherlands use physicality and linguistic forms to share personal experiences that have shaped them as individuals, opening a space to reflect on social norms, queer subjectivities and normative pressures. The work is part of the choreographer’s ongoing research to address social justice issues. Envisioning performance as the beginning of a dialogue with the audience, she explores various performative ways of engaging with body politics.

Choreography: Evie Demetriou in collaboration with performers Eleftheria Socratous, Bas van der Kruk, Rania Glymitsa

Dramaturgy Advisor: Georgina Kakoudaki

Lighting Design: Aleksandar Jotovic

Conversation Partner/Mentor (1st phase): Pavlos Kountourious

Artistic Collaborator: Michalis Papamichael

Vocal Coach: Cathryn Robson

Styling: Kristia Michaelidou

Photography: Pavlos Vrionides

Trailer Filming & Editing: Suzana Phialas

Trailer Sound: Konstantinos K.

Sponsored by the Cultural Services of the Deputy Ministry of Culture within the framework of the Terpsichore programme 2023.

21:15 | Milena Ugren Koulas & Stylish Junkies Collective – Mutated Gene | 50’ | Seating on Stage

In this choreographic work, Milena was inspired by science-based research on how what we believe to be our true nature is an adaptation to the circumstances, environment, and experiences we live in. With dancers, she explored how identity is shaped by what we endure, the experiences we go through, and our relationships and attachments to the people around us.

Choreographer: Milena Ugren Koulas

Dancers: Apollonas Anastasiades, Magda Argyridou, Giannis Economides, Christopher Mills, Anna Nicolaou, Melina Sofocleous, Katerina Tylliridou

Music: Georgios Koulas, Dafni Koulas

Sunday, 20 September 2026

19:00 | Elena Antoniou – ODE | 45’ | On Stage

ODE is a physical poem about togetherness and the principle of “no woman left alone”. Exploring ways of expanding the space available to women, the work approaches female strength through gaze, movement and presence. Elena Antoniou and Anna Papathanasiou transform the institutional space into a field of coordination, where vulnerability becomes a source of power and collective presence becomes an act of assertion.

Concept, Choreography, Performance: Elena Antoniou

Performance: Anna Papathanasiou

Music: Maria Spivak

Dramaturgy: Odysseas I. Konstantinou

Art direction: Christos Kyriakides

Lighting design: Vasilis Petinaris

Styling coordination: Philippe G. Missas

Photography & Graphics: Saint

Production Coordination (Internationally): Alex Papasimakopoulou

Production Coordination (Cyprus): Loukia Vassiliou

With the support of the NEON Organisation for Culture and Development & ONASSIS STEGI Touring Programme.

The premiere of the work took place in Cyprus, as part of the “Terpsichore 2025” programme of the Department of Contemporary Culture, Cyprus Deputy Ministry of Culture.

20:30 | Melina Sophocleous – Don’t You Just Love Melting? | 30’ | 16+

Drawing from a personal experience of gentrification and a place undergoing constant transformation, Don’t You Just Love Melting? explores the dissolution of familiar people and spaces into something new and unfamiliar. Resistance and surrender coexist in a shifting landscape of emotions, movements and structures. As the work gradually unfolds, the act of watching itself becomes part of the process of “melting”.

Concept, Choreography & Performance: Melina Sofocleous

Music: Kalaqs

Lighting Design: Vasilis Petinaris

Set Design: Rebecca Taki

Produced by: Cyprus Choreography Platform 2024

Co-produced: Dance House Lemesos

Residency Programme: Moving The New (Mtn 2025), Dhl

Mentors: Christos Polymenakos (Platforma) & Rodia Vomvolou (MTN25)

Dialogue Partners: Natalia Vagena, Giorgos Christofi, Eleana Alexandrou, Magda Argyridou, Odysseas I. Konstantinou, Caterina Politi, Joanna

Graphic Design: Danae Laou

Photos: Pavlos Vrionides

*The performance premiered at Cyprus Choreography Platform in 2024 and was further developed during the Moving the New Residency 2025 by Dance House Lemesos

21:20 | Andria Michaelidou – FARMA | 25’

The choreographic work FARMA is inspired by the figure of Pan and his mythological dimension as the god of nature, herds, and instinct. On stage, the shepherd figure emerges as a symbol between order and chaos, guiding the “flock” through a liminal space reflecting social and personal struggles. The choreography blends ritual gestures, animalistic movements, and physical confrontations with urban elements and streetwear aesthetics, creating a stage environment that unites the primordial with the contemporary. Within this hybrid landscape, wildness, cyclicality, and transformation become the language of movement. The work invites the audience on a mythical journey exploring the human relationship with chaos, instinct, and the quest for freedom.

Idea, Choreography: Andria Michaelidou

Dancers: Anna Nicolaou, Maria Chrysostomou, Ivi Hadjivassiliou, Myrianthi Panagiotou, Apollo Anastasiades, Giannis Economides, Mike Demetriou 

Music: Andreas Rodosthenous

Thanks to Evi Panayiotou and The Dance Central.

MEANWHILE | Parallel Activities

The 4th Cyprus Choreography Showcase also features MEANWHILE, a series of parallel activities creating spaces for encounter, exchange and professional networking within the dance community.

Saturday, 19 September | 10:00

Walking Gathering | 120’
Molos Theatre, Limassol

Sunday, 20 September | 16:00

Pitching Session, Speed Dating & more | 120’
Art Studio 55, Limassol

The activities are organised by the New Movement of Dance Groups, Dancers and Choreographers of Cyprus, Limassol Dance House and Nicosia Dance House.

Tickets: €8 per day, available from the Rialto Theatre Box Office, Monday–Friday, 10:00–15:00 (tel. 77777745), and online at https://rialto.interticket.com/programseries/sxk-23
Free admission for school pupils, students, soldiers, pensioners and dance professionals.

Organised by: Deputy Ministry of Culture – Department of Contemporary Culture and Rialto Theatre

In Collaboration with: Dance House Limassol, Dance House Lefkosia, Nea Kinisi

Supported by: Limassol Municipality
Hospitality Sponsor: Alinea
Media Sponsors: Phileleftheros, RIK

Supported by: Limassol Tourism Development and Promotion Company, Vestnik Kipra, Cyprus News, Limassol Blog, Limassol Today, Εφημερίδα Λεμεσός

A member of the European Festival Association.

Per the announcement, the performance programme runs as follows:

18 September 2026
19:00 – Panos Malactos, NO IM NOT (25′)

20:00 – Petros Konnaris and Rodia Vomvolou, The future is dark which is the thing a future can be (120′)

19 September 2026
19:00 – Harry Koushos, Not all wars are visible (40′)

20:15 – Evie Demetriou / En Drasi, Say Yes! Again and again (50′) 16+

21:15 – Milena Ugren Koulas and Stylish Junkies Collective, Mutated Gene (50′)

20 September 2026
19:00 – Elena Antoniou, ODE (45′)

20:30 – Melina Sofocleous, Don’t You Just Love Melting? (30′)

21:20 – Andria Michaelidou, FARMA (25′)

The announcement adds that the programme will include a series of parallel events under the title MEANWHILE, organised by Nea Kinisi of Dancers and Choreographers of Cyprus, Dance House Limassol and Dance House Lefkosia:

19 September 2026
10:00 – Walking Gathering (120′), Molos Open-Air Theatre, Limassol

20 September 2026
16:00 – Pitching Session, Speed Dating & more (120′), Art Studio 55, Limassol

According to the announcement, tickets cost €8 per day and are available from the Rialto Theatre Box Office, Monday to Friday, 10:00–15:00 (tel. 77777745), and online at rialto.interticket.com. Admission is free for school pupils, students, soldiers, pensioners and dance professionals, the announcement notes.

The event is organised by the Deputy Ministry of Culture’s Department of Contemporary Culture and Rialto Theatre, in collaboration with Dance House Limassol, Dance House Lefkosia and Nea Kinisi, according to the announcement.

Known worldwide for his passion and captivating energy, the internationally acclaimed soloist talks about the experience of dancing Zorba, his connection with Cypriot audiences, and how a star of classical ballet transforms into a symbol of absolute freedom.

How do you, as a classical ballet dancer, manage to let go and embody a character like Zorba?

The performance of the Greek Zorba is the spirit of freedom. As a classical dancer, I like to go beyond the usual limits of my body and try a different style of dance. It’s a wonderful experience for me to touch the history of Greece through dance.

Before taking on the role, had you read Nikos Kazantzakis’ novel or watched the film? Which aspect of Zorba’s character fascinated you the most?

I watched a movie with Anthony Quinn, and I think it served as a prototype for my image. Quinn’s Zorba is a serene man who loves dance and women. This is close to me, because life is the breathing of your lungs to music.

Do you think you share any personality traits with Zorba?

Every time Theodorakis’ music is played, it’s like I’m reborn into a Greek who loves women, air and wine. Zorba is better than me because he is a free man, able to do what he wants and go where he wants. I dream of such a state, so the opportunity to embody Zorba on stage is a dream come true.

Among all the roles you have danced, where does Zorba stand in your heart? What has it given you as an artist?

When I danced this performance for the first time, I realised that I had been waiting for this role for a very long time. On stage I can be myself: smile, have fun, rejoice, cry and dance. For me, the role of Zorba is as important as Spartacus or Ivan the Terrible.

The finale of the performance, with the famous sirtaki, is a moment of intense interaction with the audience. How do you experience this unique connection with the spectators?

This is the culmination of the ballet. It is the synergy between the dancer and the audience. It’s a catharsis that every artist dreams of experiencing: to do something meaningful and receive a warm round of applause. It’s a moment of absolute happiness.

Did the production’s choreographer and director, Lorca Massine, give you the freedom to bring your own interpretation and personal nuances to the role?

Lorca Massine gave me a clear choreographic foundation, but urged me to build the role starting from myself. Each dancer gives his own version of Zorba, which is why every new interpretation of the same role is unique, even though it’s based on the same choreography.

You’re returning to Cyprus, this time to the Pattihio Amphitheatre in Larnaca. How does it feel to perform a work in front of an audience that knows and loves Zorba?

It’s wonderful. It’s always a joy and an honour to perform in the land of ancient Greece, where the myths and the gods were born. Dancing Zorba to the music of a Greek composer is a great honour but also a great responsibility. Above all, though, I’m looking forward to the finale, that union of the ballet with the audience’s applause.

You’ve previously performed at the Ancient Theatre of Kourion and Paphos Castle. What makes these venues so special?

The atmosphere. Of course, performing in an open-air venue is demanding, because there are many factors different from an indoor stage: the air, the light, the humidity on stage. But none of these details compare to the feeling and joy of dancing in front of an audience inside ancient theatres.

In recent years you’ve also been working professionally as a producer. What led you to that decision?

I like creating something beautiful, good and distinctive for the audience. Sharing my view of the world of art with them, and conveying it through my productions.

Beyond Zorba, what are your next artistic dreams or plans that you’d like to share with us?

I’m planning to present various projects over the next two years: a tribute to Anna Pavlova, the ballet Cyrano de Bergerac, Don Juan, as well as concerts dedicated to the legendary dancer Mikhail Lavrovsky. I also want to create a work for children. And that’s only some of all the ideas I have.

How do you balance preparing your own productions with your career as a dancer?

It’s not easy. I get very tired, because every production is constantly on my mind. I’m always looking for solutions to make a performance good and interesting. There’s no real balance. Perhaps only discipline and a strong team can help.

Do you think today’s ballet education system needs to evolve, or do you think it already works well?

I believe the system needs to change. But for it to change, a proper and professional proposal is needed. Society has to contribute to that, otherwise ballet risks disappearing much sooner than we’d like.

• INFO: The performance “Zorba the Greek” is staged by the Sofia National Ballet on July 29 and 30 at the Pattihio Municipal Amphitheatre in Larnaca, at 9pm. Tickets: Ticketmaster.cy and ACS couriers.

A director, visual artist and magician, he has dedicated his work to exploring the boundaries between the real and the imaginary, combining elements of theatre, dance, cinema and stage illusion. For Kalle Nio, magic is less an art of deception than a means of shifting our perspective on reality. His new production “Tempo”, presented in Limassol as part of the Cyprus Contemporary Dance Festival, revolves around time: its fluidity, its subjective experience. The Finnish artist speaks about the creative value of boredom, the importance of collective attention, and magic as a tool for understanding the world.

What first drew you to time as an artistic subject, and what questions were you hoping to investigate through this work?

I have always been fascinated by time, its elusive nature, our inability to fully understand it, and the intriguing possibility of time travel. My background is in cinema, where shifting through time, using slow motion, jumps, and other temporal manipulations is commonplace. What interests me is the challenge of bringing these possibilities into the theatrical space. I am also deeply interested in the relationship between time, rhythm, and movement. The word Tempo itself refers to both time and rhythm, making it a fitting title for the work. In Tempo, time is present both as the subject of the performance and as the condition of the performance itself. It is about the moment we spend together in a dark theatre, away from our screens, focusing collectively, if only for a brief time, on the very nature of time itself.

What interests you more about those moments that suddenly reveal the fragility of existence?

I suppose the classical idea of memento mori reveals itself in these moments. At the same time, it exposes the irrational nature of many of our fears. We are often afraid of the unknown, even though statistically most accidents happen in the comfort and familiarity of our own homes. I am also intrigued by the idea of making a piece from something either very small or impossibly large. I have never been particularly interested in stories for their own sake. For me, almost anything can become fascinating material. What matters is not so much the subject itself, but the way it is approached and transformed. The question is less what you make a work about and more how you make it.

How did your artistic dialogue with Fernando Melo evolve during the creation of “Tempo”, and where did your respective disciplines challenge one another?

We met Fernando through social media, and after chatting for some time, we decided to work together. However, we only met in person for the first time during the initial rehearsals. One might think this could have gone horribly wrong, that we might not have gotten along, or that something fundamental would not have clicked. But from day one, we worked as if we shared one mind, like brothers, each of us completing and extending the other’s thoughts. I have never experienced such a fluid collaboration before, where artistic decisions never became points of conflict. Instead, the path forward always felt evident to both of us.

Do you recognise something specifically Finnish in your own artistic outlook, or do you resist such cultural labels?

To be honest, I sometimes feel like an outsider in the Finnish performing arts scene. Much of the theatre made in Finland does not really resonate with me. I also rarely perform in Finland, working more often internationally. At the same time, it is clear that the environment in which we live and grow inevitably shapes our thinking and artistic sensibilities. Perhaps this influence is more visible to those who see my work than it is to me myself.

Do you think contemporary audiences still long to be deceived, or are they searching for something deeper when they encounter illusion?

For me, deception is a secondary aim. What I try to achieve with illusions is a sense of impossibility, an impression that perhaps anything could be possible. It is less about tricking the audience than about creating a feeling of the unreal, opening a space for imagining impossibilities. Rather than challenging the viewer to solve the method, I want to invite them into a shared play of perception, offering a space and time in which they can linger and reflect on these kinds of magical, dreamlike states.

Looking back, what did magic teach you about human perception that continues to inform your artistic practice today?

When you study magic, it genuinely changes your point of view on the world, on human perception, and on psychological reality across the board. I often feel that magic should be taught in schools, as it reveals something fundamental about human nature. I have studied magic since I was very young, and I feel it has profoundly shaped my personality, my thinking, and the way I approach both life and art. It is almost as if, once you see it, you cannot unsee it anymore.

Many people think of magic as the art of hiding. Yet your work often seems concerned with revealing something. What truths can illusion uncover?

I started doing magic when I was very young, and for me, magic was the first expressive language I could truly understand. However, as I grew older, I began to feel that magic was too limiting as an art form, so I went on to study fine arts. During my studies, though, I came to a different realisation: magic is an art form. The more I studied both art and magic, the more I understood that, as Alan Moore suggests, any art form, whether painting, literature, or performance, is, in a sense, magic. There is no real difference.

What role do dreams, imagination and the irrational play in helping us understand reality?

Art has the power to change the world in much the same way that magic does, by transforming the perspective of its audience. It alters how we perceive reality, and in doing so, it changes reality itself. As Picasso famously said, “Art is a lie that makes us realise the truth.” Following that thought, one could argue that magicians are among the greatest artists of all, because they can make us believe in almost anything, and through that belief, reveal something true about ourselves and the world around us.

We live in a culture dominated by speed, distraction and endless streams of information. Has our collective experience of time fundamentally changed during your lifetime?

I suppose so. One of the unfortunate things about children’s lives today is that they no longer really have to be bored. There are so many ways to stay entertained that boredom as an experience seems to have almost disappeared. Yet I think boredom is often one of the greatest sources of creativity. It is in those empty, unstructured moments that imagination tends to emerge. Because of that, I sometimes worry about what is lost when boredom is no longer allowed to exist.

Live performance requires a rare form of collective attention. What is the cultural value of people gathering together to focus on a shared experience?

It’s truly important. I think live performance can also be a source of boredom, and I feel that is something valuable to have in our lives. It is not my goal to make anyone bored during my shows, but I used to get annoyed when a performance or play made me feel bored. Now I see that differently. I have come to cherish that feeling, and I think it can be a gift, to be able to experience boredom, and to stay with it rather than immediately escape it.

What do you think is at stake culturally if we lose that capacity for collective attention?

Simone Weil famously wrote that “attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.” Although this was written in the 1940s, I think it is more true today than ever. In a world of constant distraction, attention has become a scarce resource. It is ultimately up to us to decide where we direct it, and to whom we offer it. In that sense, attention becomes a form of care, even a form of ethics. I believe that what we choose to give our attention to will, in turn, shape the kind of world we create.

• “Tempo”, directed by Kalle Nio and choreographed by Fernando Melo, is presented on Sunday, June 21 at 8.30pm at the Rialto Theatre as part of the 27th Cyprus Contemporary Dance Festival. Tickets: rialto.interticket.com

The dancers performed to Konstantinos Argyros’ song “Mia Thessaloniki”, while also supporting the work of Alzheimer Hellas.

The 830 dancers came from different parts of Greece and from Bulgaria, Romania, France, Germany, Austria, Norway, Serbia, Poland, Turkey, Cyprus, China and the United States.

With their coordinated moves, they broke the previous record held by Cyprus, which had 754 participants.

“Some of the dancers are residents of Thessaloniki and others came to the city from different parts of Greece and from abroad specifically and solely to take part in the event,” dance teacher Themis Parastatidis told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency.

He said the idea for Thessaloniki to claim the record, while also sending a message of awareness about Alzheimer’s, came to him a year ago, when he realised how much people love zeibekiko even abroad. The initiative was implemented in cooperation with the Greek Alzheimer’s Association.

Although the Guinness World Record does not come with a cash prize, Parastatidis said the moral satisfaction from achieving it is great, because the fact that so many people gathered in one place for this purpose confirms that dance unites and helps.

The initiative also involved the Friends of the Greek Association of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders.

How dance helps

Parastatidis has been teaching dance for several years to elderly people with Alzheimer’s.

How does dance help them?

“Dance is not just exercise, but much more. It trains memory, as dancers have to remember the steps and have good coordination. In addition, their mood improves because dance gives them the chance to take part in something collective, to come into contact with other people, and to meet people. Dance has many positive elements,” he said.

Ahead of the record attempt, interested participants were able to attend lessons on June 12 and 13, learn the official choreography and prepare for the “big day”.

The title was awarded by a Guinness representative, who said the awards follow a very strict process, from counting participants to execution, and that the participants in Thessaloniki “did perfectly”.

The award was made to the sound of Queen’s iconic song “We are the Champions”.

This year’s edition opened with strong momentum, offering audiences powerful and striking dance experiences by leading creators from the international and Cypriot contemporary dance scenes. The performances presented so far have filled Rialto Theatre with energy, emotion, and creative dialogue, reaffirming once again the Festival’s role as a key meeting point for contemporary choreographic voices from Cyprus and abroad.

The curtain falls on the 27th edition with TEMPO, an international co-production that explores the concept of time—its sensation, acceleration, deceleration, and suspension. Through a fusion of dance, theatre, and stage illusion, the performance invites audiences to reflect on how time is experienced and how it shapes our perception of everyday life.

TEMPO marks the first collaboration between director, visual artist, and magician Kalle Nio and choreographer Fernando Melo. Based on a text by Harry Salmenniemi, the work weaves together spoken and wordless scenes in which time slows down, reverses, or appears to come to a complete standstill. The music by Samuli Kosminen functions as an integral layer of the stage composition, enhancing the constant shift between the real and the imaginary.

Brazilian choreographer Fernando Melo, with a distinguished international career in leading European dance and opera companies, creates choreography that defies gravity and linear perceptions of time. On stage, Slovenian dancer and puppeteer Barbara Kanc, Italian dancer Luigi Sardone, and Swedish dancer-acrobat Winston Reynolds move within a space between dance, theatre, and acrobatics, producing images that stretch the boundaries of the possible.

Kalle Nio is regarded as one of the most significant figures of the contemporary Finnish scene, known for his unique ability to combine visual theatre, film, contemporary circus, and magic. Through his work and the company WHS, he has presented productions in more than 200 theatres across over 40 countries worldwide.

After the performance, at 21:30, audiences are invited to the Rialto Theatre’s outdoor bar for the CCDF closing party, featuring music by DJ D-Prank. A festive evening marking the conclusion of the 27th edition, bringing together audiences, artists, and collaborators for one final summer gathering before we meet again next year.

Credits:

Concept: Nio, Melo & Salmenniemi

Direction: Kalle Nio

Choreography: Fernando Melo

Text: Harry Salmenniemi

Performers: Barbara Kanc, Winston Reynolds, Luigi Sardone, Iiro Näkki

Music & Sound design: Samuli Kosminen

Costume design: Georgina Spencer

Lighting design: Johannes Hallikas

Stage manager / Rigger: Hedda Liukkala

Head of lighting: June Horton-White

Tour technician: Emilie Largier

Tour booking & Management: Yellow Everything

Photography & Trailer: Kalle Nio

Production: WHS / Kalle Nio

Co-production: Helsinki Festival, Lutkovno Gledališče Ljubljana, Slovenia

Supported by: Alfred Kordelin Foundation, Saastamoinen Foundation

Website: https://www.yelloweverything.com/tempo / https://kallenio.com/tempo

Duration: 60′

Age restriction: 8+

The Festival program continues with the following performances, all starting at 20:30:

• 10 June | Rialto Theater
  SIRENS – Ermira Goro (Greece)
• 13 June | Rialto Theater
• 15 Ιουνίου | Nicosia Municipal Theater

ODE – Elena Antoniou (Cyprus)

• 18 June | Rialto Theater
  THE DOG DAYS ARE OVER 2.0 – Jan Martens (Belgium)
• 21 June | Rialto Theater
  TEMPO – Kalle Nio & Fernando Melo (Finland)

Organised by: Deputy Ministry of Culture and Rialto Theatre

In collaboration with: Limassol Municipality

Media Sponsors:Ο Φιλελεύθερος, ΡΙΚ, Vestnik Kipra, Russian Radio, Lenta, Radio Monte Carlo

Technical Partner: Eventpro

Venue Partner: Nicosia Municipal Theatre

Hospitality Sponsor: Alinea Hotel

Supported by: Εφημερίδα Λεμεσός, Check In, CITY, Limassol Today, Cyprus Butterfly, Cyprus News, Limassol Tourism Board

Information:

Ticket Price: €10 per performance.

E-tickets: https://rialto.interticket.com/programseries/ccdf27-20
Box Office: 77 77 77 45 (Monday–Friday, 10:00–15:00)

*Free admission for pupils, students, soldiers, pensioners, people with disabilities, and dance professionals.

It doesn’t really matter if Cyprus will make it through to Saturday’s 70th Eurovision Grand Final or not-well it does, but you know what I mean.

I mean A+ for dancing in front of Europe like you were enjoying a night with friends at a busy wedding.

The contest, after all, remains supremely unpredictable, with seemingly spotless entries failing to progress in the spring music festival’s recent past, a multi million TV audience celebration of European unity-that was once upon a time if you ask many, before it went hesitantly and awkwardly political.

But one thing was predictable in tonight’s 2nd semifinal when it came to our national effort- and that was Antigoni’s fiery performance, an explosion of that unmistakable timeless good side of Cypriot passion that never grows old, but has sadly faded of late.

With Jalla, ‘I want more’, in Cypriot dialect, Antigoni, taking up the baton from her dynamic mum Tonia Buxton, a TV chef host of international acclaim, lit up the stage with Mediterranean panache and celebrated her roots with undeniable joy.

She was supported by overtones of Greek Syrtaki and Middle Eastern tsifteteli, enriched with modern dance moves that have already gone viral on tik tok and will certainly lift up thousands at night clubs.

She did have some special moves, to be sure, which woke up the audience of Wiener Stadthalle to the light (and real fire) of the blinding, sizzling Cyprus summer, the aura of a once multicultural north London and the smile of a woman who knows what she wants and doesn’t care what small and bitter society ‘commentators’ think of her.

If that isn’t a pertinent message of authenticity in a fake news world, ‘dancing on the table of our lives’, I simply don’t know what is.

It was indeed a ‘melody of the sun’, coupled with that old style plate breaking. Safely.

We’re happy Antigoni. You put the Cypriot dialect on the map. And gave many Cypriots a good shove, reminding them of their greatest assets. Passion and work ethic. Own it.

After all, everyone danced to it.

They might say you copied Shakira or your song is too ‘eastern’, but culture has no ethnicity or a single face. So don’t sweat it.

15 countries were set to present their entries tonight, with ten going through to the final.

An Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation, and holder of the Vaganova Prix, the Gold Medal at the International Ballet Competition in Astana, and the Soul of Dance award, Mikhail (Misha) Martynyuk has built an artistic career that bridges classical tradition and contemporary choreographic expression.

With Panaginip — a deeply personal statement about the Philippines, the country that became his home — and Alice in Wonderland, which unfolds as a dreamlike field of transformations where logic gives way and imagination takes on physical form, Martynyuk is eager to discover how both works will speak to Cypriot audiences.

How would you describe your choreographic style, and how has it evolved over time?

My approach combines classical ballet with contemporary physicality and theatrical storytelling. Over time, it has become more minimalist, more symbolic, and more deeply rooted in cultural identity.

What influences — cultural, musical, or personal — have shaped your artistic voice?

I have been shaped by Filipino culture, ritual and mythology, as well as by music, nature, and personal experiences of being uprooted, and travel.

Panaginip (The Dream) consists of two independent works. How did the idea of bringing them together under the shared theme of dreams come about?

The idea grew from a sense of dreams as a bridge — something that connects different stories, different times, and different identities into a single emotional journey.

What does “dream” mean to you — is it an escape, or an inner search?

For me, a dream is an inner search. It is the place where memory, identity and desire meet. The greatest challenge was preserving authenticity while translating traditional movement into the “academic” language of ballet without losing its spirit.

What was the biggest challenge in transposing traditional elements into the language of classical ballet?

I focused on key symbols and archetypal forms from each region, using legends as a unifying language that can be both local and universal at the same time. The work functions as a reflection of the Philippines as a country that is layered, diverse and poetic — a country of memory, resilience and imagination.

Panaginip has been described as your personal statement about the Philippines. What did you want to express through this work?

Living and working there made my art more honest, more grounded, and more connected to community and history. Audiences may interpret the work in different ways, but the emotion remains universal — and that is what holds it together.

Do you think audiences from different countries “read” the work differently?

I hope audiences come away with a sense of discovery — one that touches both the culture itself and something personal within themselves.

Your version of Alice in Wonderland reverses a key element of the story — Alice shrinks rather than grows. What led you to that artistic choice?

My aim was for that reversal — turning growth into shrinking — to express vulnerability as a process of losing certainty. I believe it is through that process that a deeper inner self can be discovered.

The production is aimed at both children and adults. How do you balance the fairy-tale element with the work’s deeper, philosophical dimension?

I balance that duality through two layers of storytelling: first, the visual narrative for children, and then the metaphor and implied symbolism for adults.

For Alice in Wonderland you chose the music of Claude Debussy, which is not considered traditional ballet music…

Yes, for this production I chose exclusively the music of Claude Debussy. His works are full of nuance, mystery and poetic imagery, which gave me a wide creative canvas to work from. Following the original libretto and the logic of the fairy tale in part, I translated sound into movement and music into the language of dance. Each scene in the ballet has its own small story, its own atmosphere, emotions and characters.

How did that affect your choreographic language and the atmosphere of this particular production?

Through the prism of Debussy’s music, I sought to embody the central figures by drawing out their individuality and inner world. In Alice’s music, for instance, you feel her curiosity and openness; in the Queen of Hearts, authority and drama; in the card scenes, playfulness and irony. In this way, Debussy’s music functions not merely as accompaniment but as a true co-creator of the production, shaping its rhythm, mood and physical plasticity of movement.

Cyprus is hosting this production as part of a major international tour. What does presenting this work to a new audience mean to you?

Presenting this work in Cyprus feels like opening a new dialogue. It is an opportunity to share our cultural voice in a space where it has never been seen before, and to connect through art beyond geographical boundaries. For me, it is both a responsibility and a privilege to represent this work internationally and to discover how it resonates with a new audience.

INFO

Panaginip / The Dream: Limassol, Marios Tokas Municipal Garden Theatre, May 10, 7.30pm

Alice in Wonderland: Limassol, Pattihio Theatre, May 12–13, 6.30pm

Tickets: SoldOut Tickets

Media sponsors: Phileleftheros, en.philenews.com

Twenty-five years after embarking on a journey to meet, as she puts it, her own star—now a mother of two young children—Natalia Krekou continues to dance. Her name has become synonymous with Theater Chemnitz, which she joined in 2013. “I’m here and I’m lucky,” she says today of her choice to live and work in a German city not particularly well known on the international arts scene—save for the fact it was named European Capital of Culture in 2025. “I believe it’s not the theatre that makes the dancer, but the dancer who makes the theatre. And here in Chemnitz, I’ve lived my dream to the fullest.”

“My life has always been a journey to find my own star,” she reflects. “From a young age, I learnt that the destination is the road itself—the mistakes, the courage, the loneliness, the discoveries, the joy, just as I read in Cavafy’s beloved ‘Ithaca’. And in the writings of Marie-Louise von Franz, who said: ‘To follow your own star means isolation, an unknown path, the need to find a completely new way instead of walking the one everyone else follows.’ It’s a difficult path.”

“The true artist is not one who obeys,” she insists. “It’s the one who dares to challenge, to experiment, to break the chain of repetition, to strip their art of the ‘should’ and reach their own truth. Technique is the foundation, but freedom is the summit. The dancer, the creator, the one searching for what’s authentic, only becomes an artist the moment they stop imitating and begin discovering.”

Motherhood, she says, has been her greatest challenge but also her deepest source of strength. With two small children (aged two and a half and nearly six), without any family nearby and with only her husband for support, continuing to dance as principal soloist is a genuine feat. “Dance remains my life, the source of my strength and expression,” she explains. “I don’t say this to boast. I hope my journey inspires others—dancers, mothers, artists, young people—to believe that their voice has value, their path is right, their dream is possible. And that true art begins the moment you dare to be yourself.”

In the eyes of the audience, dance looks simple, and that’s thanks to the dancer who makes it appear so, she notes. The spectator doesn’t grasp the extreme physical and mental effort behind every pirouette or leap. “Many professionals get swept up in competition and comparison, forgetting that, beyond being a sport, dance is above all an art form,” she observes. “Its essence remains expression and creation.”

One of a dancer’s greatest achievements, she believes, is managing to speak through their body and breath. “To discover the essence of movement, to learn their body, to tame it and simultaneously let it fly free with you,” she says. “The body knows before the mind does. It knows when it needs change, when it needs movement, when it needs to leap beyond the familiar. Many dancers often become trapped in what they’ve learnt and lose their own body’s voice. Sometimes, all that’s needed is a little more faith.”

“The true artist is one who finds the courage to step away from what’s ‘correct’ and find their own rhythm, truth and freedom,” she adds. “The key is to learn, to let go, to give yourself, to trust, to allow life to lead you to new horizons you hadn’t even imagined.”

The body remembers; it’s filled with wisdom, she stresses. With her experience as a dancer and her knowledge of the body, she believes she can offer something meaningful both to art and to the realm of high-level athletic performance. She has already begun taking specific courses so she can help dancers and athletes understand their bodies more deeply—not just push them, but protect them as well.

The years at the Bolshoi were very difficult, she recalls, but through that pressure she learnt to be herself. “I learnt that only through falling can you rise, that light emerges from difficulty,” she says. “There are certainly moments when you feel lost, when you hurt and cry, but then comes the breath, the spark, and you see that all of it was necessary. You carry on and grow stronger. I don’t think I could live through it again—it was something extraordinarily demanding.”

Cyprus could do more for the artists who represent it internationally, she argues. “Not for one, but for many—for all artists,” she emphasises. “People who’ve studied at top academies, who perform on major stages and who too often remain invisible, who leave to realise their dreams because their homeland doesn’t give them the tools to do so, and are lost. That’s how I feel too. A small country needs many voices. Recognition should be shared, not concentrated.”

Her book ‘One More…’, she explains, is an attempt to unite dreams, memory, dance and philosophy—a puzzle of a life lived between worlds. In 2023, she also created a short artistic dance film for Chemnitz—European Capital of Culture 2025, sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, the result of years of research and internal narrative.

Yes, she admits, she has thought about retiring. “But I stay because I love what I do so much. And increasingly so. The future doesn’t belong to us anyway; no one can know what it holds.” She always thinks of the words of her director, Sabrina Sadowska: “You’re only now beginning to blossom.”

For her performances at the Theatre Chemnitz, click here.

Malactos was selected in October at a session in Budapest by a jury panel comprising 52 dance professionals from hundreds of works as one of the most promising choreographers in Europe for 2026. The work premiered in 2024 at the 24th Cyprus Choreography Platform organised by the Cyprus Contemporary Culture Department and Rialto Theatre.

Aerowaves is a European dance network through which the most promising new works by emerging choreographers are recognised and promoted for performances across Europe. The Aerowaves network has partners in 34 countries, including Cyprus, giving choreographers the opportunity to present their work to new audiences. Cyprus participates in the network through the Limassol Dance House.

Each October, these partners convene and select 20 artists for the following year from hundreds of works. The selected works are initially presented at the Spring Forward Festival, which in 2026 will take place from 6-9 May in Portugal.

About the choreographer

Panos Malactos is a Cypriot dancer and choreographer who explores the intersections of queer identity and transformation through a raw, physical and emotionally charged language. His practice draws from everyday gestures and surrealist images, creating spaces where tenderness, absurdity and awkwardness coexist.

Deeply rooted in movement but open to theatricality, his works unfold like personal encounters—intimate, playful and simultaneously political. Trained in musical theatre at Bird College and in ballet and contemporary dance at Rambert School, he combines technical precision with strong performative presence.

His artistic universe is shaped by his curiosity about the body as a site of contradiction, memory and resistance. His work has toured throughout Europe and New Zealand, inviting audiences into landscapes where movement becomes a way of redefining identity, vulnerability and belonging. In 2019 he received the Young Choreographer Award at the Cyprus Choreography Platform.

Cyprus’s participation in the programme is an important step towards further recognition of Cyprus’s dance scene and its talents on the European dance map, according to the announcement.

The full list of selected works includes choreographers from Portugal, Lithuania, Greece, France, Germany, the UK, Czechia, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Romania, Iceland, Spain, Denmark, Cyprus, Ireland, Italy and Switzerland:

• Fábio (Krayze) Januário with ‘Musseque’ (Portugal) 
• A. Lisičkinaitė & I. Shugaleev, Be Company with ‘CLAP & SLAP’ (Lithuania)
• Chara Kotsali with ‘IT’S THE END OF THE AMUSEMENT PHASE’ (Greece)
• Johana Malédon with ‘(titre provisoire)’  (France)
• Paula Rosolen/Haptic Hide with ‘NOICE|NOISE’ (Germany/France)
• Charlie Morrissey & Markéta Stránská with ‘Scáling’  (UK/Czechia)
• Bast Hippocrate with ‘Joyaux lourdement sous-estimés’ (Switzerland)
• Nik Rajšek with ‘ KINK’ (The Netherlands/Slovenia)
• Fabla Collective/Inan Sven Du Swami & Mojca Špik with ‘Do Birds Dream of Flying?’ (Slovenia)
• Supergroup x QWERTY/Solène Wachter x Bryana Fritz with ‘Logbook’ (France)
• Simona Dabija with ‘BPM–Beats per Millennium’ (Romania)
• Gleym-mér-ei/Forget-me-not with ‘Femme Physique’ (Iceland)
• Inka Romaní with ‘Volvamos al baile’ (Spain)
• Marie Kaae with ‘Wired’ (Denmark)
• Panos Malactos with ‘NO IM NOT’ (Cyprus) 
• Annabel Koele with ‘MAGNITUDE’ (The Netherlands)
• Company Furinkaï & Théâtre de l’Entrouvert with ‘Mizy’ (France) 
• Mufutau Yusuf with ‘Proses On Neither Here Nor There’ (Ireland)
• Francesca Santamaria with ‘GOOD VIBES ONLY (beta test)’ (Italy)
• Soraya Leila Emery with ‘TURN ON’ (Switzerland)