4th Cy Choreography Showcase Day 1

The Department of Contemporary Culture of the Deputy Ministry of Culture of Cyprus, in collaboration with the Rialto Theatre, organises the 4th Cyprus Choreography Showcase.

This institutional event aims to present selected choreographic pieces conceived and created in Cyprus over the past two years. Specifically, the SXK offers an opportunity for Cyprus-based choreographers to present their works to audiences, artistic directors, programmers, and representatives of international contemporary dance festivals invited for this purpose.

The following choreographers will present their works: Panos Malactos, Petros Konnaris & Rodia Vomvolou, Harry Koushos, Evie Demetriou, Milena Ugren Koulas, Melina Sofocleous, Andria Michaelidou.

Τhe Cyprus Choreography Showcase is complemented by a programme of parallel events,  under the title Meanwhile, organised by Dance House Lemesos, Dance House Lefkosia, and Nea Kinisi.

Tickets: €8 (day pass)

19:00 NO IM NOT Panos Malactos 25’

O 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, 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 The future is dark which is the best thing a future can be Petros Konnaris & Rodia Vomvolou  120’ 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.