“Dance is a shared pulse,” says Argyriou. “It reminds us that we’re alive — and that we belong to something larger than ourselves.”

Throughout time, the earliest, most primitive and instinctive tool to heal has been dance. In all societies, dance was what brought people together, offering space for expression, a cure for all ills, and a chance to heal hurts of the body and mind. This same primal element is at the heart of the 31st Kalamata International Dance Festival, to be held in the seaside town of Kalamata in the southern Peloponnese, from July 18 to 27.

Founded in 1995, the festival has grown into a leading platform for contemporary dance in Greece, drawing acclaimed choreographers, companies, and performers from around the globe. This summer’s edition brings together artists from Greece, Germany, France, Italy, the UK, Lebanon, Belgium, Norway, Portugal, and Switzerland, offering 20 performances across venues in Kalamata and the wider Peloponnese.

Kalamata International Dance Festival Artistic Director Jenny Argyriou. Photo: Panagiotis Maidis

This anniversary year, the festival marks a turning point; one of introspection, accessibility, and reconnection.

Ahead of the 31st Kalamata International Dance Festival, To Vima International Edition sat down with its newly appointed artistic director, Jenny Argyriou, who brings a fresh and deeply human vision to the event. Her focus? Community, connection and transformation through movement.

Image from Maguy Marin’s ‘May B’. Photo: Herve Deroo

Dance as Healing, Dance as Home

“Dance speaks of the human condition. It connects us to our most essential selves and helps build bridges of understanding and solidarity,” Argyriou tells To Vima International Edition. “These elements are the foundation of this year’s festival.”

For its 31st edition, the festival shifts the spotlight from spectacle to substance; a conscious effort to employ dance as a tool for reflection, unity, and healing.

“The festival is the perfect opportunity to give dance, an ancient form of expression, an increasingly active social role,” she says. “Doing this requires selecting works that gauge the present and build bridges that bring the public closer to the power of dance.”

For Argyriou, choreography is a conversation with the world we live in and that’s how she approached programming this year’s festival. Key questions centered on how the art of dance is connected to the concerns and conditions of our time; what concerns today’s artists and how they express this choreographically.

The result is a program that embraces diversity in age, geography, style, and experience, creating a tapestry of works that reflect the complexity of the human condition.

“I sought pieces that are distinct in their language, that carry sensitivity and vulnerability and awaken thoughts and emotions,” she says.

This year’s opening work, ‘Mellowing’, by Christos Papadopoulos, honors mature dancers and explores the beauty of aging in motion. Featuring the Dance On Ensemble. Photo: Jubal Battisti

Dance as a Social Force

Argyriou believes that dance can and should be a force for social change. “In a world marked by technological acceleration, social upheavals, wars and a pervasive individual and collective isolation, movement – literal and symbolic – has become more vital than ever for the health of society,” she tells To Vima International Edition.

“Our relationship with the body, breathing, and touch; this is all part of our collective well-being,” she explains. “These things have always mattered, but today, they’re urgent.”

Her experience dancing with the Sine Qua Non troupe, one of the frontrunners of contemporary dance in Greece, and later her exploration of new media and performing arts, gives her the tools to respond to the moment with depth and innovation.

“Dance is meant to bring people together, to create a sense of community,  but also to broaden horizons and inspire, she says.

Learning & Growing

With this focus in mind, this year’s festival opens with a poignant work celebrating older dancers and exploring themes of movement, maturity, and aging. “Mellowing” by Christos Papadopoulos is a tribute to mature dancers and the beauty of aging. Featuring the Dance On Ensemble, composed of artists over 40, it premiered in Berlin in 2023 and explores themes of movement, time, and transformation to the music of Greek composer Coti K.

Another community-centered piece this year is “Fones” (Voices), a newly commissioned work by Panagiota Kallimani. It features choir members over 50 from Kalamata’s Friendship Clubs and is built around their personal narratives, forming a bridge between memory, movement, and history.

Beyond the stage, the festival is expanding its educational and participatory footprint. Workshops, site-specific performances, and community residencies aim to make dance more accessible and engaging for all and to remind us that we belong to something larger than ourselves.

“We’ve designed programs for all that encourage community participation and strengthen our connection with our bodies, nature, the landscape and, most importantly, with each other.”

Greek Nationa Opera Professional Dance School. Ermira Goro and Edouard Hue in Epilogue. Photo: Gregory Batardon

This year, performances will take place not only in the Kalamata Dance Megaron – the only one of its kind in Greece – but also in other towns and public spaces including the Kastro Amphitheater, the Municipal Railway Park, Kalamata’s main square, and throughout the Peloponnese in Tripoli, Pylos, Sparti, Nafplio, Astros, Xylokastro, Ancient Olympia, and Costa Navarino.

“The goal is to bring public space to life, spark curiosity, and invite people to experience dance in their everyday surroundings,” Argyriou says.

As the Kalamata International Dance Festival enters its fourth decade, it remains focused on the belief that dance is both ancient and modern, personal and political, intimate and universal.

“Dance is discourse,” says Argyriou, “it creates space to invent new codes of communication and envision new worlds.”

* The 31st Kalamata International Dance Festival kicks off on July 18. For the full program and ticket information, visit the official website.