Gala Celebrating the Graham / Greek connection

The Gala will be honoring HRH Crown Princess Katherine of Serbia, Beloved Daughter of Greece and Founder of Lifeline Humanitarian Organization, and Kitty P. Kyriacopoulos Noted Educational Philanthropistand Pioneering Female Entrepreneur, and paying special tribute to the late Ilias Lalaounis, Renowned Designer of Fine Jewelry and Founder of Greek Gold.Classic The Gala will feature Choreography by Martha Graham, the World Premiere of Echo by Andonis Foniadakis, and the Martha Graham Dance Company with Special Guests from The Greek National School of Dance and Graham 2

The Hellenic Dance Company, the official team of the National School of Dance, was invited to New York by the Martha Graham Dance Company, to interpret a seminal work by the grand dame of dance in collaboration with the Company's dancers.
The beginning of the new academic year held a surprise for the NSD's professional troupe and an even greater honor. As the Martha Graham Dance Company invited the Hellenic Dance Company to a creative collaboration!
The work “Panorama” that the HDC will interpret is a creation for 35 women, inspired by the troubled period of 1935 that saw the Great Depression, the repression of minorities, and the rise of fascism that Martha Graham wanted to stigmatize.
The work will be presented as part of the Gala Celebrating the Graham / Greek connection, organized by the Martha Graham Dance Company at the City Center theater of New York from 19 to 22 March, 2014.
The Company brings exciting premieres by international stars Nacho Duato and Andonis Foniadakis along with the new one-act production of Graham’s Clytemnestra. Join in the 70th Anniversary celebration of Appalachian Spring and the 30th of Graham’s stunning The Rite of Spring, as well as an opening night gala performance with special guests.

The National School of Dance

In 1937, the leading figure of the dance world in Greece, Koula Pratsika, founded the first Professional School of Dance in Greece. In 1973, the spirited artist and great teacher retired and licensed the school to the Greek State and the school is renamed National School of Dance and set off on a dynamic course, for which its founder would be very proud today. As a result, a curriculum employing international standards and the practice of always using new sources have made the School the breeding ground and the pivot of contemporary dance in Greece, but also an internationally acclaimed and creditable center for the arts.

Andonis Foniadakis

Andonis Foniadakis grew up in the small city of Ierapetra, in the south part of the island of Crete, in Greece.He began his dance training with Niki Papadaki at the local dance school, in his hometown. From1990 to 1992, he studied at the State Dance School of Athens and before his graduation he received the prestigious Maria Callas scholarship to continue his studies in Rudra Bejart Lausanne, in Switzerland until 1994.
Foniadakis has been commissioned to choreograph for two operas.
Opera National du Rhin - Les boreades by Rameau
GRAME Lyon - Il canto de la pelle by Claudio Ambrosini
In 2012 he received the Danza and Danza Award for the “Best Choroegrapher 2012" in Italy, for the creation Les Noces in Maggio Danza.

In addition to creating and performing, Andonis is teaching seminars based on
his personal dance technique. He has been teaching in the State Dance School of Greece, DAN.C.CE studios and Baile de Barrio in Athens, DOCK11 in Berlin, CND and CNSMD in Lyon, Dansgroep Amsterdam, Henny Jurriens Studio Amsterdam, Kuopio Dance Festival.

In 2003, Foniadakis created his own dance company Apotosoma, in Lyon, France and since then, he has shown his work in France, Greece, Italy, Finland, Luxembourg, Germany, England, and USA.

For More Information: http://marthagraham.org/gala/