Lear, king of Brittany, in his old age decides to divide and pass his kingdom to his three daughters, demanding in return that they publicly declare the extent of their love for him. Excited by the excessive flattery of their two eldest daughters, but enraged by the inaction of his beloved third, he divides his kingdom in two, depriving and exiling his youngest daughter and exiling his faithful friend who supports her. Without royalty, but still acting authoritarian, he meets his beloved daughters and experiences their ingratitude and arrogance. Haunted and stripped of all his illusions, he eventually roams the wilderness, wild night in a terrible storm, fighting his demons…

After a series of performances – Strindberg’s Miss Julia, Heiner Müller’s Quartet, Oscar Wilde’s Salome, Lorca’s Bernarda Alba’s House – in the flamenco version, the choreographer and director Stavros Litinas proceeds to Shakespeare’s masterpiece. ‘King Lear’. As he states in his director’s note: “King Lear” is a socio-political and at the same time deeply human work. It follows the division and transfer of power from one generation to the next and the plunge of the state into political chaos, while at the same time sinking into the vacuum of love that is the matrix of all power. Selfishness, authoritarianism and ingratitude overwhelm a person who forcibly leaves a microcosm full of illusions in order to painfully discover his tragic essence.

In his interview to “K” he talks about the show, flamenco, dancing in Greece today and admits: “I am very happy when I have the opportunity to dance with my brother at the Cretan Hanio Sirto festival.” .

– This is a choreographic transcription. The work of the author is reconstructed meaningfully and is perceived through the senses. Flamenco is simply a narrative medium that, thanks to its percussive specificity, lends itself to such an undertaking. It is treated more like a theatrical language than folklore, sometimes with laconic abstraction, and sometimes with an enriched mood.

Theatrical works have a main thematic axis around which they develop. In such a transcription process, we follow the work structurally and semantically, examining the physical condition of people before they give a speech. This concentrated moment of silence contains all the energy of what follows, the speech. This approach leads to a sequence of physical actions that are based not on people’s past, but on what is happening in the present. Everything superfluous is removed, leaving the material that reconstructs the text.

– The performance is multifaceted and its roles at different ages (eg Lear, his daughters, crazy). How does the age difference affect the dance?

– When we physically study a theatrical person, the answers are usually given from the back. The way the spine is arranged and functions reflects elements related to both the character and temperament of a person. The information we receive during this process shapes kinesiology and directs the energy of the face. On a more superficial level, of course, tools like makeup help too. There are no such strict age limits in flamenco as, for example, in classical ballet. The dancer can remain active until old age. So in this particular series, the age difference isn’t far from reality.

Access to information that someone who deals with our roots today has. Once upon a time, to gain experience, you had to do field research or attend a seminar. Dance for me is an expressive outlet, a non-verbal escape! Through him, I shaped my personality, and it’s hard for me to imagine myself without him. Thanks to the Greek dance, which I started with, I learned to be a member of the ensemble, coexist and coordinate with the group, that is, I formed a group identity. I miss the feeling of a group holding hands and coordinating their members’ heartbeats. I am very happy when I have the opportunity to dance with my brother at the Cretan Hanio Sirto.

It depends on the sacrifices he is willing to make. In Greece, dance is at a lower level than other art forms. Most dancers have to resort to teaching from an early age or any other job to earn a living. It doesn’t help with the training and maintenance that a professional needs. The few groups that exist are unable to provide permanent employment for their members. Along with this, there is the state ankylosis, which marginalizes certain types of dance, such as flamenco, and excludes you from state subsidies no matter what kind of work you do. To avoid misunderstandings, I clarify that I have never applied for a grant.

– This year the ARROYO school turns 30 years old. I founded it when I was still a student at NTUA Architecture and it is a meeting place for great artists with an important and longstanding project. Due to the specifics of this particular dance, the school falls into a legislative vacuum, as a result of which we have been treated all these years as a commercial store with the highest VAT rate, since its educational nature is not even recognized. No ministry sets standards for places where the public gathers to learn anything other than classical ballet or traditional dance. To my great surprise, during the quarantine period, I saw the Ministry of Health in the role of the head, giving us orders to close and reopen. I say this so that we understand that before talking about the “superiority” of schools, we should define what a school is and what a store is … Obviously, the request for “superiority” should be resolved immediately. Any common sense can understand that you cannot equate ν with ν+4.

Directed by: Stavros Litinas
Choreography: Fani Demestiha, Jessica Kaibali, Maria Mandragou, Tasos Bekiaris, Elektra Chrysantou, Stavros Litinas
Scenes, costumes, music editing: Stavros Litinas
Lighting: Stella Caltzow
Sound Design: George Andriotis
Costume Design: Despina Mutafi
Sound and light control: Lydia Tsatsu-Paraskeopoulos
Makeup artist: Olga Faley
Hair Design: Thomas Galazoulas
Photo: Elina Yunanli
Video: Patroklos Skafidas
Social Media: Dimitris Michaelides

They are playing:

King Lear: Stavros Litinas
Goneril: Electra Chrysanthemum
Reagan: Fanny Demestiha
Cordelia: Vasya Katsigianni
Edgar: Anya Vassiliou
Edmond – Jessica Caibali
Jester: Maria Mandragu
Song: Danae Katsameni
Piano: Alina Anastasiadis

Performance duration: 1.15 minutes without intermission