Kalamata International Dance Festival 16-27 July 2009

The Kalamata International Dance Festival is the key event in the year of the city's International Dance Centre. The Centre was founded in the spring of 1995, charged with supporting and promoting the art of dance via research, education, and artistic activities and creativity.

After fifteen years as an active presence in the Greek dance scene, thanks to the support of the local authorities the Kalamata Festival has earned itself a special place on the festival map of the Mediterranean South, and built bridges to international dance creativity.

A number of influential figures, whose work is shaping the history of contemporary dance made their first Greek appearance at Kalamata, while the Festival has also taken care to promote and support Greek creativity in the field by commissioning works from talented Greek choreographers and supporting new companies in their experimental explorations.

Another integral part of the Festival are the seminars and talks aimed at dance students and professions alike, while other parallel events include publications and video dance productions.

From the very start, the Festival was programmed with two considerations in mind: the wide range of trends in contemporary dance and the ever-larger audiences this art-form attracts. Today, fifteen years down the line, every year sees a widely-varied audience enthusiastically respond to the call of the Festival.

Kalamata, the city of dance, is set to host its 15th annual programme of events between the 16th and 26th of July, 2009.

The Festival is funded by the Ministry of Culture and the Municipality of Kalamata.

Source: http://www.kalamatadancefestival.gr/en/id01.php?

Paros Photos

Greek Coast - Blue Flag Beaches

The Greek coast has a total length of approximately 16,000 km. Half this length is found around the thousands of Greek islands. While the rest extends along the mainland. What characterises the famous Greek coasts is their unique diversity (beaches stretching over many kilometres, small bays and coves, sandy beaches with dunes, pebbly shores, coastal caves surrounded by steep rocks and with the characteristic dark sand of volcanic soils, coastal wetlands), and their clean and transparent waters that have made them renowned and extremely popular all over the world.
In 2009, 425 beaches and 8 marinas in Greece were awarded the “Blue Flag” (See below), a figure that places the country in a top-ranking position among other European countries.
The majority of the thousands of Greek coasts are freely accessible and you have the opportunity to discover and enjoy them without the presence of a large number of swimmers. There are also many organised beaches in the country with the necessary infrastructure providing high-quality services (umbrellas, reclining chairs, changing booths, cafes, bar-restaurants etc), where, apart from swimming, you can enjoy water sports (water ski, windsurfing, diving etc) as well as other means of having fun in the water, such as the parasailing for one or two persons, “rings” , “banana”, wakeboard, jet ski etc. All organised beaches also have lifeguard towers ensuring safe swimming in the area.

“Blue Flags of Europe”

Each year this programme presents an award to the coasts and marinas which meet strict criteria as regards the cleanness of the sea and the coast, good organisation and safety as well as the protection of the coastal environment in general. More specifically, the criteria for the award of the “Blue Flag” are the following:

1. Cleanness of the sea and the coast
-Quality of swimming water verified by measurement of water samples;
-Absence of industrial sewage discharge on the coast;
-Treatment of urban sewage as required by the relevant EU directive;
-Adequate number of litter bins which must be emptied at regular intervals;
-Periodical cleaning of the beach from litter, cigarette stubs etc.

2. Organisation of the coast and safety of the visitors
-Continuous information of the public regarding the quality of swimming water;
-Immediate information if the water has become unsafe for swimmers;
-Plans to deal with a pollution accident and to immediately inform the public;
-Adequate number of sanitary facilities with controlled sewerage;
-Trained lifeguards or direct access to telephone, lifesaving equipment and First Aid;
-Safe passage to the coast and special care for people with disabilities;
-No driving (vehicles and motorcycles) is allowed on the beach;
-Free camping is forbidden; and
-Pets have to be supervised on the beach.

3. Protection of nature and environmental education
-Printed information and publicly displayed instructions regarding behaviour on the coast;
-Activities actively promoting the protection of the natural coastal environment.

Source: GNTO

Taking tango further, deeper ...in Athens

Bandoneonist Dino Saluzzi and cellist Anja Lechner bring lauded collaboration to Athens.

Anja Lechner (l) and Dino Saluzzi perform tomorrow at the three-day ECM Festival at the capital’s Vrachon Theater. It opens today with a concert by Greek pianist Vassilis Tsabropoulos. Jazz-rock drummer Manu Katche ends the event on Wednesday.


Two virtuoso musicians, Argentinean bandoneonist and composer Dino Saluzzi and German cellist Anja Lechner, will pool their talents for one show at the ECM Festival, being staged in Athens for a second time, at the Vrachon Theater tomorrow.

«This musical dialogue is as close to perfection as any music I can recall,» music critic Richard Cook had noted in the Jazz Review, after hearing the pair perform. «Very few musicians are able to maintain their identity so strongly within the whirlpool of multicultural influences,» he continued.

A pivotal figure in Argentinean music, Saluzzi has contributed like few others to the development of the tango tradition. His compositions, uncontrived and innovative, often draw upon the musician's past as a child growing up in Argentina's north, the musicians he has encountered over the years and the early 20th-century vinyl records he has listened to. He speaks enthusiastically about older-generation bandoneonists, who each had «an individual perception on musical phrases and the intensity of melody.»

Born in 1935 in the provincial city of Salta, northwest Argentina, Saluzzi began playing bandoneon as a child with his father, a bandoneonist and a composer of Italian heritage. The young musician's fame did not take long to spread beyond his homeland. Invitations for performances at festivals abroad were extended early in Saluzzi's career. His inclusion on the roster of artists at the high-caliber German label ECM in the early 80s provided Salucci with the opportunity to reach a wider international audience.

«Saluzzi is a composer of contemporary music with the heart of a tanguero,» the Los Angeles Times wrote of Saluzzi. «His compositions highlight the melancholy element that is unique to tango. Nobody else has stretched the boundaries of this musical style to such an extent while also managing to maintain its character's purity.» Saluzzi's stage and recording collaborations have included work with American and European jazz musicians such as Charlie Haden, Pierre Favre and Al Di Meola. The bandoneonist's association with Lechner, a classically trained musician with a love of Argentina's common-folk tango style, has proven exceptional. Offering his views on the growing number of classical music artists who have occasionally chosen to include tango songs in their repertoires in more recent years, Saluzzi notes that «they're interpreted as if they're doing Mozart.»

Lechner's association with the song form began in 1980 when, along with pianist Peter Ludwig, they began to play «German tango in an Argentinean style,» as she notes. «At the time, all I knew was that I really loved this music.»

Not long afterward, Lechner attended a performance by Saluzzi in Munich. «I immediately realized that what he was doing was considerably deeper than simple tango,» says Lechner. «When we began playing together, I felt that I had entered a new world.»

A co-founder of the strings quartet Rosamunde, Lechner began exploring improvisation within traditional music. Lechner's collaborations include work with Greek pianist Vassilis Tsabropoulos, which produced their recent «Melos» album. The German cellist's interest in improvisation was a key factor that led to her collaboration with Saluzzi. They began performing together in 2002 and, five years later, released «Ojos Negros» on the ECM label. The album was hailed by critics. «Anja united with the music, without losing her identity,» says Saluzzi. «She has her own sound and character and this culturally enriches our collaboration.»

By Aggeliki Stoupaki - Kathimerini

Free Internet in Gazi - Athens

Athens citizens and visitors will have access to free high-speed wireless internet in the Gazi area, within the framework of the Information Society Operational Programme, according to an announcement by the Athens Municipality.

The project, which began on July 1, is incorporated in the Information Society SA Digital Strategy and was completed with the support of the City of Athens IT Company (DAEM) and the Municipality's Information Technology Department, which coordinated all participating bodies to ensure its effective and rapid delivery.

The installation of state-of-the-art equipment in a central building at the City of Athens Technopolis ensures coverage of all of the complex's outdoor areas as well as Kerameikos Square and former Korean Market Square. The specific area is one of the largest in Greece in terms of provision of free wireless internet access by a state body.

Visitors to Technopolis and the surrounding area can access the internet with the use of the necessary equipment, such as a laptop computer, PDA or mobile phone, as well as wireless WiFi networks.

A similar network has already been installed in three public areas within the City of Athens, via the Operational Programme, namely Syntagma Square, Kotzia Square and Thissio.

The wireless network was created in order for citizens and visitors to familiarize themselves with high-speed internet and promote the numerous capabilities and services it can offer us in our day-to-day life and work.

Byzantine fortress of Trikala showcased

The early Byzantine-era fortress of Trikala, central Greece, which was renovated by Emperor Justinian in the 6th century AD in recognition of its strategic importance, is located just north of the modern-day city of the same name, in theThessaly plain.

The use of stone blocks attest to the fact that it was built on the site of previous ancient citadel surrounded by an outer wall, and dating back to the Classical Era. The fortress was repaired a number of times during the Ottoman occupation and featured a polygonal outer wall with five towers and many small embrasures.

The monument is divided into three sections, featuring the principal entrance and the clock tower as well as the site where an Orthodox cathedral stood before it was burned to the ground, circa 1330-1332. A building used to store gunpowder is also preserved.

The long history of the Byzantine fortress of Trikala is highlighted in a newly published brochure with photographs and historical details, within the framework of a tourism promotion campaign focusing on the uniqueness of the monument.