The celebration of contemporary dance, true to its appointment every year in the city of Kalamata, returns this year for ten days, from July 14 to 23, 2023. The 29th Kalamata International Dance Festival promises to stir up the city for another year, hosting choreographers, dancers and teachers from 10 countries from four continents, Asia, Europe, America and Africa. A total of 17 productions (9 groups from Greece and 7 from abroad) make up the rich artistic program, which will be presented on the Main Stage and the Black Box of the Kalamata Dance Hall, as well as in the Central Square of Kalamata, as well as in three cities of the Peloponnese Region, Sparta, Tripoli and Nafplio. And like every year, there will be no shortage of seminars and workshops of the educational program (6-23/7), but also innovations, such as the modern dance marathon Danceathon.

Linda Kapetanea, artistic director for six years of the successful institution that did not stop even during the pandemic (always adapted to health protocols), spoke to APE-MPE about the festival, which turns 30 next year. “For us, it has been six years of a very intensive effort to renew and upgrade the institution, stimulate its extroversion, deepen its relationship with the city, the public space and residents of all ages through the program of movement workshops and Keep Dancing for students that runs throughout the year, support for Greek artists and the institution’s initiatives for ever greater openings in collaborations with institutions, institutions and other festivals from Greece and abroad”, said Linda Kapetanea to APE-MBE, who, as she said, learned a lot during these six years at the artistic helm of the festival. “I learned patience and adaptability, I experience complexity, what it means to make quick decisions on urgent matters, what it means to be decisive and diplomatic. That not everything will be done the way I want and in the time I want, that people, especially in our country, have been deprived of positive comments and thumbs up and that a smile can literally change the circumstances, that there are structures of years that have their own their culture and their own habits which must also be respected in order for the cooperation to progress, that in their own way everyone involved with the Festival wants to see it become big and great. And that in the end everyone wants to participate in a beautiful story in a common beautiful goal”, he underlined.

In addition to being the artistic director of the Kalamata International Dance Festival, she is a dancer, choreographer and contemporary dance teacher. What trumps or how does it combine all of the above? “Nothing beats it. Everything has its own important intensive period and everything is made and developed together. It’s like one complements the other somehow. And it’s not just the ones you mention. I am also the mother of two children who want their time as well”, she pointed out to APE-MPE, adding that every year she tries to bring something new to Kalamata and the Festival. “Either as a project or as an action. Something that the audience or the artists have not experienced at a previous festival. Something that will make them look forward to the next festival. It is a 10-day experience for the dancers as well as for the audience,” he emphasized.

The title of this year’s program is “(Re)Turn to the Body”. How does he choose the theme of the Festival every year and how does he relate it to the entries? “Everything goes together. Thematic and selection of performances. Seeing how I slowly build the program every month, so slowly with my partners we arrive at the theme”. As for this year’s participations, and if there is something that sets them apart from other years, he told APE-MPE: “There is one thing, I think, that is characteristic this year as well as the previous years at the festival. Love for dance and artists that you fall in love with for what they offer with their performances, images that you carry with you for a long time.”

At the end of each Festival a report is necessary. But when does he start thinking about the performances of the next event? “We always take stock with the team at the festival. We look at what went wrong and how we can improve things. Already when the current program is implemented during the year I am thinking about the next one. I’m thinking about the next shows. Already this year, for months, I have started to plan, to have enough material to be able to remove and keep what is appropriate for the institution in its 30 years”, he replied to APE-MPE, adding about the planning of 2024: “I believe that for now the honor belongs to the 29th and their amazing choreographers and dancers. For the 30th we will have several months to talk and show our plans. For me, all the years are important, and since it only happens every year for 10 days, it’s an anniversary of the dance anyway.”

And her vision for the future of the Festival? “I would like it to gain more autonomy and size so that it can create its own productions, invite artists without technical and financial limitations and envision artistic events with greater freedom of movement. To be able to converse with all fields of art and knowledge from around the world. Now we create a composition of ready-made projects that are worked on outside and inside Greece, we organize parallel events for all kinds of audiences, we have a strong presence in the public space and we also compose a very strong educational program. We have done enough for our small size but growth is inevitable to continue to exist. To make the change I mentioned is not a simple matter at all. It is primarily a political decision accompanied by a completely new model of administration, organization and financing”, pointed out Mrs. Kapetanea, speaking to APE-MPE.