31st Kalamata International Dance Festival

The leading contemporary dance encounter in Greece, the Kalamata International Dance Festival, is taking place for the 31st consecutive year from 18 to 27 July 2025, under the new artistic direction of Tzeni Argyriou, with headliners Maguy Marin, Christos Papadopoulos, Damien Jalet, Omar Rajeh, and Kat Válastur; major new collaborations with cultural institutions like the Greek National Opera; the activation of new venues across the city; and new commissioned works.

Capping off its 30th anniversary season (1995–2025), this year’s festival will feature a total of 20 works by prominent Greek and international choreographers from countries including Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, Norway, Portugal, the UK, Lebanon, and Switzerland. Among them: Maguy Marin, one of the most important choreographers of our time, returns to Greece for the first time in ten years and visits Kalamata for the first time with May B, a classic masterpiece of 20th-century contemporary dance; Christos Papadopoulos, presenting his work Mellowing in Kalamata for the first time with the Dance On Ensemble; and Damien Jalet, one of the most sought-after choreographers in the world, presenting his brand-new work Thrice with the Nagelhus Schia Productions company—coming to Kalamata directly after its premiere in Norway in June 2025.

12 performances will be staged at the Kalamata Dance Megaron—5 on the Main Stage, 6 on the Alternative Stage, and 1 at the Foyer. Parallel events will include 6 dance performances around the city, 8 dance evenings in other cities across the region, a temporary anniversary exhibition, and two new thematic sections: Dancing on Screen, dedicated to the relationship between dance, moving images, and cinema, and Offstage Encounters, a discussion between the broader dance community and the public exploring the theme of age—both in art and in society.

This year’s selection showcases artists from different generations, geographic backgrounds, choreographic languages, research approaches, and stages of career development. Some works will be presented on theatrical stages, while others will activate public spaces across the city—bringing the Festival’s pulse into the everyday, where art can surprise and intersect with daily life.

At the heart of the Festival is dance that speaks to the human condition, that connects us with the deeper parts of ourselves, and helps build bridges of understanding and solidarity. The Festival’s rhythm emerges through the succession of performances, gradually forming a collective body that nurtures our curiosity for discovery, our desire to observe, that stretches time and invites us to travel from one artist’s world to another—to rediscover ourselves and reconnect with others.This year’s Festival invites us to celebrate the joy of creation and the freedom of expression. Dance is a medium that transcends cultural borders, allowing us to communicate and invent new codes—perhaps even new worlds.