SOLAR
SOLAR
En Dynamei
Dance Performance
Thessaloniki, Greece
Date: Sunday 27 September 2026
Time: 20:00
Venue: Central Square
Free entrance
Intensive Dance Workshop and Performance, based on SOLAR by En Dynamei
What is it that allows us to search, to claim, to offer ourselves to life?
As part of the 13th MPart Festival, the En Dynamei ensemble, under the guidance of Aris Papadopoulos and Vittoria Kotsalou, will lead an intensive four-day dance workshop, open to people with and without disabilities, with no specific level of experience required.
A reflection on what keeps us alive, through the power that the “real” movement of different bodies can reveal in a transcendent state.
SOLAR creates a space for collective and personal exploration, seeking common ground for coexistence and acceptance of the other—the different, the unfamiliar, the incomprehensible. It is a collective practice, a “study” of how acceptance affects our lives, relationships and happiness—and vice versa.
Drawing on material developed with the 30 members of the En Dynamei ensemble, we create a movement score. Through the uniqueness of each participant and their diverse ways of perceiving the world, we compose a performance dedicated to existence—an awakening of the deepest impulse towards life.
About En Dynamei
En Dynamei is a collective of young artists with and without disabilities, active since 2008 and based in Thessaloniki. It is one of the most significant artistic collectives of its kind in Greece. Its work is grounded in collective practices at every level, above all in the equal collaboration of young people with and without disabilities, while its artistic work emerges through a collective “I”.
For more than 15 years, the ensemble has sought to demonstrate that there are different ways and practices of coexisting, collaborating and creating art together.
The ensemble’s aim is to support, encourage and empower its members to participate equally in society through art.
With research into new methods of communication as its primary tool, the ensemble develops and produces complete artistic projects across the fields of visual art, theatre, music and the performing arts. Most of its performances and other programmes take place in Thessaloniki, while the ensemble also works in other parts of Greece and abroad.
Notable productions by En Dynamei include the theatrical trilogy The Other Normal (The Fan Man or How to Dress an Elephant, The Other House, co-produced with the Onassis Stegi, and Lovestruck Horses), the performance SLEEPWALKERS, as well as The Utopians, created in collaboration with Vittoria Kotsalou and internationally acclaimed choreographer Mikael Kliën. The ensemble has also created the accessible multisensory dance performance The Joy of Life.
SOLAR — Intensive Dance Workshop
The workshop will be based on the practices and the score of the dance work SOLAR, created by the En Dynamei ensemble and Vittoria Kotsalou and presented as part of the M–power Festival at Onassis Stegi in 2023.
Together with the participants, we will explore the practices that shaped SOLAR, seeking to expand the possibilities of the body and focusing on how, through dance, deeper sensations, memories and needs emerge. These are the elements we need in order to nourish a more expanded present.
SOLAR creates a space for collective and personal exploration—a common ground for coexistence and acceptance of the other, the different, the unfamiliar, the incomprehensible. It is a collective practice, a “study” of how acceptance affects our lives, relationships and happiness, and vice versa.
The workshop is open to up to 50 participants.
The workshop will take place from September 23 to 26, followed by the SOLAR performance on September 27, featuring the participation of people who have taken part in the workshop.
SOLAR — Performance Credits
Artistic Direction: Eleni Dimopoulou
Concept: Vittoria Kotsalou
Creation – Texts: En Dynamei Ensemble
Choreography: Vittoria Kotsalou
Music: Anargyros Deniozos
Set Design: Richard Anthony
Lighting Design: Nysos Vasilopoulos
Text Editing: Vittoria Kotsalou, Sofia Bletsou, Eleni Dimopoulou
Assistant Choreographer: Aris Papadopoulos
Sound Recording and Sound Editing of Texts: Tanya Jones
Voices in the sound material:
Maria Dachlythra, Eleni Dimopoulou, Margarita Kainada, Theano Konta, Nikos Kyparissis, Dimitris Lyras, Thanos Nanasis, Panos Matziris, Giorgos-Zisis Bilionis, Theano Papavasileiou, Charis Serdari
Performers: Stefanos Lentzis, Panos Matziris, Michalis Dolopoulos, Christos Sioumis, Alekos Hatsios, Loxandra Loukas
Production: Onassis Stegi
Duration: 50 minutes
Trailer: Vimeo
Photography: Lida Touloumakou