7th Contemporary Dance Festival
“Compartments Dance Project”
Railway Carriage Theater to Treno sto Rouf
17–31 May 2026

 

The 7th Contemporary Dance Festival “Compartments Dance Project” comes to life once again for its seventh consecutive year in every unexpected space of the Train Theatre To Treno sto Rouf, inviting the public—with free admission—to a joyful and creative encounter with 13 groups of young dancers and choreographers, daily from May 17 to May 31, 2026.

 

Since its launch in 2016, as a distinct section of the Young Artists Festival “The 12 Compartments,” the “Compartments Dance Project” has established itself as a meeting point for Contemporary Dance and a field of experimentation for emerging creators. For fifteen days, the historic train carriages and every surprising corner of the Train Theatre are transformed into stage and source of inspiration for short dance performances. This original concept by Tatiana Ligari, artistic director and creator of the Railway Carriage Theater to Treno sto Rouf, challenges large-scale venues and conventional viewing conditions. As she notes:

 

“In this year’s edition, with our gaze turned toward the global concern over the unchecked advance of technology, we invited young dancers and choreographers to explore the human body as a fundamental means of resistance against an unconditional surrender to the dominance of artificial intelligence. We focused on the qualities that constitute human existence: love, imagination, desire, critical thinking, empathy, friendship, contact, communication. How are these preserved and strengthened within a landscape of technological explosion? Where does defense lie, and in what ways can it be activated in order to restore balance?

 

The artists respond by positioning the body as a bearer of memory and resistance, but also of harmony and meaningful human fulfillment. The body as a field of consciousness in motion, as a force that liberates authenticity, and as a living frame that at times captures, at times distorts, and at times questions the truth of the image. Through their choreographic language, they seek ways to cultivate and reinforce those precious elements that define us and allow us to remain human.

 

Within this context, I am confident that this year’s Festival will once again become—through the vivid and performative art of Contemporary Dance—a space for creative thinking as well as enjoyment, for both participating artists and the audience.”

 

All performances, lasting 10 to 20 minutes, are presented daily in the train carriages and on the outdoor platform stage from 20:00 to 23:30, in a rolling program, forming a fifteen-day period of dense artistic activity, dialogue, and exchange of ideas.

 

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See the detailed performance schedule:

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UNTITLED (IN TRANSIT)
Styliana Apostolou

The body as a living canvas and a field of consciousness in motion. Identity dissolves as color, movement, and matter interact, shifting between control and unpredictability. The body appears simultaneously as subject and object, constantly transforming in relation to its environment—intense and vulnerable. Consciousness emerges between elements. Suspended between constraint and flight, the performance explores becoming as an unstable, continuous state of transition.

Concept / choreography / performance: Styliana Apostolou
Start time: 20:00 / Duration: 15'

 

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TOUGH PALM
Konstantinos Dimitropoulos – “Efentakis”

A collective dance performance inspired by the working class of Eastern Europe and its folk dances, as carriers of embodied memory and resistance. Drawing from archival sources, it explores themes of labor, movement, and collectivity through an evolving stage setting. The “palm” functions as a metaphor for identity and fate, raising the question: do we create together, or come together in order to create?

Choreography: Konstantinos Dimitropoulos – “Efentakis” Performance: Pavlina Platsi, Nikos Vlachogiannis, Elpida Thomaidi, Orestis Barkas, Kostas Charalampous, Myrianthi Panagiotou, Irini Matey
Start time: 20:20 / Duration: 17'

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I AM AND I APPEAR
Sofia Barka, Konstantina Ntinapogia

A work on human relationships, focusing on the role of image as a carrier of constructed realities and conditions. It unfolds as a sequence of snapshots, where the body acts as a living frame that at times captures, distorts, or questions the truth of the image. The piece invites the audience to reflect on the relationship between experience and representation, and on the boundaries between the authentic and the constructed.

Co-creation / performance: Sofia Barka, Konstantina Ntinapogia
Start time: 20:40 / Duration: 10'

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CARESS ME IN CELLULAR FIELDS OF MISERY
Maya Podejma

This year’s international participation explores our inextricable relationship with technology and how we have committed ourselves to a future already predetermined, rather than consciously shaped. The Polish-American dancer, based in Hanover, Germany, moves through stages of compliance, fear, and the desire for deviation. A minimal costume, the use of breath and objects, and a carefully designed soundscape compose a work that urgently invites introspection.

Choreography / performance: Maya Podejma
Start time: 20:55 / Duration: 15'

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LUMEN04
Nefeli Dali

Constant exposure to standards drives us into continuous comparison with perfection. Through repetitive structures and processes of copying, the piece highlights the dynamic relationship between the whole and the individual. As imposed perfection deteriorates, individuality emerges. The choreography shifts toward embracing uniqueness, liberating authentic expression and each body’s interpretative power.

Choreography: Nefeli Dali Performance: Vicky Mnatsakanian, Ilia Koukouzeli, Despina Karakatsani, Nefeli Dali
Start time: 21:10 / Duration: 15'

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INTERGALACTIC VOYAGERS
Yakinthi Preveniou

A group of undefined beings embarks on a journey exploring new planets, driven by curiosity for everything unfamiliar. In the face of the unknown and the strange, the familiarity among fellow travelers creates a sense of security and confidence.

Choreography: Yakinthi Preveniou Music: Chris Christodoulou, L’Impératrice Performance: Katerina Kapsaski, Elena Krinta, Argyro Bougiouka, Margarita Bougiouka, Yakinthi Preveniou, Marianna Tsoubeli
Start time: 21:25 / Duration: 11'

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UNPLUGGED CONSCIOUSNESS
Anastasia Galati, Konstantina Tsiméka

Two women meet repeatedly—friends, rivals, and mirrors—alternating between tenderness and tension. Their relationship is fluid; repetition becomes necessity. Bodies exposed to social and digital gaze communicate directly, physically, and raw. Femininity emerges as a contradictory field: strength and fragility, connection and independence. What remains is the need for companionship. Why do we begin? To find the other, or to endure ourselves within them?

Choreography / performance: Anastasia Galati, Konstantina Tsiméka
Start time: 21:40 / Duration: 16'

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THE DAY BEFORE YOU CAME
Konstantinos Argyriou Evangeloudis

The moment before an encounter—not merely as a point in time, but as an existential condition. Time becomes a transitional field, where the body carries memory and anticipation, and where every “before” already contains the “after.” Within a cyclical framework of physical encounters and internal shifts, memory and expectation coexist, generating movement toward the other that begins before the meeting itself.

Choreography / creation: Konstantinos Argyriou Evangeloudis Costume design: Francesco Infante Performance: Konstantinos Argyriou Evangeloudis, Kelly Diakoulaki, Sofia Gkiouli, Gabriela Koufaki, Marios-Athanasios Bozikas
Start time: 22:00 / Duration: 14'

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IS THAT A JOKE?
Ilias Bageorgos

A defense mechanism in a moment of uncertainty—an existential threshold where the body shifts from tension to fragile presence. Inspired by Dante’s Purgatorio, the performance focuses on an in-between state—neither condemnation nor redemption. The body remains in constant anticipation, trapped in incomplete attempts at connection, revealing contemporary human relationships as a grey zone between desire and lack.

Choreography / direction: Ilias Bageorgos Performance: Dance Athens Team
Start time: 22:15 / Duration: 13'

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IN BETWEEN (EN DIAKENŌ)
Katerina Tsirikou

Inspired by analog photography and the function of film, the performance focuses on the concept of emptiness. Like film that sometimes captures images and sometimes burns, we carry moments of presence and absence. Two bodies move between contact and distance, seeking meaningful connection in a superficially “connected” world. The duet asks: how much “emptiness” can exist between two bodies in constant contact, and how much connection can endure despite physical distance?

Choreography / music / stage concept: Katerina Tsirikou Stage photography: Despina Terzoglou Performance: Alexandros Vrotsos, Katerina Tsirikou
Start time: 22:30 / Duration: 16'

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UNBECOMING: A SLIVER OF AFTERTRACE
Spyros Paltoglou

Inspired by meditation. In stillness, everything begins to move. When you stop trying to become something more, space opens for what you truly are. It is not about learning but unlearning—not becoming, but ceasing to become. And then, you simply are. The work reveals inner states and emotions experienced on the path to emotional release, while traces of history remain imprinted on paper.

Choreography / performance: Spyros Paltoglou
Start time: 22:45 / Duration: 13'

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THREADS, WHAT KEEPS US HUMAN
d.OT Company

A portrayal of the human journey through image and music—from the weight of loneliness to the flow and balance brought by mutual support and sharing. The performance builds a clear narrative arc: from gravity, stillness, and isolation, to flow, connection, and balance. This journey expands beyond the individual toward meeting the Other, where mutual support, connection, and sharing become catalysts for harmony and meaningful human fulfillment.

Concept / choreography: Olivia Thanasoula Original music: Nikos Saltas, Giannis Panagiotou, Marios Papasimakopoulos Lighting design: Semina Papalexandropoulou Performance / creative contribution: Christina Papaikonomou, Dorothea Mavrommati, Marievi Lefkimmiati
Start time: 23:00 / Duration: 14'

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B-AL(L)ON-E
Theoni Peraki, Despina Karakatsani

A duet unfolding as a small journey from the carefree nature of childhood to the loneliness of adulthood—and back again to the joy of play within a landscape of digital noise that often makes us forget our humanity. A small tribute to balloons, reminding us that play may be the simplest way to reconnect. Inflating a balloon becomes a small act of rebellion. You are invited to our balloon party. Will you come?

Concept / choreography: Theoni Peraki Music curation / composition: Vangelis Dianellos Performance / co-creation: Despina Karakatsani, Theoni Peraki
Start time: 23:15 / Duration: 17'

 

CREDITS
Artistic Direction: Tatiana Ligari Artistic Groups Coordinator: Efthymis Christou
Photography: Hypatia Kornarou Video editing: Giorgos Charisis
Poster artwork: Mavra Gidia Communication: ArtsPR

 

VENUE
Railway Carriage Theater to Treno sto Rouf
Konstantinoupoleos Ave. & Amfipoleos St., Rouf Railway & Suburban Station
10 minutes on foot from Kerameikos Metro
Free outdoor parking

 

 

PERFORMANCES
All performances run from
17/05 – 31/05/2026, 20:00 – 23:30
on a rolling schedule, daily for 15 consecutive days.

 

FREE ADMISSION
Entry passes are required.
Distribution starts at 19:00 at the Train Theatre box office.
Maximum: 3 passes per person / per day, subject to availability.

 

INFORMATION
Production Office: +30 210 9237076
Theatre: +30 210 5298922 & +30 6937604988
theater@totrenostorouf.gr