{"id":4412,"date":"2021-10-15T15:05:48","date_gmt":"2021-10-15T12:05:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metacpc.org\/?p=4412"},"modified":"2021-10-15T15:23:52","modified_gmt":"2021-10-15T12:23:52","slug":"backstage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metacpc.org\/en\/backstage\/","title":{"rendered":"m\u03adta-troupe 2021: a boulouki&#8217;s journey and its backstage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"m\u03adta-\u03bc\u03c0\u03bf\u03c5\u03bb\u03bf\u03cd\u03ba\u03b9 2021: \u03bf\u03b4\u03bf\u03b9\u03c0\u03bf\u03c1\u03b9\u03ba\u03cc &amp; backstage \/\/ m\u03adta-troupe 2021: a journey and its backstage\" width=\"580\" height=\"326\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/h9clJrYd9E8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">From 12 to 22 July 2021, after months of confinement and enforced cultural \u2018eclipse\u2019, m\u03adta set up a feast on the road with six stops throughout Greece: Athens, Patras, Ioannina, Kavala, Thessaloniki and Volos; <a href=\"https:\/\/metacpc.org\/en\/boulouki\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">our &#8216;boulouki&#8217;, or m\u03adta-troupe<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=h9clJrYd9E8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">This video offers a glimpse <\/a>of some highlights \u2014 \u2026and its backstage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Merging stand-up comedy with traditional music made&nbsp;<em>otherwise,&nbsp;<\/em>as well as \u2018Karagiozis\u2019 shadow theater with biting bits on current affairs, our \u2018boulouki\u2019 (troupe) attempted to reclaim the public square in times of crisis and the privatisation of our lives via lockdown, with free admission to our celebration. We have tried, in a sense, to reassemble the (physical,&nbsp;<em>real<\/em>) public space from the debris left by the pandemic and the government\u2019s policies. At the same time, if there is one field that has been hit harder than any other during the pandemic, this is the artistic space, the cultural space. Artists have been declared more or less \u2018superfluous\u2019, their activity something like a \u2018hobby\u2019. Therefore, the capacity to professionally collaborate with distinguished artists from different backgrounds \u2014 music (Konstandis Pistiolis), stand-up comedy (Ira Katsouda and Dimitra Nikitea), traditional shadow theatre with a twist (Thomas Agrafiotis) \u2014 was also one of the tools of our \u2018boulouki\u2019, on a tour around Greece and not confined to Athens, our all-consuming capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">The outcome exceeded our expectations: our artists gave their best, and the reception of our \u2018boulouki\u2019 by (literally) thousands of citizens all over Greece \u2013who were clearly informed at the beginning of the event about the purposes of m\u03adta and its connection to MeRA25\u2013 was touching. Our m\u03adta-boulouki completed its tour of six stations all over Greece, organised a feast for every citizen with free entrance to the public, collective space that we were deprived of. Thomas Agrafiotis, Dimitra Nikitea, Ira Katsouda and Konstandis Pistiolis starred in a \u2018boulouki\u2019 of music, laughter, critical gaze, and re-examination of the tradition of our country in a future-oriented perspective. We warmly thank the artists, those who supported and helped us, as well as all those who accepted our invitation and participated in our celebration. There is much more to come!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\"><strong><span class=\"has-inline-color has-accent-color\">Credits<\/span><\/strong>: Filming &amp; Directing: <strong><span class=\"has-inline-color has-accent-color\">George Moustakis<\/span><\/strong> \/\/ Additional shots: <strong><span class=\"has-inline-color has-accent-color\">Dimitris Zografakis<\/span><\/strong> \/\/ Boulouki-performers: <strong><span class=\"has-inline-color has-accent-color\">Kostandis Pistiolis<\/span><\/strong>: Singing, winds, strings, percussions, live looping \/\/<span class=\"has-inline-color has-accent-color\"> <strong>Ira Katsouda, Dimitra Nikitea<\/strong><\/span>: Stand up comedy \/\/ <strong><span class=\"has-inline-color has-accent-color\">Thomas Agrafiotis<\/span><\/strong>: Shadow Theatre; Assistant: <strong><span class=\"has-inline-color has-accent-color\">Anna Sakaretsanou<\/span><\/strong> \/\/ <strong><span class=\"has-inline-color has-accent-color\">Nikos Spyropoulos<\/span>: <\/strong>Sound Recording \/\/ <strong><span class=\"has-inline-color has-accent-color\">Nikos Christogiannopoulos<\/span><\/strong>: Assistant Sound Engineer \/\/ <strong><span class=\"has-inline-color has-accent-color\">Kostis Marangos<\/span><\/strong>: Lightning Designing \/\/ <strong><span class=\"has-inline-color has-accent-color\">Miltos Lyssikatos<\/span><\/strong>: Lights Operator \/\/ \u2018Boulouki\u2019 production: <strong><span class=\"has-inline-color has-accent-color\">Nikos Kanarelis<\/span><\/strong>: Cultural Director \/\/ <strong><span class=\"has-inline-color has-accent-color\">Sotiris Mitralexis<\/span><\/strong>: Academic Director \/\/ <strong><span class=\"has-inline-color has-accent-color\">Mariza Kourtikaki<\/span><\/strong>: tour manager-production manager \/\/ <strong><span class=\"has-inline-color has-accent-color\">Hara Ioannou<\/span><\/strong>: Scenography and poster design \/\/ <strong><span class=\"has-inline-color has-accent-color\">Kostas Raptis<\/span><\/strong>: Press Officer \/\/ <strong><span class=\"has-inline-color has-accent-color\">Georgia Zoupa<\/span><\/strong>: Assistant Contact Person \/\/ <strong><span class=\"has-inline-color has-accent-color\">Arianna Vagourdi, Doris Hakim<\/span><\/strong>: Secretarial Support \/\/ We are profoundly grateful to the volunteers who supported us in all cities. Their invaluable help was of essence to the successful outcome we all enjoyed. \/\/ <strong><span class=\"has-inline-color has-accent-color\">m\u03adta productions<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From 12 to 22 July 2021, after months [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":4410,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-parts\/content-blog.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_events_control_status":"","_tribe_events_control_status_canceled_reason":"","_tribe_events_control_status_postponed_reason":"","_tribe_events_control_online":"","_tribe_events_control_online_url":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metacpc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metacpc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metacpc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metacpc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metacpc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4412"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/metacpc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4419,"href":"https:\/\/metacpc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4412\/revisions\/4419"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metacpc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metacpc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metacpc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metacpc.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}