Isadora Duck

Alternative Stage founding donor 

Alternative Stage sponsor: PPC (Public Power Company)

The Alternative Stage of the Greek National Opera transforms into a swan lake to welcome the captivating new production Isadora Duck, which is based on Stella Michailidou’s highly successful fairy tale of the same title. This enchanting musical, designed for the whole family and inspired by the life of the great dancer and choreographer Isadora Duncan, is coming to the GNO Alternative Stage at the SNFCC to offer children and grown-ups an unforgettable music theatre experience. The production will run for 20 performances, from 8 November to 1 December 2024.

The production Isadora Duck, written and directed by experienced Stella Michailidou and featuring music composed by distinguished composer Kostas Vomvolos, speaks about inclusion, acceptance, the power of forgiveness, and the acknowledgment of each person's uniqueness, while also being an ideal introduction for children to the art of dance.

The performance directly references a pioneering figure in modern dance, the “barefoot dancer” Isadora Duncan, and classical fairy tales, such as Hans Christian Andersen’s The Ugly Duckling. Its heroine, the petit duck Isadora Duck, with her uniquely beautiful blue feathers, lives in Swan Lake, struggling to make her dream of becoming a ballerina come true. Passion and the desire to dance are at the heart of this performance, which effectively communicates important values in a simple way, offering audiences a tender and at once cruel self-awareness adventure through music, dance, and humour.

The imaginative musical Isadora Duck, the new GNO Alternative Stage's production for children of all ages for the 2024/25 season, fills the hall with swans, ducks, seagulls, blackbirds, and colourful lake birds who tell the unique story of Isadora Duck, as revealed through the pages of the fairy tale of the same name by actress and choreographer Stella Michailidou. "A play between the names Isadora Duncan and Isadora Duck became the trigger for writing this play. But the lives of the great American dancer and choreographer Isadora Duncan and our heroine were very different. Duck and Duncan meet only in their passion for dance, in their longing to communicate more deeply and meaningfully with the world and themselves, to say things that words struggle to convey. They both learn by observing nature, recognizing that everything dances even though they seem motionless.”, Stella Michailidou, also known for her stories and plays for children and young people, notes.

“My wings may be small and my legs crooked, but my soul never stops dancing”, sings the play’s heroine, Isadora Duck, a tiny duck living in Swan Lake and dreaming of becoming a ballerina, even though she is the last one in her class.  When her teacher, Mr. Coup de Pied, kicks her out of class, Isadora wanders desperately until she slowly comes to believe in herself and discovers her own unique dance. A free dance, in perfect harmony with nature, without the restrictions imposed by classical ballet. A dance that allows her to express her true feelings, that helps her to overcome fear, loneliness and difficulties.

“The Isadora of our story lives in Swan Lake where the only dance that exists is classical ballet. Her body type does not meet the standards for dancers there. She does not have a long slender neck, long legs, she is not all white and tall with large wings; she is not a perfect swan, and this results in the dismissive, violent and cruel behaviour of her classmates. Isadora’s huge weapon to endure all that is dancing. She dances non-stop and so she resists, grows stronger and moves on until she comes to discover, accept and love who she really is. In the play, we are led from a world of closed, arrogant, unresponsive Swan Lake to a world of inclusion, acceptance and recognition of the unique other. I wish we could make this happen also in our world," Stella Michailidou, who is also responsible for the production's stage direction, notes.

The music is composed by Kostas Vomvolos, the leader of the band Primavera en Salonico since 1994 , and also a member of the band Chimerini Kolymvites. Regarding the diverse elements making up Isadora Duck’s musical universe, Kostas Vomvolos notes: “The music highlights the educational character of children’s contact to very different musical genres, some of which are very familiar while others are completely unknown to these ages. The blending of such diverse elements could also be described as a kind of contribution from music to the acceptance of diversity and the highly-discussed inclusion. In essence, however, the main function of cliches in this performance – at times through a necessary redefinition of their context – is that they help us narrate, as amusingly as possible, how series a game life is.”

Kenny McLellan designed the impressive stage set and costumes, and Fotis Diamantopoulos is responsible for the movement. Christos Tziogas designed the lighting, and Babis Venetopoulos created the video projections.

Lydia Stefou plays Isadora, Margarita Syngeniotou portrays Teacher–Narrator, Ms Hoity-Toity, and Ms Papov, and Dimitris Nalbandis performs as Mr Coup-de-Pied.

The production features the musicians Odysseas Siozopoulos (clarinet), Sofia Efklidou (violoncello), and Christos Sakellaridis (piano).

Fully accessible performances of the musical Isadora Duck

The musical Isadora Duck will be fully accessible on November 29th and 30th, 2024, providing an inclusive audiovisual experience for all audiences in collaboration with ATLAS E.P. In this context, there will be designated seats for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing and use Greek Sign Language, places for those who rely on captions (CAPS) covering the entire audio channel, as well as seats for individuals who are blind or have limited access to the visual channel of communication and use the audio description (AD) service. Guide dogs for the visually impaired will also be permitted.

The full accessibility services for this production are funded by the Ministry of Culture, as part of the project“SUB.1.1.6 Attracting 65+ individuals and persons with disabilities to events of the Greek National Opera”. This project is implemented as part of the “Greece 2.0 - National Recovery and Resilience Plan” with funds from the European Union-NextGeneration EU.

Audience members who wish to use the accessibility services are requested to purchase their tickets at the GNO Box Office, over the phone at 2130885700, or via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. If you need assistance with your reservation, you can also contact ATLAS E.P. at 6993507553 or via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The musical “Isadora Duck” is part of the GNO Alternative Stage’s unit of programming titled “MUSIC THEATRE DAYS”, which falls under the ACT “FESTIVAL EVENTS OF THE GNO ALTERNATIVE STAGE 2024-2025” » (MIS 6002467) with code 2024ΕΠ08570049 (Priority: “Fostering regional social cohesion through the enhancement of mechanisms and infrastructure to support employment, education, health care and socioeconomic inclusion” of the programme “Attica 2021-2027) and is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and National Resources.