Projects in Penitentiaries

For another year, the Learning & Participation Department of the Greek National Opera will continue its programme of artistic workshops in Penitentiaries across Greece, focusing on music, body, and rhythm. The workshops aim to foster creativity, teamwork, interaction, and free expression. In the 2024/25 season, with the support of the S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation, body percussion workshops are scheduled to take place at the Special Youth Detention Center in Volos and the Penitentiary in Thessaloniki, a music workshop at the Penitentiary in Chania, and a movement and dance workshop at the Female Penitentiary of Eleonas in Thebes. Each workshop will culminate in a final performance showcasing the result of the entire creative journey.

Body percussion workshop at the Special Youth Detention Center in Volos

Participants will participate in a creative and fun process, learning body percussion techniques, cooperating, improvising as a team, and producing their own compositions. They will also have the opportunity to explore the connection between movement, dance, music, and singing through the physical expression of rhythm.

Body percussion workshop at the Penitentiary in Thessaloniki

Participants will receive body percussion lessons and will be encouraged to experiment with the sound of the body and improvisation, as well as to develop rhythmic skills in order to co-create an improvisatory musical composition.

Music workshop at the Penitentiary in Chania

Participants will be guided through the traditional music of the wider Mediterranean region using string and percussion instruments. Embarking on a melodic journey to their homelands, they will reminisce, converse, and work collectively.

Movement and dance workshop at the Female Penitentiary of Eleonas in Thebes

Participants will be encouraged to activate their bodies, develop their creativity through their acquaintance with alternative dance genres (street dance, traditional folk dances from various countries, intercultural dances, jazz, etc.), work in teams, interact with one another, and explore dance as a way to experience joy and well-being and as a means of promoting communication, and freedom of expression.

Donor of the Educational Programme in Penitentiaries

GNO Learning & Participation Lead Donor