“Dancing” Cranes In Athens, Greece, Offer Unique Sight

Photo source: SNFCC, Giorgos Yerolymbos – Nikos Markou

The building site of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) at Delta Falirou in Athens, Greece, hosted its first major choreographed art performance on 25 June, where the “Dance of the Cranes” unfolded.

Photo source: SNFCC, Giorgos Yerolymbos – Nikos Markou

The “dancers” of the innovative choreography were none other than the 10 construction cranes, working daily on the SNFCC site for the completion of one of Greece’s biggest projects.

The cranes “danced” to the music of Gustav Holst’s “The Planets,” with Renato Zanella’s unique choreography. The music was performed live on the site of the SNFCC, by the Greek National Opera (GNO) Orchestra, conducted by Myron Michailidis.

The creative music/dance performance was inspired by the project’s architect, Renzo Piano.

The unique, 15-minute performance began just before sunset. The cranes started to move rhythmically over the most emblematic part of the construction project, the 14-meter high artificial Hill.

Construction of the artificial Hill has already been completed while, in the project’s final form, the Hill will cover the buildings of the Greek National Opera (GNO) and the National Library of Greece (NLG), creating a seamlessness of architectural symmetry in a landscape indicative of the project’s superb functionality.

“With the ‘Dance of the Cranes,’ the SNFCC’s site was flooded with life, musical notes and melodies, already fulfilling, approximately two years before the project’s completion and its delivery to the Greek people, its main purpose: to unite people through Arts and Culture and to offer unique experiences of lyricism, culture and education,” the SNFCC said in an announcement.

The creative dance performance took place under the third Annual Stavros Niarchos Foundation International Conference on Philanthropy which is held in Athens, on June 26 and 27.

Video on one of the biggest private projects in Greece, the Cultural Center of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation in Delta Falirou, Athens.