Theatre workshop, Novan theatre group

The program will include the following daily activities:

Ø A. Rhythmology – Vocal improvisation – Body percussion – 2 hours

Animator: Vassilis Kanellopoulos, musician-actor

Ø B. Kinesiology – Elements of choreography – Kinetic improvisation – 2 hours

Animator: Tasos Papadopoulos, dancer, choreographer, actor

Ø C. Theatrical play- Improvisation- Expressive speech / text deepening- 2 hours

Animator: Lena Petropoulou, actress, director, copywriter

The aim of the seminars will be to acquaint the participants with the wider techniques of theatre, creative expression, the cultivation of their means of expression and the collective.

The process of the courses will help the personal development of each member of the team separately, but also to create a climate of teamwork and cooperation.

The ultimate goal of the series of seminars will be to jointly create a mini performance of the theater of invention, which will arise with the contribution of all those involved and which will be presented on the last day to the public, completing the cycle of courses and putting their results in ‘ “creative exhibition”.

The versatile group of theater action and performance NOVAN theater group was created in 2010 by Lena Petropoulou (actor, scriptwriter, animator of theater groups, director), Tassos Papadopoulos (dancer, choreographer, actor), Petros Maliara (actor, group animator, director ) and Vasilis Kanellopoulos (actor, musician).

It counts over 60 members – professionals and amateurs. Its seat is Thessaloniki, Olympos 5. Its goal is the artistic journey, the collective, the creative co-existence and the communication with the human being, through the stories and the art/technique of the performing arts.

The performances of the group -adults & children- are presented in theatrical – and non-theatrical – spaces and are made to be transported, wherever they are called.

The collaborations of NOVAN with other related artistic groups and independent creators of the city, as well as with institutions (KTHBE, DI.PE.THE Veria, DI.PE.THE Kozani, Municipality of Thessaloniki, HELEXPO, Municipality of Drama, Thessalian Theater etc. ), make it one of the most active groups in Thessaloniki.

Indicative titles of performances, collaborations, awards of the group:

“I dreamed of Happiness and she said to me:” (First Prize for Directing 3rd AST Fest Athens, 2022-2023),

“The small, crazy thing called love” (co-production and tour with DI.PE.THE. Verias, 2019-2020)

EXOSIS project (Commission: Municipality of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki Concert Hall, SKG Bridges Festival, 2018)

“Tonight in Stratford” (Official participation in the 5×5 KTHBE festival, Local Troupe Award – Thessaloniki Theater Awards, 2016-2017)

“The myths that made a fairy tale” (1st Prize for Best Children’s Show, Thessaloniki International Exhibition, 2015)

“Pedestrian rights: theatrical actions & interventions – Thessaloniki Youth Capital” (Commissioned by: Union of Pedestrians, Municipality of Thessaloniki, 2015)

“Words of the River” (Vafopoulio Spiritual Center, Spring Festival of the Municipality of Paionia, DI.PE.THE. Veria, Telloglio Arts Foundation, Eleftheria of the Municipality of Drama, 2014-2015)

“In the five streets” (Vafopoulio Spiritual Center, Telloglio Arts Foundation, tour of DI.PE.THE. Veria, Theatrical Voices of the City – Municipality of Thessaloniki, Non-profit Organization of the Municipality of Thessaloniki, 2011-2015) etc.

Vasilis Kanellopoulos – actor, musician

He was born and raised in Lagada, Thessaloniki. He is a graduate of the Department of Music Science & Art of the University of Macedonia and a graduate of the “Uga Clara” Theater Workshop. He also holds a Degree in Trombone and a Degree in Harmony from the Central Conservatory of Thessaloniki, while he completed his Master’s degree in Science and Arts at the Univ. Macedonia

He is a co-founder of the theater production company NOVAN theater group, where he also teaches rhythm education courses to its laboratory groups.

Since 2007 he has appeared in numerous theater and film productions as an actor and musician and has made many appearances as a stand up comedian.

In the theater he has starred in, for example, the shows: “The Coat” by N. Gogol, “The Crazy Little Thing Called Love” by L. Petropoulos, “The Temptation” by Xenopoulos, “Your Death is My Life” by Sakellariou, “Everyone is judged by his works” by Papadiamantis, “Arizona” by Juan Carlos Rubio, “Koutroulis’s marriage” directed by D. Sakatzis, “See the last kiss” by P. Maliara, ῾῾Ftystos o Makaritis῾ by P. Phylaktakis, Backgammon by D. Kehaidis, Tonight at Stratford by M. Gavriilidou et al.

He has taken part in the films “The Years of Youth” by M. Charalambidis, “The Bricklayer” by Hanna Weg & Matt Johnson, “Shelter 2” by Chr. Nikoleris, “Siege” by V. Tsikaras and in a number of short films.

As a musician, he is a member of the “Plus & Minus Collective orchestra” (free jazz) and the “Filippos Nakas Big Band Orchestra”, while he has collaborated with the Symphony Orchestra of the City of Thessaloniki and with many musical groups and philharmonics.

Tasos Papadopoulos – kinesiologist, choreographer, actor

Graduated in Psychology from A.U.Th. and of the Higher Professional School of Dance A. Kafantari (Ministry of Culture and Sports)

He has worked as a choreographer in productions by: National Theatre, Athens and Epidaurus Festival, Alternative Stage of the National Opera – SNFCC, K.TH.BE, Eptapyrgio Festival, State Orchestra of Thessaloniki, DI.PE.THE. Kozani, Veria, Ioannina, Thessalian Theatre, Athenian Stage, Telloglio Arts Foundation, Folklore and Ethnological Museum of Macedonia-Thrace, Mikros Vorras, Theatraction, Theater of the North, Art Dance Theater H.A.N.Th. etc.

He collaborated with the directors: Mary Andreou, Eleni Efthimiou, Yiannis Iordanidis, Giorgos Kiourtsidis, Yiannis Paraskevopoulos, Lena Petropoulos, Tasos Ratzos, Yiannis Rigas, Evi Sarmi, Despina Saroglou, Sofia Spyratou, Stelios Hatziadamidis and others.

Partner of the collective of artists – with and without disabilities – En Dynamei, and founding member of the theatrical action and performance group Novan theater group.

He teaches kinesiology at the Rodidis School of Drama, contemporary dance and movement improvisation at the Novan Theater & Dance Lab.

Lena Petropoulou – actress, director, scriptwriter

She was born in Drama in 1977. She lives and works in Thessaloniki since 1996. She graduated from the School of Law of AUTH, while she attended a four-year cycle of theater studies at the Experimental Stage of Art of the Amalia Theater of Thessaloniki, as well as seminar cycles with the international group Complicite. He is a regular member of S.E.H. since 2008.

She has collaborated for a number of years as an actor with the children’s troupe of K. Rouggeris in Thessaloniki and since 2008 she has created the professional group of children’s theater and educational programs “Scoini-Cordoni”, in her own texts and direction.

She has participated as an actor in many free theater performances:

“The Caretaker”, “Merry Christmas Mr. Scrooge”, “Free Fall”, “Dead Supper”, “Hunger Stories”, “What People, What Colony”, “Blessed Man Spit”, “I Don’t Measure”, “Matchbox”, ” Bouboulina Untold” etc. She has also taken part in short films, performances and street shows, as an actor and as a director.

Since 2010 she directs, writes and delivers physical theater and improvisation courses for the NOVAN Theater Group, of which she is a founding member and artistic director.

She has written, composed and adapted over 25 plays.

Her recent works in the field of professional direction are: “Dirty Fairy and the Tales”, “In the five roads”, “The one round show”, “Crime K”, “Heaven between”, “Words of the riverbed”, “Tonight in Stratford”, “String-LA”, “The Crazy Little Thing Called Love”, “I Dreamed of Happiness and She Said:” etc.

She collaborated from 2009 to 2015 with the Thessaloniki Film and Documentary Festival as the director of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.