Yiannis Dontsakis
Dancer
He studied dance at the "Rallou Manou" Higher Professional School, the Greek National School of Dance in Athens and the Ballet School of the Hamburg State Opera (Truman Finney). He was admitted to the National Ballet of England and participated in performances in theaters in Great Britain and at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He worked with prominent Greek and foreign choreographers, including Charis Mantafounis, Leonidas de Pian, Sofia Spyratou, Giannis Metsis, Daniel Lommel, John Neumeier, Germinal Cassado, etc. In 1993, he founded the Panhellenic Center for the Art of Dance and he is the founder of the Giannis Metsis Miniature Amphitheatre. He is a dance instructor and was the publisher of the monthly periodical "En Choro" for five years. In 2000 he was awarded as Best Dancer by the Ministry of Culture. At the GNO, he served as Assistant Director to Lynn Seymour (2006-07) and is currently Director of the GNO Higher Professional School of Dance and Deputy Director of the GNO Ballet. He teaches the courses of Ballet, Pas de deux and Repertoire. During the years 1990-2012 he also worked with the GNO as Head Dancer in over 45 productions and/or revivals of 24 ballets. He danced leading and supporting roles in numerous works including among others: Les Sylphides, La Bayadère, Romeo & Juliet (Herodeion, 1994-95), Zorba, Swan Lake, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty [La Belle au bois dormant], Mythiambs [Mythiamvoi], The Encursed Serpent [To katarameno fidi], Carmen, A Midsummer Night's Dream [Ein Sommernachtstraum], The Corsair [Le Corsaire]. He also danced in the ballet segments of Adriana Lecouvreur and Aida (Herodeion, 1990-91, 1992-93).