Dance School

The Higher Private Professional & Amateur Dance School “NIKI KONTAXAKI” – NIKOLETTA’S BAKALI (recognized by the State), was established in accordance with the rules and regulations appointed by the Hellenic law Low 1158/1981 & Presidential Degree 372/1983.

It offers:

  •  morning-afternoon-evening classes
  • courses for beginners-elementary-intermediate -advanced students
  • pre-professional and  professional courses ( Dancers Degree / Teaching Diploma)

All of the courses are organized according to the Hellenic law, for the establishment and operation of the amateur & professional dance schools in Greece.

The aim of the School is the cultivation of the sense of rhythm and movement, the offering of a quality education on classical and contemporary dance, structured on a carefully trained curriculum that follows the International criteria and the principles of the globally renowned dance systems. The educational and artistic School’s program, aims on training students to dance systematically and methodically, to dance with knowledge, discipline, artistry, creativity and harmony. In conclusion,  to dance with their whole “body and soul”.

The School was founded by NIKI KONTAXAKI – BAKALI, honors graduator of Sonia Morianova’s School of Dance, where she was an excellent assistant and partner from 1964 to 1974. She also worked as a teacher of classical dance in the Italian School of Athens for 10 years. In 1972 she went for further training in Paris, where she attended a choreography course taught by Tikanova. In 1973 she accepted the invitation to participate as the representative of Greece in the international ballet competition in Moscow at the Bolshoi Theatre. She has attended several seminars close to distinguished teachers – choreographers from Operas of England, Russia, France, Germany, Australia etc. In 1987 she founded the professional “NIKI’s KONTAXAKI CLASSICAL & CONTEMPORARY DANCE ENSEMLE “, a non-profit organization, which has given a large number of performances in theaters of Greece and received high distinctions and reviews (government grants, honorary invitations, awards, positive reviews in leading newspapers Greece, etc.), such as the Best Production Award for the ballet “Coppelia” (given by the artistic committee of the Ministry of Culture on 2000).

The active section of “NIKI’s KONTAXAKI CLASSICAL & CONTEMPORARY DANCE ENSEMLE” was completed in 2015, after a brilliant collaboration with renowned choreographers and young dancers, many of whom have been absorbed in dance companies in Greece and abroad.

The School organizes performances with the participation of students from its professional, pre-professional and amateur classes aiming to enhance and promote its student dancing skills through dance performances attended by a large audience.

From 2002 the artistic focus of the School has focused on the development of an EDUCATIONAL DANCE ENSEMBLE formed by students of senior and professional level. In that way the young dancers of the School are given the opportunity to participate in galas, festivals, competitions and other dance performances, to further practice their technique on the classical and contemporary repertoire and to broaden their stage experience by collaborating with choreographers from Greece and abroad.

Since 2005 the management the Higher Professional School and from 2013 the management of the Amateur Scholl has been transferred (according to official decisions) to Nicoletta Bakali, daughter of Niki Kontaxaki – Bakali and graduate of the above mentioned Dance School.

Nikoletta Bakali is a dance teacher, with a considerable dancing experience (classical and contemporary productions with Nikis’ Kontaxaki Dance Enseble, opera and ballet productions of the National Opera and the National Opera /studio – period 1997-2000), with extra training on dance and tutoring and holder of further dance and teaching certificates /diplomas (Intermediate up to Advanced 2, Teacher’s Certificate & Diploma of the Royal Academy of Dance). She has also a postgraduate diploma (MASTER) on pedagogue and creative learning, awarded by the department of Physical Education and Sport Science of the University of Thrace and she is a graduate of the Department of Archaeology and History of Art at the Athens’ Kappodistrian University.

She teaches at amateur and professional levels of the School and she specializes in the fields of classical ballet-repertoire, theory – technical analysis of classical ballet. She has also been engaged in researches on dance and she has collaborated in the writing of scientific articles on the dance, that have been presented in international scientific conferences or published in scientific journals. Lastly she is a member of the Association of Owners of Dance Schools in Greece (www.sisxe.com), the International Dance Council (https://www.cid-portal.org) and the Greek Region of the Royal Academy of Dance (periodikoallegro@yahoo.gr).

Didactic Periods

The academic year begins on September 1st and ends on August 30th. The main program of the School begins on September 15th and ends on June 15th. The basic teaching hour lasts 50′ and it is increased in accordance with the requirements of the dancing level. According to the Inner Regulation of the Scholl, pupils and students must: be diligent and attend their courses regularly. The School informs parents of students who unjustifiably are absent. The students of the School or their parents / guardians accept upon registration, the rules of the School and the consequent obligations of study.

The teaching personnel of the School is composed by experienced and qualified teachers, with proper training in our country’s institutions, with care for the children, with interest for the teenagers and their concerns, with support both to those who wish to serve the art of dance professionally and to those who want to enjoy the dance as a hobby, for enjoyment and wellbeing.

The School pays constant attention to:

  • the proper design , organization and operation of its educational programs ,
  • the selection of its teaching staff which must be checked and approved by the relevant government services (Ministry of Culture , Prefecture, etc.),
  • the continuous training of its staff,
  • supplement its students with the necessary tools for competing with knowledge, professionalism and ethics on  national and international level,
  • creating a healthy educational environment that promotes knowledge, artistry, competitiveness, socialization and the  spirit of good cooperation,
  • offering additional training to its  students  through seminars  that familiarize  them with current styles in dance and choreography,
  • the safety of its teachers and students.

Courses

  1. A) AMATEUR COURSES
  1. Pre-ballet courses,
  2. Preparatory, Basic, Medium and Advanced Courses
  • Adults Courses
  1. barre a terre/ballet fitness
  2. Pre-professional courses (Preparatory courses for the entering examinations to Higher Professional Schools of Dance.

Subjects taught:

Pre Ballet activities, Classical Ballet/repertoire/pas de deux, Modern Dance, Contemporary dance/repertoire, elements of Eurythmics, Improvisation, Character dance, Greek dances, Hip-Hop, etc.

B) PROFESSIONAL DANCE COURSES: The Study at the professional dance courses is divided into 3 years of full time-regular and compulsory attendance which is supervised by the Ministry of Culture and leads to the recognized and certified by the Ministry Culture a) Diploma of Dance Teacher, b) Dancer’s Degree. Subjects taught:• Classical Ballet• Contemporary dancing• Dalcroze Eurhythmics• Theory and analysis of the technique of Classical and Contemporary Dance• Tutoring and:Music, Applied Anatomy and Musculature, Historical and Theatrical dances – CHARACTER, Dance History, Pedagogy-Psychology, Repertoire-variations of classic and contemporary dance, pas de deux, Improvisation – elements of choreography, Greek dances, etc.

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-Classes are accompanied by piano

-The School is staffed with experienced and qualified personnel

-Talented students are selected and trained to participate in national and international dance competitions and other dance auditions.

-Graduates of our school participate in competitions for scholarships (Onassis Foundation, Fullbright Foundation, etc.), in order to further their train themselves in various fields on dance practice, theory or performance.

-The school guides those graduates that are wishing to broaden their dancing knowledge in educational institutions within and outside of Greece.

-The graduates of Higher Professional Courses may be restored professionally as dancers at the National Opera and other operas and dance groups in Greece and abroad. Thus, as dance teachers, could  teach in dance schools, in private kindergardens or elemantary schools, in the dance schools in Greece, in Art’s High Schools, and after gaining the required experience they can establish their own (recognized by the state) dance school.

Seminars

Throughout the academic year, the directory of the School organizes cycles of dance training seminars suitable for the students of the senior, pre-professional and professional levels of our School and for dancers/teachers graduates.

More specifically, we organize seminars on classical ballet, contemporary dance, repertoire, choreography, jazz, teaching courses, etc. Many of these seminars are offered in the form of workshop and are completed with dancing projects.

The teaching aim of the seminars is to help participants:

  • to broaden their knowledge and technical experience on dance by participating in courses taught by distinguished professors both from our School and from internationally renowned schools, academies, dance operas abroad,
  • to practice more intensively and gain a more flexible and quicker response to the demands of any new teaching approach,
  • to train on new techniques and dance styles in order to enrich their dance knowledge.

Those who fully attend the seminars are granted with “simple certificates of participation”.

Among the former teachers that have taught seminars in our school are: Jean Lucien Massot, Taina Morales, Pantelis Papageorgiou, Persa Stamatopoulou, Athanasia Kanellopoulos, Ted Stoffer, Jozsef  Csaba Hajzer, Natasha Aretha, Nitsa Bourneli, Mary Hunter, Maria Dimitrova, Christiana Stefanou, Lambros Lambrou, Stefanos Bizas,  Litsa Kiousi, David Zambrano, Igor Günther, Ivone Mantafounis Ständler, Sergei Vikulof and many more.

Summer Intensive Courses

Every year the School organizes summer intensive preparatory courses for the entering examinations for the Higher Professional Dance Courses, which are carried out by an appointed Committee from the Ministry of Culture and Sport Faculty (in accordance with the Law 1158/1981 and the Presidential Decree 473/1983).

The intensive preparation is given during the summer months and it is divided into two cycles:
1st cycle: during the month of July,

2nd cycle: after the mid-August until the end of the exam.

The seminars are scheduled for high school graduates who are wishing to participate in the entering dance exams in September. Younger students are welcomed to participate too.