The New Delphic Games
The sacred and ancient tradition of The Delphic Games, uniquely celebrating the Delphic Ideal of art, music, myth, dance, poetry, song, philosophy, theater and sport
May 22nd to 28th, 2022
An Enduring Vision
For almost a thousand years, seekers went to Delphi with mythic purpose often in hiatus between momentous decisions to pose the right question, to redirect their life’s journey, to practice the subtle art of interpretation, to intensify their learning from others along the way, to answer for themselves what was once unanswerable, to partake in mystery, to decode the secret of being human, to participate in the arts, sport and the play of creativity, to thrive in community beyond the confines of government and politics, and to revel in festival and celebration.
The radiant spectacle of Delphi in nature’s dramatic array, with its sanctuary chiseled into Mount Parnassus, its sacred dancing grounds primed, and its mandate to “know thyself ’ clearly pronounced - invite us to give voice and body to great urgencies and to undying, potent Myth at the Festival of The Delphic Games. Sanctified in prehistory by worshipers of the Mother Goddess, extending to the followers of Apollo and the Muses, Delphi was deemed the “Navel of the World.” Its celebrated oracle received inquiries from the great and the obscure, serving as a source of wisdom and stability across the ancient Greek world. All slaves, who arrived at Delphi with the ability to read and write, were freed from bondage by sacred writ. For centuries, the Sacred Fire of the Oracle burned uninterrupted - and may it today inflame anew our hearts, minds, bodies and souls.
An Ancient Festival for the Modern Era
Five days of world-class lectures, intensive workshops, leadership initiatives, round-table discussions and performances, held on the mythical, archaeological grounds of Mount Parnassus, led by renowned scholars, artists and sports specialists on the convergence of the manifold arts, inspired by the venerable tradition of The Delphic Games in the sacred landscape of Delphi
Our Home
in Delphi
Perched on the slope of Mount Parnassus overlooking the Bay of Corinth, our stay in Delphi is defined by the ancient concept of Xenia (Greek: ξενία) or the unsurpassed hospitality offered to family, friends and strangers alike
Punctuated by guided site visits to the sacred spaces of Delphi including the Temple of Apollo, Temple of Athena Pronaia, comprising temples and treasuries, the Delphic Stadium, Corycian Cave, the Delphi Archaeological Museum and the Museum of Delphic Festivals among others.
Past Festival and Preview Seminars Include
Opening Ceremony - The Delphic Image
Zoie Lafis (Center for Hellenic Studies), Gregory Nagy (Center for Hellenic Studies), Panos Kaltsis (Ecumenical Delphic Union), and Jeanne Bresciani (Isadora Duncan International Institute). A welcome message from the organizing institutions of the Delphic Preview, featuring the presentation of two dances.
In Tanagra Procession is a collaborative interpretation staged by Jeanne Bresciani for the Delphic Preview 2020 after the original study by Isadora Duncan on form and character as housed within the Tanagra figurines. Dancers within this digital project span diverse artistic backgrounds and locales across the globe from Japan to Germany, France, Italy, Portugal, Hawaii, Canada and more locally within the continental United States forging a universality digitally through these ancient and eternal statements on the telos of personhood.
Ode to Nike: Triumph of the Human Spirit (excerpt), performed by Rosemary Cooper for the ‘Delphic Preview’ online audience, choreographed by Jeanne Bresciani after fragments left from Isadora Duncan via Maria-Theresa Duncan, the "last dancing Isadorable" and co-founder of the Isadora Duncan International Institute, to Chopin's legendary Heroic Polonaise Op. 53 in A Flat Major. In this historic encounter, homage is paid to Athena Pronoia gifted in foreknowledge of trial to triumph for the mitigation of suffering and the enhancement of soul.
Sacred Topographies: The Body & The Land
Experiential workshops led by Jeanne Bresciani in the Poetics of Movement, on the forces of creativity in The Muses Reunited, in the technique and choreography and site-specific reconstruction of Isadora Duncan's Homage to Apollo.
Performing Pindar
Helen Eastman (writer/director), Alex Silverman (composer), and Nancy Felson (professor emerita of Classics), with actors Mairin O’ Hagan, Leon Scott, and Charlie Merriman (Live Canon Ensemble). A sharing of work in progress from a research project at Oxford University’s APGRD, exploring Pindar through performance. With excerpts from Pythian 9, and a discussion about performative approaches to ancient poetry.
The Delphic Image
William Adair, Iris Brosch, Anna Gillespie, Artemis Herber, Judith Pratt, and Marc Robarge. Image show with contemporary visual artists whose work explores the creative powers of the Muses as well as the Apollonian spirit of nature and the environment.
A Jazz Oracle
A live performance by Dimitri Vassilakis and a presentation of an AI algorithm that interacts like an oracle, reshuffling, re-fragmenting given material, especially effective with poetry and prose.
Magnetic Links
Carol Rumens (Bangor University, Winner of the 2018 Michael Marks Awards for Poetry Pamphlets) and Reginald Gibbons (Northwestern University) with Natasha Bershadsky (Harvard University).
Poetry reading and discussion with two contemporary poets whose work finds inspiration in the ancient Greek world.
Epic, Hymns, and Invocations
Bettina Joy de Guzman with Armand D’Angour (Oxford University), Nikos Xanthoulis (Greek National Opera), Angelo Meriani (Università di Salerno; MOISA: The International Society for the Study of Greek and Roman Music and its Cultural Heritage), Andromache Karanika (University of California in Irvine), Maria G. Xanthou (Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies, Princeton University), Gregory Nagy (Harvard University), Theodore Koumartzis (Luthieros Music Instruments & Seikilo Museum of Ancient Music), and Sylvain Perrot (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, University of Strasbourg).
Live solo musical performance by Bettina Joy de Guzman, followed by a discussion about ancient Greek music.
Reading Greek Tragedy Online: Euripides' Ion
Prepare for the Delphic Preview with a reading and discussion of select scenes from Ion. Featured speakers include Lucia Athanassaki (Univeristy of Crete), Joel Christensen (Brandeis University) and Michael Scott (University of Warwick). Actors include Nathalie Armin, Tim Delap, Danai Epithymiadi, Evelyn Miller, and Paul O’Mahony. Reading Greek Tragedy Online is a weekly series presented by the Center for Hellenic Studies, the Kosmos Society, and Out of Chaos Theatre.
Aristophanes’ The Birds in the Corycian Cave performed by the Aegean Theater Company
Inaugural IDII Leadership Initiatives in the Delphic Ideal
Merging Duncan's 'School of Life' to the Delphic Ideal, highlighting beauty, strength, freedom, goodness, and truth, The Greek Fire Leadership Program and The Delphic Ideal Young Laureate Program, in parallel practice of tutelage and mentorship, will focus on the cultivation and acknowledgment of art and ideas for adult and youth leaders in the canon of IDII's unique merging of the arts via humanistic fundamental models of the ancient world, bearing eternal import into everyday life
Revelation of Stones - Fabienne Courmont
Jazz Democracy II: In Musical Dialectic - Dimitri Vassilakis
Architecture of Prophecy - Orestes Mesohoritis
The 'Choral' Birds - Colleen Quinn
The Dance of Yoga - Mary DiSanto-Rose
The Delphic Ideal in Sport -Edouard Lestournelle
Take a 'Musical' Stroll with the Olympian Gods - Elena Michailou