Cultural Programme of the Cyprus Presidency 2026 

Council of the European Union

28 May 2026

“Heart’s Sacred Touch”

A performance by Arianna Economou/ Echo Arts


Admission Status: Free Entry 

Dates: 28.05 - 30.05.2026

Dance

Performance

Nicosia Cyprus
Venue: At Dance House Lefkosia

Heart’s Sacred Touch is a quest, a journey to come to terms with death, with at its heart a longing for peace and the healing transformative nature of creativity. The work reflects on how, in spite the chaos surrounding us today, there is still beauty.

The work, though it is a continuation of Arianna’s quest journeys for the Sacred Sites on the island, this time the quest is in search of the Sacred Sites of the Soul: a search for the knowable and unknowable homeland of the human spirit.

In this work Arianna Economou with composer-singer Helen Chadwick (UK) and singers Kristia Michael and Marios Nicolaides, carries on her search into the sacred, turning her gaze to the Byzantine frescoes of the little churches tucked away up in the Mountains of Troodos. Painted on the inside walls of these womb-like churches, the frescos once acted as a membrane that held and touched the communities of these mountain villages, guiding their journey from birth to death and beyond. They reflect the beauty of nature that surrounds them.

The rich pigment used comes from the depths of the earth in the mines nearby. The paintings touch and open our hearts with the movement of the cloth that wraps around bodies in the archetypal stories of the Great Mother and Daughter in cyclical time, birth – death – rebirth, and of the Divine Mother and her Son in the transformational spiral from Earth to Eternity.

  • Performers/ Singers/ Music Live : Helen Chadwick, Kristia Michael, Marios Nicolaides
  • Dramaturgy : Arianna Economou with the support of Elena Agathocleous and Giorgos Bizios
  • Texts: Arianna Economou with the support of Giorgos Bizios
  • Lighting : Yiorgos Lazoglou
  • Visual Support (video film) : Yiannos Economou
  • Sound Design and Recordings : Stylianos Chrysostomou ?
  • Costume Design : Anastasia Demetriou, Arianna Economou
  • Outside Eye / Chorerography Assistant : Arianna Marcoulidou
  • Photography & Video : Natalie Konyalian ?
  • Stage Design and Poster Design : NAAMA STUDIO (uk)
  • Stage and design manager: Kyriacos Kyriakides
  • Production Management: Napa Gavriel / Echo Arts
  • Academic Support on sources around Byzantine Frescoes : Dr. Anthi Andronicou

A homage to Beauty.

Heart’s Sacred Touch is dedicated to the loving memory of Ruth Keshishian, friend and colleague of Arianna’s work since 1995.

Funded by the Terpsichore Program of Department of Contemporary Culture of the Deputy Ministry of Culture

To book your seats call : 96 862020

Entrance Free