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To inherit the cultural legacy of Coubertin and highlight the value of cultural programs within the Olympic Movement - and the connection between artists and athletes - Beijing hosts 2008 Meet in Beijing Arts Festival to celebrate the achievements of athletes alongside the accomplishments of artists.

Some 260 performances ranging from music, dance and theater, and 160 exhibitions of visual arts from 80 countries will be present at the festival. Every year, the Meet in Beijing Arts Festival has a main guest country. This year, the focus will be on Greece, the birth country of the Olympic Games.

Opening Ceremony

At the Great Hall of the People on June 23, the festival kicked off with a ritual performance by some 40 Greek musicians and dancers along with the Beijing Symphony Orchestra and dancers from the Beijing Dance Academy.

The show was directed by Lambros Liavas, artistic director of the Greek National Opera, and choreographed by Artemis Ignation, who created the flame-lighting ceremony for the Beijing Olympics. It was a theatrical version of how the Olympic flame was lit at the Temple of Hera in Olympia.

“Traditional Greek music and Chinese music have much in common. For example they are all five-tone scales. I believe we can understand each other better and easier through music,” said Liavas, who is also a professor of musicology at the University of Athens, and the founder and director of the Museum of Greek Folk Musical Instruments.

Modern Dance Drama: Medea

Modern dance drama Medea, created by Dimitris Papaioannou, director of the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, will be on-stage at the National Centre for Performing Arts from August 1 to 2.

Medea, a tragedy written by Euripides, is based on the myth of Jason and Medea and first produced in 431 BC. She is one of the most famous revengeful females in history as well as the protective goddess of all women betrayed and burned up by jealousy. Incorporating modern dance technique, the contemporary Medea puts a new twist on this ancient Greek tragedy.