KALAMATA, Greece -- A troupe of artists from China's TAO Dance Theater opened Greece's 29th Kalamata International Dance Festival (KDF) on Friday evening, enthralling the audience with their performance.

An enthusiastic crowd warmly welcomed with a big round of applause the 11 dancers who were the first Chinese artists ever participating in Greece's leading contemporary dance event.

In a fully packed hall of Kalamata city in southern Greece, the troupe performed the dance show "11" for the first time outside China.

The show is part of the TAO Dance Theater's "Numerical Series" which has been presented in more than 100 arts festivals around the world in recent years.

"We are very happy for this collaboration and it is an honor for us," the festival's artistic director Linda Kapetanea told Xinhua, praising the group's excellent performance.

"We are very happy to be the ones who build these cultural bridges," Kapetanea said on Sino-Greek cooperation in culture.

"Dance is a very good channel. People can understand, communicate, and integrate in a variety of ways. I am looking forward to their (dancing) works coming to China," Tao Ye, founder and choreographer of TAO Dance Theater said.

The annual festival will run until July 23 in Kalamata and three other cities, and it will feature 17 productions from nine Greek groups and seven dance troupes from across the world.