Physical and visual theatre, performance and large doses of poetry all form part of this Greek artist’s productions. This time, eight performers from different cultures explore the value of the principles that shape modern society.
Last spring, nearly five hundred dancers and performers from all over the world took part in Dimitris Papaioannou’s auditions for his latest show, a new international co-production which has taken shape during the rehearsals themselves and, at the time of writing this review, still has no definitive title. This is because Papaioannou places his faith in the creative process, preferring not to impose the final result. “What’s the use of plans and pretensions? Art is praxis. If I talk about it, all I will do is mislead or betray the spirit of the piece”, says the author, who in 2017 fascinated Barcelona audiences (and 90,000 other spectators in more than twenty countries around the world) with the poetic, suggestive images of The Great Tamer, one of his latest artistic creations.
A blank background, like a sheet of paper on which the artist draws, is the backdrop for this new show, which in Papaioannou’s own words, emerges “from the highs and lows of my previous creations”. From this starting point, he constructs a show that explores the destruction of old models and the subsequent rediscovery of the values they contained, inviting us to examine our relationship with our predecessors and highlighting principles we may have rebelled against in our youth. The cast is made up of eight performers from a variety of cultures, including Christos Strinopolous, who played the lead in The Great Tamer; Michalis Theophanous, co-star with Papaioannou in Primal Matter; and Breanna O’ Mara, a dancer from the Tanztheater Wuppertal who co-starred in the 2018 duet Since She.
This show is Dimitris Papaioannou’s latest international co-production. As a creator, he started out in the field of plastic arts, as a painter, but later immersed himself completely in the world of performing arts, not only as a director, but also as choreographer, performer, scenery creator, wardrobe designer and lighting designer. His creative work with the Edafos Dance Theatre (with whom he worked until 2012) and his artistic direction of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games made him a leading figure on the Greek and international scene.
An Onassis Stegi production.
Co-produced by Barcelona's 2020 Grec Festival, the Avignon Festival, the 2020 Lyon Dance Biennial, Dance Umbrella - Sadler’s Wells Theatre, Fondazione Campania dei Festival - Napoli Teatro Festival Italia, Holland Festival, Luminato (Toronto) / TO Live, Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen, Saitama Arts Theatre / ROHM Theatre Kyoto, Stanford Live / Stanford University, Teatro Municipal do Porto, Théâtre de la Ville - Paris / Théatre du Châtelet, UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance.
With the support of the Festival Aperto (Reggio Emilia), Hellerau – European Centre for the Arts, the Lithuanian Dance Information Centre, the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, the ONE DANCE WEEK Festival, P.P. Culture Enterprises Ltd, Teatro della Pergola in Florence, Torinodanza Festival - Teatro Stabile di Torino - Teatro Nazionale.
The show is subsidised by the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sport.
Dimitris Papaioannou is supported by Megaron – The Athens Concert Hall.
Conceived, visualised and directed by: Dimitris Papaioannou Starring: Šuka Horn, Jan Möllmer, Breanna O’Mara, Damiano Ottavio Bigi, Łukasz Przytarski, Christos Strinopoulos, Michalis Theophanous, Dimitris Papaioannou Photography: Julian Mommert
