It is entitled "Transverse Orientation", the name given to the ability of some insects, such as moths, to continue flying in a straight line while moving at a fixed angle to rays of light from a faraway source, such as the Moon. Put an artificial source of light nearby and you’ll find these insects flying around in circles and more circles, like the Whirling Dervishes, in an impossible attempt to correct the trajectory they describe. Maybe humanity itself is like one of these night-time insects flying around in circles in an attempt to approach the light that may be this idea of the divinity that attracts us irretrievably and affects our perception. Great civilisations have risen and fallen under the light of mysticism and religion, forming part of a cycle where the new ends up imposing itself on the old, only to see the appearance of a new element that turns anything previously new into the old. This cycle is driven by a balance between masculine and female energy, represented on stage by the figure of a woman who transforms herself into many different women and by a series of male characters who express the different sides of a single being. As a central element, the archetype of the bull, a fundamental element in Mediterranean culture from Minoean Crete, representing here a power where the male element is complemented and balanced by female presences.
This is the new creation, packed with powerful and suggestive images, from Dimitris Papaioannou, a Greek artist originally from the field of the plastic arts, who later immersed himself fully in the world of performing arts, not only as a director but also as a choreographer, performer, set designer, wardrobe designer and lighting designer. He had already fascinated Barcelona audiences with The Great Tamer (Grec 2017 Festival de Barcelona), but while chiaroscuro and shades were Papaioannou’s allies on that occasion, in Transverse Orientation the artist makes light the central feature and reclaims the clarity of his previous works such as Primal Matter (2012). These are the foundations on which he constructs a show which explores the destruction of old models, the creation of new ones and the subsequent rediscovery of original values, and thereby invites us to examine the relationship with our ancestors.
A production of ONASSIS STEGI
First performed at ONASSIS STEGI (2021)
Co-Produced by Grec 2021 Festival de Barcelona, Festival d'Avignon, Biennale de la danse de Lyon 2021, Dance Umbrella / Sadler's Wells Theatre, Fondazione Campania dei Festival - Napoli Teatro Festival Italia, Holland Festival – Amsterdam, Luminato (Toronto) / TO Live, New Vision Arts Festival (Hong Kong), 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 Festival Aperto (Reggio Emilia), Festival de Otoño de la Comunidad de Madrid, HELLERAU – European Centre for the Arts, National Arts Centre (Ottawa), New Baltic Dance Festival, ONE DANCE WEEK Festival, P.P. Culture Enterprises Ltd, TANEC PRAHA International Dance Festival, Teatro della Pergola – Firenze, Torinodanza Festival / Teatro Stabile di Torino - Teatro Nazionale.
Funded by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports.
Dimitris Papaioannou’s work is supported by Megaron – The Athens Concert Hall.
Conceived – Visualized + Directed by: Dimitris Papaioannou With: Damiano Ottavio Bigi, Šuka Horn, Jan Möllmer, Breanna O’Mara, Tina Papanikolaou, Łukasz Przytarski, Christos Strinopoulos, Michalis Theophanous Music: Antonio Vivaldi Set Design: Tina Tzoka & Loukas Bakas Sound Composition and Design: Coti K. Costume Design: Aggelos Mendis Collaborative Lighting Designer: Stephanos Droussiotis Music Supervisor: Stephanos Droussiotis Sculptures + Special Constructions - Props: Nectarios Dionysatos Mechanical Inventions: Dimitris Korres Creative - Executive Producer + Assistant Director: Tina Papanikolaou Assistant Directors + Rehearsal Directors: Pavlina Andriopoulou & Drossos Skotis Assistant to the Set Designers: Tzela Christopoulou Assistant to the Sound Composer: Martha Kapazoglou Assistant to the Costume Designer: Aella Tsilikopoulou Special Constructions - Props Assistant: Eva Tsambasi Photography + Cinematography: Julian Mommert Technical Director: Manolis Vitsaxakis Assistant to the Technical Director: Marios Karaolis Stage Manager – Sound Engineer + Props Constructions: David Blouin Props Master: Tzela Christopoulou Lighting Programmer: Stephanos Droussiotis Costumes Construction: Litsa Moumouri, Efi Karantasiou, Islam Kazi Stage Technicians: Kostas Kakoulidis, Evgenios Anastopoulos, Panos Koutsoumanis Lighting Constructions: Miltos Athanasiou Silicone Baby made by: Joanna Bobrzynska-Gomes Props Team: Natalia Fragkathoula, Marilena Kalaitzantonaki, Timothy Laskaratos, Anastasis Meletis, Antonis Vassilakis Executive Production: 2WORKS in collaboration with POLYPLANITY Productions Executive Production Associate: Vicky Strataki Executive Production Assistant: Kali Kavvatha Props Production Manager: Pavlina Andriopoulou International Relations + Communications Manager: Julian Mommert
