events 25

Two – Matters of existence
Athanasia Kanellopoulou

Dance performance

“Two – Matters of Existence” is the second instalment of Athanasia Kanellopoulou’s choreographic trilogy, “A few moments of gaze” which focuses on the female gaze. A gaze that is confessional and introspective, that serves as a “beacon” to document an intensely personal and silent state of being.
A dual female figure, two sacred yet perishable forms, merging into one character, one “persona” – indirect reference to Ingmar Bergman’s film – but in essence, they portray a dual nature with distinct and contrasting concerns. Two powerful performers intertwine and coexist, whispering incomprehensible words in a profound existential relationship of harmony, companionship, authority and imposition.
The piece is a poetic transition from the subconscious to the conscious part of existence, depicting, through a cinematic and at times abstract narrative, the deepest reflection of desires and impulses that are rooted in the memory of the body, the dreams, and all that constitutes the human body.

Credits
Concept & Choreography: Athanasia Kanellopoulou
Original Music Composition: Konstantina Polychronopoulou
Performers: Lia Chamilothori, Maria Fountouli
Scenography & Lighting Design: Tzanos Mazis
Costumes: Eating +he Goober & Vassiana Skopetea
Production Organization: Gina Benou
Assistant Choreographer (for the world premiere on 12/7/2024): Vassiana Skopetea
Photography: Albert Vidal
Photography/Video: Xenia Tsilochristou
Production: Athanasia Kanellopoulou Performing Arts

Duration: 50 min

ticket prices: 12 normal, 10 reduced*
* Students / Holders of Unemployment Card & Multi – child family Card & European Youth Card & Culture Card (Ministry of Culture) / Disabled People

The tour of “Two – Matters of Existence” is supported by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports.

The work had its world premiere at the Kalamata International Dance Festival in July 2024.

Athanasia Kanellopoulou
Athanasia Kanellopoulou is an Athens-based choreographer, dance performing artist and pedagogue, who owns a very rich history of collaborations with acclaimed choreographers and Dance Institutions around the globe. She creates her own methods from teaching into choreographing, filming, writing and collaborating with various artists from different disciplines. She is the founder of the multi-disciplinary platform and project-based Company ‘‘Athanasia Kanellopoulou Performing Arts’’, which has been supported and funded by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture. She has lived in Europe for over 18 years where she collaborated with prestigious Choreographers and Companies worldwide. Among others are: the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, where she toured with the company as a guest dancer, Les Ballets C de la B/ Koen Augustijnen, Jasmin Vardimon Company, Gregor Zoellig/Stadttheater Osnabruc, Rafaelle Giovanola- Cocoondance, Alexandra Waierstall and many others. She has choreographed more than 25 works, presenting them in festivals around the globe, and has created commission works for companies and Dance Institutions in Europe and the Middle East. She is currently living in Athens, and she is teaching Improvisation, Choreography and Repertoire Works at the School of the Greek National Opera and at the National School of Dance (KSOT).
www.athanasiakanellopoulou.com

Maria Fountouli
Maria Fountouli is a graduate of the Greek National School of Dance and the Department of Pedagogy and Primary Education, Kapodistrian University of Athens. As a performer, she has collaborated with Athanasia Kanellopoulou, Teti Nikolopoulou, Tzeni Argyriou, Aria Boubaki, Ermira Goro, Agni Papadeli-Rossetou, Nick Kalivas, Iris Karayan, Sinequanon, Dancers, Hellenic dance company and many others. She has been teaching contemporary dance and improvisation since 2008. She has also been teaching at Aktina Professional Dance School since 2019 and at the State School of Dance in Athens since 2024.

Lia Chamilothori
Lia Chamilothori was born in Athens. After completing her studies in Marketing and Communication at the University of Economics and Business in Athens, she earned an honors degree in Dance from “Rallou Manou” Superior Dance School in 2010. In 2011, she gained a scholarship from the Onassis Foundation for technique improvement in Brussels, Belgium (Danscentrum Jette), where she attended several masterclasses and collaborated with various dance companies. As a dancer, she has collaborated with various companies in Greece and abroad (Cie la ignorancia, Carmen Blanco Principal, Ki omos kineitai, Athanasia Kanellopoulou dance company, Proschima, Ermira Goro, Creo dance company, Kinitiras dance, 58plus3danceco, Krama, Transito etc.). She was a core member of the Greek participation in the European programme Homme @ home (choreographer Polina Kremasta) through the dance centre I. R. Duncan and the choreographer´s assistant in the Φora etc group (Menti Mega). Currently, Lia is teaching movement, dance and acrobatics at the Athens Conservatory of Drama and at the Professional Dance School Horohronos and has been coordinating the Kinitiras Youth Programme for the past four years.

Κonstantina Polychronopoulou
Κonstantina Polychronopoulou’s artistic journey is characterised by flexibility, skill, and a deep understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of the arts, particularly the connection between dance and music. She is a PhD candidate at Anton Private Bruckner University in Austria, on “Visible Music: between dance, choreography and composition. Εxploring meaningful bonds between the composer and the choreographer”. In 2022, she published her innovative book Music and Body from Nassos Publications. Her compositions for choreographies and dance videos by acclaimed choreographers have been presented at international festivals and performed by renowned ensembles such as the woodwind quintet Aeolos, the string quartet L’anima, and the Greek Contemporary Music Ensemble. The trilogy Affection, Three Minimalistic Piano Pieces, was published by Nakas Editions in 2025.

R\ZA
Konstantina Thanasouli

Dance performance

/Borders/
Lines that carve the Earth —
continents from continents,
countries from countries,
the “developed” from the “forgotten,”
humans into white and black,
legal and illegal,
native and foreign.

Lines that bind those who share a tongue,
a faith,a culture.
A thread — red as the heart
of those torn from their homeland.
Like seeds scattered on barren soil,
they struggle alone
to take root again.

Tangled skeins, the journeys of exile —
yet the beginning of the thread
always pulls you back
to the soil that first held you.

It takes only
a melody,
a rhythm,
a powerful voice,
to remember your roots.

Concept & Choreography: Konstantina Thanasouli
Dancers: Areti Alexandri, Anna Giannikopoulou, Dimitra Giannikopoulou, Katerina Konitopoulou, Ilektra Korfiati, Myrsini Mari, Dimitra Perri, Danai Roussou, Zoe Taze

Duration: 20 min

Participation of students from Akropoditi Dance and Performing Arts Centre in the RYAN International Festival in India.

The Akropoditi Dance and Performing Arts Centre will travel this year to Mumbai, India, with nine of its students to take part in the 21^st Ryan International Children’s Festival, which will be held from December 9 to 19, 2025. The group will represent Greece, showcasing the culture of our island and, by extension, our country to a global audience — a first and historic participation.

The open presentation is organized in support of this mission, aiming to help cover part of the travel expenses. To contribute to the fundraising effort, the students, together with their accompanying teachers, will hold an exhibition, while cards inspired by the rehearsal process will be available for purchase during the event.

We warmly thank for their valuable support and generous sponsorship: Εκτυπωτική Ε.Ε., Τυποκυκλαδική Α.Ε.

Konstantina Thanasouli
She was born in Naoussa in 1995. She is a graduate of the Department of Chemical Engineering, AUTh. She also graduated from the Higher Professional Dance School of the Municipality of Thessaloniki in 2022. She has worked as a ballet and contemporary dance teacher in Naoussa and Thessaloniki. From 2020 onwards, she explores the combination of contemporary and traditional dance through teaching. She was a member of the company “L.Reducta dance project” from 2014 to 2019, taking part in various performances, at the Dimitria festival and at the festival of Greek choreographers in Thessaloniki. She directed and choreographed the TreeβιαL and No.39-41 video dance projects which have been screened at international festivals. She is the youngest member of the Akropoditi team joining it in 2022.