2025

The dynamics of movement
Masterclass with Athanasia Kanellopoulou

An integral part of any form of art is personal exploration, the diversity of each person’s perception and physical limitations. The body breathes, transforms, communicates, moves, feels, trusts, questions. An ambiguous universe is created, where movement and stillness, sound and silence, individuality and collectivity mix and coexist. The masterclass focuses on the musicality of the body, on the coordination and limitation of movement possibilities, in order to find new qualities and dynamics. Using personal movement and through improvisational instructions and choreographed compositions, we redefine the physicality and natural momentum of movement, discovering the freedom and different qualities that lead us to a clear perception of internal and external space.

Level: Intermediate-Advanced
Ages: 16+

Fee: 15 euro / 12 euro *
* for Akropoditi Dance & Performing Arts Centre’s students, students, unemployed

Duration: 2 hours

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 and worked across Europe for over 18 years and has 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
AthanasiaKanellopoulouAK

Trial and Error – Improvisation as a Practice of Curiosity

How can we step out of habitual movement and enter a state of curious unknowing?
This workshop, led by Ildikó Tóth, opens a space for dancers and movers—both experienced and emerging—to explore improvisation as a field of inquiry, risk, and discovery.
Drawing on the Forsythe Improvisation Technologies and the choreographic research during the residency at Akropoditi, together we will investigate how restriction, delay, or fragmentation can open new pathways of movement and perception.
Participants will work with improvisation scores that challenge expectations and invite playfulness: interruptions in flow, shifts in spatial orientation, altered timing, or responses to minimal stimuli. Tasks may include isolating body parts, following impulse rather than form, or allowing stillness to become active.
Improvisation here becomes a strategy of unlearning. Rather than seeking control, we engage in a process that values uncertainty, attentiveness, and presence—the creative potential of not knowing what comes next.
The workshop emphasizes physical intelligence, perception, and curiosity. It invites professional dancers and experienced movers to deepen their improvisational tools and rediscover movement as a way of thinking through the body.

Ages: 16+

Level: Dancers as well as participants with prior movement experience

Ermira Goro – Ildikó Tóth

Ermira Goro is a choreographer, performer and movement director. From 2007 to 2018, she collaborated with the renowned DV8 Physical Theatre as a performer, teacher, and Research & Development / Choreography Assistant. In 2022, she was nominated for Outstanding Performer at The Bessies – The New York Dance and Performance Awards. Alongside creating and performing, Ermira has been invited by international organizations to develop choreographic works. Over the years, her work has been supported and presented at numerous festivals and venues in Greece and around the world, earning critical acclaim for its imaginative and distinctive approach. She is an Aerowaves Twenty25 Artist.

Ildikó Tóth is a choreographer, performer, and dance educator based in Leipzig, Germany. She studied at Codarts University in Rotterdam and pursued postgraduate studies in New York with a DAAD scholarship. She performed with artists such as Bill Young/Colleen Thomas, Susan Marshall, and Kota Yamazaki before joining The Forsythe Company (2012–2015). Her choreographic work centers on interdisciplinary collaboration and improvisation and has been presented at LOFFT – Das Theater Leipzig, Schaubühne Lindenfels, and other venues. She teaches Forsythe improvisation across Europe and in the US.

Arianna Bonacina and Martí Ramis from Apolvere will offer an open level, two hours masterclass where they will share some exercises about their own personal practice, including both technical and improvisational tools, as well as some set material. The class will be divided in two main parts. After the warmup we will lead improvisations through tasks that will be focused on the use of the space, the shift of attention from different body parts and isolations. The second part of the masterclass will be about the transmission of some set material from their practice, mainly focused on floor work and multi-dynamic exercises.

Apolvere

Apolvere is an emerging dance/performance duo created and co-directed by Arianna Bonacina and Martí Ramis Muñoz. They are coming respectively from Italy and Spain and they met in their education in Salzburg. During their staying in Austria, they started creating together after realising they shared a common vision for scenic art. Their work is centred on creating fragmented realities where detailed dynamics of human actions and interactions are analysed and portrayed through the use of different medias. They mainly treat topics that have solid connection with the socio-political context they come from. This starting point generates a base for transversal reflections as they believe that art forms are deeply interconnected with societies and politics. Their long-term goal as a duo would be to be able to bring their work in different contexts as a way to open up spaces of confronting and discussing about cultural baggage and its implications in ones’ approach to collectivity.

We would like to inform you that from June 16 to 27, the Akropoditi Dance and Performing Arts Centre is organizing 10 masterclasses in different dance genres and with different themes.

Fee: 12 euro/class (10 euro for Akropoditi Dance & Performing Arts Centre’s students)
Duration: 2 hours/class
Fee: 30

(The courses will be held if the required number of participants is completed)

The masterclasses:

Monday 16/06, 16:00-18:00
Dimitris Baltas
C-Shaping the air
This aerial silks and rope masterclass is an opportunity to explore the body in the air with dynamism, technique, and creativity. Through simple exercises and movement flows, we will discover new ways of expression and motion. We’ll begin with a warm-up on the floor and on the equipment, including strengthening and flexibility exercises. Then, we will split into groups based on skill level. Beginners will work on basic positions and transitions, while more advanced participants will focus on more dynamic material, including positions around the c-shape and swinging movements. We will create short phrases with the aim of combining them into a unified choreography for both levels, working simultaneously on endurance, expressiveness, and flow of movement on the aerial apparatus.
The masterclass is open to all levels.

Monday 16/06, 18:00-20:00
Konstantina Thanasouli
Χορο/γράφοντας
If each word is interpreted through a movement, and a sentence creates a pattern, then what choreography will narrate this story? A game of choreography and storytelling for everybody that loves to create stories.
This masterclass based on improvisation and can be attended by teenagers and adults with or without previous experience of contemporary dance.

Tuesday 17/06, 19:00-21:00
Dimitris Baltas and Konstantina Thanasouli
ΚΟΜΠ-ACT
In this workshop, we explore the possibilities of movement through the continuous shifting of compact bodies and the use of negative space between them as a tool for connection and transformation. Starting with partner work, participants will experiment with the idea of entangled bodies. How is a dynamic structure created between two bodies? What is the role of intention, weight, and the space between them? The practice then expands into larger group formations (swarms), where the concept of the knot is extended into different qualities, and the bodies interact through multiple connections in a fluid, organic system. We focus on coexistence, role exchange (leader/follower), and the collective intelligence of a group in motion. It is a game of resistance and surrender to gravity, of movement and displacement in space, which will culminate in the creation of a short choreography.
The masterclass is open to all levels.

Wednesday 18/06, 19:00-21:00
Ariadni Psychogiopoulou 
Sailing through the rhythms of jazz
Jazz Dance Introductory Masterclass
Jazz is a form of modern dance that originated from African-American jazz music and tap dance. It is rooted in rhythmic movement, stage presence, and theatrical expression. In this masterclass, we will let the rhythm guide us, giving our bodies the freedom to listen to the music and travel through the vibrant, multi-dimensional world of jazz.

Thursday 19/06, 18:00-20:00
Konstantina Thanasouli
Allegro Ballet Workout
The masterclass is divided into two parts. The first part consists of warming up with balls for the targeted strengthening of muscle groups used in the second part. In this part is taught the technique of jumps that we encounter in a complete classical dance lesson (petit, medium, grand allegro) through ballet’s exercises. Finally, the lesson concludes with the necessary warm down.
Τhis masterclass can be attended by teenagers and adults of intermediate and advanced levels in ballet.

Friday 20/06, 18:00-20:00
Xeni Kottaki
Circular pathways
In this contemporary dance masterclass, we will explore how to move rotationally through space and how to utilize twists within the body. We will study the technical aspects of turns, the different ways they can be executed, and their dynamic qualities.
Through technical exercises, improvisational approaches, and short choreographic phrases, we will focus on precision and flow in movement, balance and body alignment, as well as managing the center of gravity for stability. Additionally, we will explore how breathing, combined with the use of arms and head, can enhance momentum during turns.
The masterclass can be attended by teenagers and adults of all levels who wish to expand their body’s capabilities and enjoy the dynamics and freedom that turns offer.

Tuesday 24/06, 19:00-21:00
Niki Stergiou 
Contact Improvisation: Dancing with gravity
How do the laws of physics affect our movement?
The interplay with gravity will help us to move in all levels –from the floor to the standing position– and eventually to ‘fly’. We will work in solo, duets, and trios.
* There will be a jam for the participants of the class

Wednesday 25/06, 18:00-20:00
Ariadni Kitsou
Inner Flow and Authenticity
Contemporary Dance and Self-Expression Masterclass
“Inner Flow and Authenticity” is an experiential contemporary dance masterclass focussing on connecting with our inner rhythm and authentic presence. Through physical exercises, improvisation, and creative movement, we will deepen our awareness of energy flow, tune into our internal impulses, and seek ways to express ourselves with honesty and wholeness. The aim of the class is to cultivate a safe and supportive environment where each participant can let go of expectations and move based on what they feel, not what they “should” do. By discovering the inner rhythm and the unique quality of each body, we empower our personal artistic voice and come closer to our truth.
The class is open to teenagers and adults who are interested in dance and experimentation.

Thursday 26/06, 19:00-21:00
Mary Varthalitou
Masterclass: Hip Hop (Μάθημα 1^ο)
In this masterclass, after a well-choreographed warm-up, we will work on basic hip hop steps, exploring how we can develop and adapt them to the music. In addition, elements of freestyle will be introduced and integrated to create a complete choreography.

Friday 27/06, 19:00-21:00
Mary Varthalitou
Masterclass: Hip Hop (Μάθημα 2^ο)
In this masterclass, after a well-choreographed warm-up, we will work on basic hip hop steps, exploring how we can develop and adapt them to the music. In addition, elements of freestyle will be introduced and integrated to create a complete choreography.