Patricia Apergi

Apergi is Director of Cultural Events and teaches dance and theatre at Lycée Léonin in Athens. She currently teaches the choreographic workshop “Choreographic Attempts” at the Dance Cultural Centre and the Movement workshop for people 65+ yrs at the Onassis Cultural Centre. She is a co-writer of the book History of Theatre and Theatrical education (Ministry of Education, Adult Education Centres, 2007) and she is a member of the international centre of emerging artists (IFEA, 2008) in London. She served as a modul-dance artist for the years 2013-2014 and associate artist of Maison de la danse for 2016-2017.

In November 2017 she choreographer the play Prometheus Bound for the Compania EgriBiancoDanza in Turin, Italy.

Eva Georgitsopoulou (assistant to P. Apergi)

Born in Greece. Graduated in 2013 from the National School of Dance. In 2013-2014, she studed at Danceworkshop Gaaton, where she received training in choreograpger Ohad Naharin’s technique GAGA and collaborated in projects of Noa Zuk, Ohad Fishof & Shlomi Bitton. Subsequently, she received a scholarship by the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company, under the guidance of Rami Beer, and underwent a five-month training programme with the company in Israel. She also collaborated with the team and later became collaborator under contract with KCDC2. As a dancer, she has worked together with Hellenic Dance Company for projects of Anton Lachky, Pascal Rioult, and Konstantinos Rigos.
More recently, she collaborated as a performer with INSIDE THE BODY performing arts, cia Sonia Rodriguez, Judith Sánchez Ruíz JSR Company and Edivaldo Ernesto. Georgitsopoulou is a founding member of Frantics Dance Company (DE) since 2016. Since July 2016, she collaborates with Aerites Dance Company / Patricia Apergi. Her personal projects have been presented in Greece and Germany from 2014 onwards. The artist is based in Berlin.

Elias Chatzigeorgiou (assistant to P. Apergi)

Born in Greece in 1983, he is a graduate of the department of Philosophy, Pedagogics and Psychology, with a specialization in psychology, School of Philosophy, University of Ioannina, and is a certified coach by A.C. and the University of Athens.
Chatzigeorgiou began his dancing career as a breakdancer at the age of ten. He has studied many different dance styles. He is interested in fusing disparate dance styles and drawing on them for information on contemporary dance on the level of movement, style, and performance. He has been active as a professional dancer for the past fifteen years. He has rich background in dance and theatre in Greece and abroad, and has been in charge of movement in numerous theatre productions. Since 2009, he ia s member of the Aerites Dance Company. His past collaborations include projects with Patricia Apergi, Ηikaru Fuji, Jérôme Bel, Christos Papadopoulous, Ioanna Portolou, Lia Tsolaki, Katerina Evangelatos, Argyris Pantazaras, Angela Brouskou, Evi Souli, Chrysa Apostolatou, Nana Nikolaou, Evelina Papoulia, Panos Metaxopoulos, Antonis Liveropoulos, Βattery Dance Company, Chapter Two.
He has been teaching and running workshops in Greece and abroad for the past thirteen years. He participates in the educational programme ‘dancing to connect’ of Onassis Cultural Centre. He has taught movement at youth detention centres in Avlonas, and has been teaching pedagogics and psychology at the Anna Petrova – Maro Marmarinou professional dance school.

WORKSHOP

“Plunging” – A personal approach to defeat, employing dance as a tool of resistance

Cycle B: 2 – 16 July

In the first part of the workshop, we will focus on the relationship between text, image, and body, employing a combination of techniques and exercises triggering automatic physical movements and spontaneous reactions. Under circumstances of isolation and using a distinctive set of dynamics, we will investigate the notions of time, space, and the form of movement, focusing on the ways in which bodies interact and also tackling group dynamics. We will explore a more individual style of movement, while also investigating the type of dramaturgy that is brought to the surface whenever the body is allowed to ‘speak’ for itself.

In the second part of the workshop, based on the themes of our performance scheduled to be held at the Little Theatre of Ancient Epidaurus, we will attempt to comprehend the form and content of the lamentation in the Chorus of ancient drama, and to transcribe the kommos (song of lamentation) to more contemporary choral groups. Participants will be asked to form a choral group, capitalizing on their research on movement and their improvisational skills, and drawing on the concepts of loss, battle, defeat, and resistance. Teamwork, the power of the collective – people fighting together, joined even in defeat – can bring forth triumph and glory. And changes.

• The workshop will be run by choreographer and theatre researcher Patricia Apergi, aided by dancers Elias Chatzigeorgiou and Eva Georgitsopoulou

• Participants are required to bring their own pairs of trainers and their own knee pads.