«He never denies his culture or roots, or the fact that he is a accomplished artist, a tragic and a Greek in his heart.» (Il Sole 24 ORE) Dimitris Papaioannou is internationally known for his distinctive style of body-toned picture theater. In 2004 he became the artistic director of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Athens for the first time worldwide. CULTURESCAPES Greece is opening its latest work <The Great Tamer> - a magical picture of the cycle of life from birth to death. In this, he is wonderfully concerned with our identity, our heritage, and the essence of being human. He creates «visual originals» says Papaioannou himself, and constantly researches the human body in all its facets: this is iconically idealized and at the same time disassembled, excavated and hidden, but also transformed, copied and cloned. Without text and only with recurring bars from Richard Strauss's waltz «An der schönen blauen Donau», he creates with his ten performers a choreographic picture theater, in which also past aesthetic ideals resurrect. «We all dreamed, Papaioannou did it.» (Le Monde)
Conceived – Visualized + Directed by Dimitris Papaioannou
With Pavlina Andriopoulou, Costas Chrysafidis, Ektor Liatsos, Ioannis Michos, Evangelia Randou, Kalliopi Simou, Drossos Skotis, Christos Strinopoulos, Yorgos Tsiantoulas, Alex Vangelis
Executive Producer + Assistant Director Tina Papanikolaou
Tour Manager + International Relations Julian Mommert
Produced by Onassis Cultural Centre - Athens (Greece) Co-produced by CULTURESCAPES Greece 2017 (Switzerland), Dansens Hus Sweden (Sweden), EdM Productions, Festival d'Avignon (France), Fondazione Campania dei Festival – Napoli Teatro Festival Italia (Italy), Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg (Luxembourg), National Performing Arts Center-National Theater & Concert Hall | NPAC-NTCH (Taiwan), Seoul Performing Arts Festival | SPAF (Korea), Théâtre de la Ville – Paris / La Villette – Paris (France)
Executive Producer 2WORKS
With the support of ALPHA BANK
Air Carrier Sponsor AEGEAN Airlines