On October 6 the contemporary arts fans are going to witness the world premiere of the first full-evening production by the rising stars from Greece Danae Dimitriadi and Dionysios Alamanos, ATMA. The two artists will put the finishing touches to the performance, named after their dance miniature, during an artistic residence in Plovdiv this August.
The performence is co-produced by ONE DANCE WEEK, Big Story Performing Arts Services and Centre Civic de la Barceloneta.
In their work, Danae and Dionysios combine contemporary dance, Greek aesthetics and current topics, which without a doubt will set them among the brightest Greek artists of their generation. Alamanos is already involved with the hit performance “Chotto Desh” by contemporary dance superstar Akram Khan, well known to the audience as the person behind the Olympic games opening in London in 2012 and through his work with world stars such as Juliette Binoche and Kylie Minogue.
In ATMA, man and animal merge in a constantly shape-shifting organism, that tells stories about survival, vulnerability, and the primal urge to dominate. ATMA is a demonstration of the human race’s behavior towards its environment, along with the painful reality of humans exploiting the Earth. The artists recreate the metamorphosis of a beetle, the wisdom of a sacred elephant, ancient totem animals used for shamanism, and a snow leopard (Panthera uncia) coming to life by the Chinese martial art Wing Chun. The leopard first seen chasing its prey for dinner is later shown as the prey of a hunter chasing it for the trophy he can hang on his wall later. Danae Dimitriadi and Dionysios Alamanos are taking us to a dream-like space where the human superiority over animals does not exist.
Only this year, ATMA was awarded three times in the 1st edition of the Rotterdam International Duet Choreography Competition (2018): XL Production Award, Conny Janssen Danst Production Award, and Club Guy&Roni Production Award.
DIONYSIOS ALAMANOS
Born in Athens, Greece and raised in Zante Island, Dionysios Alamanos started his education at the School of Music and Arts of the Ionian Islands at a young age. He began experimenting with various styles of street dance alongside his own research on movement and then studied at the National School of Dance, Greece. As a freelancer, he has collaborated with Hellenic Dance Company both as a dancer and an assistant choreographer for Anton Lachky in the work “No more Fairytales”. He has also worked with Cocoon Dance Company from Germany.
Alamanos has also performed an excerpt of Akram Khan’s “Vertical Road”. He is currently touring with Akram Khan Company and Sue Buckmaster’s production “Chotto Desh”.
DANAE DIMITRIADI
Born in Athens, Greece, and graduated from the State School of Dance, Danae danced as a member of Hellenic Dance Company for the production “Open Frontiers” at the Athens Concert Hall and at the Athens and Epidaurus Festival in choreographies by Akram Khan, Anton Lachky and Martha Graham. In 2014 she also took part in “Panorama” which was presented at the New York City Hall and at Odeon Herodes Atticus in cooperation with Martha Graham Dance Company. Furthermore, Danae has studied repertories such as “Kaash” and “iTMOi” in London. During 2016 and 2017, she joined the company ZfinMalta Ensemble.