Biography
Born in 1964 in Athens, Greece, Dimitris Papaioannou trained at the city’s School of Fine Arts, acquiring an understanding of the creative process through imagery and drawing. He founded Edafos Dance Theatre (1986-2022) as a first vehicle for his original stage productions – hybrids of physical theatre, experimental dance and performance art. The company, with its roots in the underground scene, challenged perceptions of the performing arts. Medea (1993), presented at the Biennale de la danse de Lyon in 1998, marked a turning-point in Papaioannou’s career and today is still considered his emblematic work. He gained an international reputation when he created the opening ceremony for the 2004 Athens Olympics. In 2006, he found its audience in Athens and enjoyed a long run there. It was followed by Nowhere (2009), staged for the reopening of the National Theatre of Greece; and Inside (2011) for the Pallas Theatre. In 2012, stripping his work down to bare essentials, he created Primal Matter for the Athens Festival, marking his return after a 10-year absence. In the same search for simplicity, he staged Still Life two years later, his first work to go on tour in Europe, South America, Asia and Australia. In 2015, he created the opening ceremony for the first-ever European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan. In 2017, he created The Great Tamer, his first international commission, for the Avignon Festival; this piece toured worldwide and was a huge, award-winning success in Rome. Dimitris Papaioannou became the first artist to create a full-length work for Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, Since She (2018). Two years later, he staged his new duet Ink at the Torinodanza and Aperto Reggio Emilia festivals; it was due to be performed at the 75th Avignon Festival, but was cancelled due to Covid. Transverse Orientation, staged at the 2021 Biennale de la danse de Lyon, is his second international co-production; it has been staged in 30-plus cities worldwide, and was nominated for a 2022 Olivier Award. Papaioannou’s work is a hybrid exploration of experimental dance: a mixture of physical theatre, the art of movement, and performance, through which he examines creation, identity and the legacy of our Western cultural memory.