Concept, Choreography/Direction&Text: Diana Sabri
Performers: Evi Kanava, Leo Tasios, Andrianna Papakanellou , Poppy Bekou, Mandy Papadaki, Shaher Sabri Natalie Papadaki, Dimitri Dimopoulos, Diana Sabri
Music: Leo Tasios
Photography: Natalie Papadakis
Visual Art: Poppy Bekou
Costume and make up : Mandy Papadakis
EmbrosTheatre- Athens,Greece
[As part of the Goal Week program run by Embros Theatre, a one week period was offered to create a performance and stimulate audience discussion.]
Who decides whether something is or is not art and what criteria is such a decision based on? In what situations or contexts do one’s creations and their approach to working get affected by the conventional attitudes of ownership and in the criteria of value imposed by our hierarchal standards?. Who owns a dance or an expression, when the dancer is the author of her/his body? when the actor, musician, photographer, painter is the author of their own creations?
Turning the stage into a rehearsal space, artists reveal the hardships behind their experiences of criticisms and responses to their art work. Questioning ownership and the criteria of valuation, as the audience becomes both witness and a participating critic in this process. Throughout performing their rehearsal processes, the performers/artists pose problems and questions about the lack of ethical and political responsibility for the manipulation or misrepresentation of the works which they create.
I was interested to work with non-performers to create this piece. This interest stems from my strong belief in the capacity that all people have to express themselves and be creative. Performativity for me is not exclusively based on one’s education in the performing arts or on one’s professional experience as a performer. For this reason, I decided to work with non-performers during this intensive one week period in the theatre and I was fascinated to see the authenticity of their stage presence and expression.
The performers were practicing artists, in the fields of music, film, theatre, dance, photography, visual art, stage design and make-up and costume design. Integrating this variety of disciplines, I was inspired to base the content of the performance on their experiences and struggles within their fields; whereby performing these concerns in the form of a ‘rehearsal’ process became an unfolding exposure of their vulnerabilities, potentials and unexpressed revolts.
