Who We Are
Kinitiras is an internationally recognized artistic network connecting professionals and amateurs through the performing arts.
It was founded in 1995-96 as a dance-theatre group.
Kinitiras’ features that are worth to be mentioned are:
- the emphasis on diversity of performers and other collaborators,
- the participation in European programs and festivals in Greece and abroad,
- the approach in education and its proposals in this area through the performing arts,
- the emphasis on research and intercultural relations through the establishment of Kinitiras Studio, the first Residency Centre for performing arts in Greece and its continuation in a new model of “artistic residence” without a permanent base collaborating with other organizations in Greece and abroad,
- the sustainability and growth in periods with different challenges,
- the participation character that goes further than local and professional boundaries,
- The involvement of young people in social dialogue through the performing arts (Erasmus Youth Exchange/Training Programs),creation of company Kinitiras Youth,
- The creation of the group Kinitiras Ω (Omega) so that mature adults have access to dance and theatre through a creative community.
Kinitiras has created the project EK PLIXI which brought dance into the school, especially in primary education, and from 2019 in secondary education as well through the project “Truth or Dare” with the support of the Greek Ministry of Culture. From 2010 Kinitiras has established the In Progress Feedback Festival as well as performance competitions through which artists have emerged with influential contribution in the cultural map of the country.
Kinitiras’ artistic practices focus on dance theatre, physical theatre, devised theatre and the theatre of the oppressed. The creative processes are influenced by the theory of Rudolf Laban regarding time, space and qualities of movement. Additionally, black humor and autosarcasm are main characteristics in Kinitiras artistic work.
Kinitiras is one of the first dance theatre companies in Greece who performed outdoors and created full length site-specific pieces. The group of artists that consist the company are mainly dancers, actors, mucisians and visual artists. However, Kinitiras is always welcoming the collaboration between professional and amateur performers during the theatre making.
Social and political issues such as womens’ rights, age racism, refugees’ issues and lgbtq rights are always in the main subject umbrella for its creations. Kinitiras has formed its own performative genre during its 23 years of existence. Collective dance theatre making is one of its main targets during the last few years.
Kinitiras is member of Res Artis and of City of Athens – Athens Culture Net.
For more information you may visit www.youtube.com/user/kinitiras and www.ekplixi.com.
CVs
Antigone Gyra
a.gyra@kinitiras.com
Antigone Gyra, creates dance and theatre performances as well as video art and is the mother of three children. She graduated from the London Laban Centre with distinction and she was awarded the Graduates’ Choreography award in 1993. In 1996 she created Kinitiras Dance Spectacle (Chorotheama) company with which she has choreographed many works up until today. She has also facilitated workshops and given lectures on dance and theatre subjects.
In 1995 she received the second award for young choreographers of Rallou Manou competition with her work “The stories, you grew up with, grew up”. Her works have been performed in Greece and abroad. In 1997 her work “Doors and Clouds” represented Greece in the Young artists Biennale in Turin and in other festivals in Greece and Italy. In 2002 her solo work “X” with Ioanna Kampylafka was qualified for the Choreography Competition in Hanover. In 2004 she created her street dance theatre works “1896” and “ Lysistrata’s Cry” after being ordered by Athens 2004 Olympic Games. In 2006 she started creating her trilogy on war. The first two parts of the trilogy “«Lysistrata’s Cry» (2006) and “Klytemnistra Invisible” (2008) were chosen and performed in the 2nd and 3rd Dance Platform (Athens Megaro Mousikis). With her work “Klytemnistra Invisible” she represented Greece in the 8th International Fringe Festival in Thailand. In 2009 her work “The Net” toured in provincial areas supported by the Ministry Of Culture. In February 2010 she presented her solo work “Gone” during the European program City to City Cabaret in Sofia and Athens. From 2010 until 2012 she was the artistic director of the European Network SPIDER ARTISTIC NET representing Greece. During this, she presented the third part of her trilogy “Handle with Care”.
In the theatre she has cooperated as a choreographer and movement director with many theatre companies and directors such as : Theatro Technis (G. Lazanis), THOC( Ch. Siopachas), National Theatre (G. Theodosiadis, Efi Theodorou, S,Fasoulis), Theama Company, Dh.Pe.The Kalamatas (G. Kakleas), Theatre Porta (A. Kalogridis), Theatre Mousouri (T. Vasileiou), Theatre Simio (A.Diamantis), Theatre of Neos Kosmos (D. Arapoglou), Ison Ena Company (I. Remediaki), Opsis Company (A. Tompouli), Theatre Diana (G. Paloumpis – E. Rantou), Theatre of Herodus Atticus (S.Evangelatos)etc.
Since 1993 she has been a movement teacher in drama schools, such as the Athens Drama School of G. Theodosiadi, the Veaki Drama School and Dilos Drama School. She has also taught choreography at the Greek department of Laban Centre (1994-1996) and at the Greek State School of Dance (2000-2002).
In December 2008 she funded, together with Vicky Adamou and Flora Kalomoiri, the first residency centre for performing arts in Greece, Kinitiras Studio.
During the period of 2011-2012 Antigone was the director of the awarded performance of G. Iliopoulos “4 ever” and she cooperated with Di.Pe.The Patras and Lithografeion for the Lost Man (Anthropos Chamenos) project, where she presented the “Miss Human Being” (Miss Anthropos) performance. During the last years she has been creating video art ( “Filippos, the belly dance”, “ Three wishes for a bee”, “ ExtraTango”) as well as corporate videos for companies ( Lito Maternity Hospital, the English School Manetaki etc.). Moreover, she cooperates with production and marketing companies creating advertising events (BMW, Mini Cooper, Buldoza.Gr etc.).
Antigone designed the action EK PLIXI (Sur Prise) that brings dance in primary and secondary education (www.ekplixi.com) since 2012. In 2019 the project “Truth or Dare” was supported by the Ministry of Culture. Since March 2017 since is a member of the artistic company GAV (Gyra,Adamou, Venetsanopoulos) with which they created the performance “Deep Sigh” with the support of the Greek Ministry of Culture, as well as the action “Pop Up Readings” which was ordered by the organization of Athens International Book Capital 2018.
In the last two years, she carried out two choreographic researches (Femininity in transition, Contemporary Dance and Third Age) with the support of foreign bodies and the Ministry of Culture.
Vicky Adamou
v.adamou@kinitiras.com
Vicky Adamou was born and raised in Athens in 1971. She works as a director, actor, theater teacher, as well as a movement and meditation instructor. She teaches people of all ages. In 2008 she co-created the performing arts network, Kinitiras, where she was the artistic director until 2015 undertaking major actions of a cultural, social and humanitarian nature. Today, she continues her activities with her own Life after Death Theater Company.
She regularly collaborates with the "Notios. Art Space, Theater of Changes, the 92 Art drama school, Vamvakou Revival in Sparta, Terrasse Ensemble in Switzerland. She has collaborated in education through theater, in artistic and research projects with the organizations: KePsyPa Lógo psyhis, Hearing Voices Network, Mental health center Roi, Gender Alliance Initiative, Arttogether.
In 2022, with the support of the Ministry of Culture, she completed the theater research, on the dual role of creator/performer where important Greek artists participated.
She started meditation in 1995 with Ioanna Grammaticoulis. She has been alongside teachers and therapists following practices such as: Yoga, Za Zen, Time Therapy, Processwork, Healing Meditation. For the last 5 years she has been teaching the practice of QiGong Shen Dao alongside Alain Ratié.
As director, she has created performances with themes such as: love, infidelity, people's relationships inside and outside social networks, depression, climate change, hearing voices, mortality, death, oblivion and memory, domestic violence and stereotypes.
She has directed 4 videos to promote the educational guide for adult gender education.
Ioanna Kampylafka
j.kamp@kinitiras.com
Ioanna Kampylafka is a performer, dance maker and teacher. She graduated from the London Laban Centre (Bachelor of Arts in Dance Theatre) and Middlesex University (diploma in Interior Design). During the academic year 2003-2004, with a scholarship from the Fulbright Foundation, she attended various dance schools in New York (Movement Research, Trisha Brown, Dance Space, Susan Klein, Barbara Mahler). During Spring and Summer of 2007 she was awarded the program of Unesco, ‘Aschberg Bursaries for Artists’, and worked as a dance teacher, choreographer and dancer in Bangkok Thailand as a resident artist at the faculty of Dance School of Performing Arts. During spring of 2008, after being invited by the organization “Temple of Fine Arts”, she taught movement composition and improvisation in Singapore and Malaysia. Ioanna is key member of Kinitiras Artistic Network for Performing Arts (www.kinitiras.com) since 1998 and member of the artistic collective Medea Electronique(www.medeaeleqtronique.com) since 2008. From 2009 to 2014, she was a member of the production team at Koumaria Residency, an annual 10-day artistic program (Art Residency) mainstreaming new technologies and new media, combined / in dialogue with improvisation. She has worked as a production manager, performer and choreographer at the project Revolting Bodies
(2012-2013), an ongoing workshop/laboratory examining the potential ways to cross / interact activism and performing arts through new media and technologies in public space. During April 2017 she was invited to work as a choreographer and teacher with teens from Ireland and Greece at the project Indigo, a collaboration between Kinitiras Artistic Network for Performing Arts and Crooked House Theatre Company from Ireland. During December 2019 and January 2020 she worked as a curator and resident artist at LoStudio, Switzerland. The collaboration has been possible thanks to the support of the Performing arts International program supported by Prohelvetia. In January 2020 she was invited from “Hrishikesh's centre of contemporary dance” in Pune, India to teach a movement composition and performance workshop. She has been involved in various art projects in public spaces as well as community projects and she has taught movement in various drama schools in Athens.
Flora Kalomoiri
She is a distinguished graduate of the Ministry of Culture, the Athens Drama School of G. Theodosiadis (2006) and a student of Italian Philology. Since 2006 she is a member of the Kinitiras dance spectacle (Chorotheama) company and since 2008 she is a co-founder and manager of Kinitiras Studio-Artistic Residency Centre, the first residency centre for the performance arts in Greece. During the recent last years she attends theatre and dance workshops with well known Greek and foreign artists, like Maya Matilda Carroll, Matej Kejzar, Lily Kiara, Anthi Theofilidou, John Paul Zaccarini , Dimitirs Imellos, Christos Siopahas, Dimitris Agoras, Vahid and others.
She has taken part in the 4th International Festival “Creating theatre” where she attended workshops with Maria Porter, Martina Morasso, Phillip Mackenzie, Evdokimos Tsolakidis, Martina Morasso and others. She has also attended for many years ballet and music classes (percussions, guitar, bass guitar). As a member of Kinitiras since 2006 she has taken part in the works “Klitemnistra Invisible”, “Plektani”, “Lifestyle drug” and “Handle with care” with which she has toured in Greece and abroad.
During the last two years she is cooperating with Ilektra Ellinikioti and she has taken part in the performances “Trauma®beit” (Kinitiras) and “The night is falling in Athens” (Vrissaki).
During the summers of 2011 and 2012 she participated in the performance ‘Roadtrip’, a performance of Violetta Gyra that took place in moving cars, in Athens and provincial areas.
She has also participated in the TV series “Ambitions”, “Oh mirror, my mirror.”, “For Anna”.She has also interpreted the role of Katerina in the William Shakespeare’s play “ The Taming of the Shrew , in Epi Kolono theatre (translated by Errikos Bellie, directed by.I.Ellinikioti), and she has participated in Kinitiras’ dancetheatre action EK PLIXI (www.ekplixi.com).
Angeliki Pavlou
Angeliki Pavlou has studied Communication, Media and Culture at Panteion University in Athens, Greece. She obtained her MA in Cognitive Science and Linguistics in 2010 from the University of Barcelona, Spain. She has worked at the Youth Information Centre in Zaragoza, Spain and has also held other communications positions in Greece before meeting the Kinitiras family. She is currently the administration and communication manager of Kinitiras. She is waiting for her sons to grow up to travel together abroad. When she has free time, she recharges her batteries by watching series on her couch.
Iasonas Venetsanopoulos
Visual arts
jasonven@gmail.com
Iasonas Venetsanopoulos was born in 1984 in Athens. He graduated from the School of Fine and Applied Arts of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 2009. He lived in Indonesia, China and Spain before returning to Athens and connecting with Kinitras: as a performer, with Kinitiras dancetheatre company, as a set designer for the performance "My own fish" and other works and finally as a co-founder of Kinitras new artistic group, GAB. At the same time, he continues his artistic activity with constant individual and group exhibitions.
http://iasonvenz.com
