Who We Are
It doesn’t matter if you’re young or you’re very very old
It doesn’t matter if you’re big it doesn’t matter if you’re small
If you’re dancing you’re whole life or you’ve never danced at all
Even if you’re far away
Kinitiras feels like home
It doesn’t matter if you’re out of breath
Or you’re jumping very high
It doesn’t matter if u see
Or u only have one eye
It doesn’t matter if you’re wealthy
Or u only have two clothes
It doesn’t matter if you’re healthy
Or you’ve just been diagnosed
It doesn’t matter if you’re trans or a straight sis gender man
It doesn’t matter if you’re strong
Or u only have one hand
It doesn’t matter if you sing
It doesn’t matter if u swing
It doesn’t matter if you’re moving
Or prefer to stand still
Kinitiras is its people
Kinitiras είμαι εγώ
Kinitiras is a journey
But it always feels like home
Avra Agora
Kinitiras is a colourful artistic mosaic of people who love one another. It was founded in 1996 by Antigone Gyra as a dance theatre group under the name Kinitiras Choreotheama. Since then, the group has continually changed and evolved its multiple identities; with people of all genders, all backgrounds and all ages at its core, it promotes innovative and resilient artistic practices. At the same time, it contributes to the creation of human networks with a long-term impact on both a personal and collective level, using the performing arts as its vehicle.
Vision and Mission, or in a nutshell:
Kinitiras brings together different micro-communities of people by offering:
- professional dance and theatre performances
- street performances and site-specific performances
- intergenerational workshops on arts education and exchange
- intercultural art trips
- avenues for research and ongoing reflection on art and society
- a pathway for the personal development of young people within the wider performing arts sector
Objectives, or to put it more specifically:
- to open up new avenues in the field of creation and research in the performing arts (performances bringing together professionals and amateurs, residencies, the ‘In Progress Feedback Festival’, and the reappropriation of public space are just some of its pioneering initiatives on Greece’s cultural map)
- to continually provide a safe, creative space for expression, regardless of age, experience, gender, race, social class, illness or disability, where all voices are heard (e.g. mixed dance and theatre groups for lifelong learning, Kinitiras Ω, Kinitiras Youth, etc.)
- to continue its creative journey by constantly devising new ways to ensure its sustainability through state, European and private grants and partnerships
- to pursue an outward-looking approach by organising or participating in Erasmus programmes, European programmes and international festivals
- to maintain its nomadic identity by supporting diverse spaces and organisations in Athens and across Greece through dynamic collaborations based on solidarity and camaraderie
- to create scattered micro-communities that serve the common good.
CVs
Antigone Gyra
Antigone Gyra founded the Kinitiras Chorotheama company in 1996; since then, she has choreographed and directed dozens of works- either independently or with funding from the Ministry of Culture and other organizations- which have been presented in Greece and abroad. From 2008 to 2019, she coordinated Greece’s first residency centre for the performing arts, enriching Athens’ cultural landscape through initiatives focused on research, artist exchange, and artistic residencies. Through Kinitiras, she introduces dance and physical theatre to primary and secondary education and runs Erasmus+ youth exchange and adult education programs centered on social awareness issues (such as LGBTQ+ rights, the refugee crisis, hate speech, ecology, and ageism). In recent years, with support from international bodies and the Ministry of Culture, she has conducted two choreographic research projects (*Femininity in Transition* and *Contemporary Dance and the Third Age*) and began documenting her thirty-year teaching practice- titled “Inside Out, Outside In”- with the support of the J.F. Costopoulos Foundation. As a choreographer, she has collaborated with prominent directors and companies at the National Theatre, in the independent theatre scene, at the Athens and Epidaurus Festival, and at the Greek National Opera. She has been teaching movement and choreography at professional theatre and dance schools since 1995. During the 2025–26 season, she collaborated as a workshop coordinator with the Stavros Niarchos Foundation and the Greek National Opera (Cooperative). Since 2022, she has returned to the stage as a performer in the following works: *10, Freedom Needs Watering, My Dear* by the MAN group (Artemis Lampiri); *ehS comes from Another Planet* (presented at the 1st International Jerusalem Solo Dance Festival and Dance Days Chania), co-created with Amalia Bennett; and an open performance-based research project titled *The Archaeology of a Relationship: What Remains, What Endures*, directed by Paris Erotokritou. Her recent directorial works include the solo performance *Sunset in Voula* (2024–25) and the café-style staged reading *The Woman of Zakynthos and Other Eternal Memories* (2025–26), based on the poetic work of Dionysios Solomos.
Vicky Adamou
Concurrently, she is a drama therapist and psychotherapist (ECP), a member of EEPSE and PEEDP, and trained at the “To Erma” Psychotherapy Center (2023). In 2024, she completed the Orlando LGBTQ+ program on gender, identity, and sexual orientation, and in 2026, she completed the B.E.A.R. training program on psychological trauma and the Processwork Hub’s “Basic Group Processes” (VADO). Since 1995, she has been systematically engaged in meditation and body-awareness practices (Yoga, Time Therapy, Processwork, Healing Meditation), while for the past five years, she has been training in the QiGong Shen Dao practice with Alain Ratié.
Ioanna Kampylafka
Ioanna Kampylafka 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, with the support of the program of Unesco, Aschberg Bursaries for Artists, she worked as a dance teacher, choreographer and dancer in Bangkok Thailand as a guest resident artist at the faculty of Dance School of Performing Arts. In the spring of 2008, after being invited by the organization “Temple of Fine Arts”, she taught composition and improvisation in Singapore and Malaysia.
Ioanna is member of Kinitiras since 1998 and member of the artistic collective Medea Electronique since 2008. As a choreographer she has worked with: “Splish-Splash” (Yannis Economides), Point Theatre (Nikos Diamantis), Theatre Art (Kugiumtzis), Regional Theatre of Kalamata (Stavros Tsakiris), Kalouta Theatre (George Frantzeskakis) etc. She has taught movement and improvisation in drama schools “Themelio”, “Theatre Arts”, “D.Fotiadi”, “Theatre of Changes” and "G. Theodosiades".
Aliki Avdelopoulou
Aliki Avdelopoulou is a native of Athens. A scholarship recipient and graduate of the National Theatre, she studied piano and music theory at the National Conservatory and voice with A. Leigh and M. Yementzaki, while also receiving training in theatre and music through various programs and workshops. She is a founding member of the “Viomichaniki” theatre group and the “Lithografeion” theatre in Patras. Since 2006, she has been a member of Kinitiras, teaching within the Erasmus+ program (Crooked House Theatre Company – Kairos Youth Exchange – Ireland ’18) and conducting workshops (Kinitiras Studio). Since 2017, she has taught voice and theatre to the “Kinitiras Ω” group (65+ years old), participating in events such as the stAGE festival (Germany ’18), Ana Sánchez-Colberg’s *Seven to Seventh* (Summer Nostos Festival – SNFCC ’19), and the Akropoditi International Dance Festival (Syros ’21). She was a member of the OTE Athens Mixed Choir for a decade—earning distinctions at Greek and international choral festivals—and is currently a member of the National Conservatory choir (Nea Smyrni branch). Since 1995, she has collaborated professionally with Athenian theatre companies and Regional Municipal Theatres (DI.PE.THE.). She has worked on repertory theatre, musicals, and dance-theatre productions- serving as an actor, director, musical assistant, production manager, and vocal coach- and has participated in Greek and international theatre festivals alongside prominent creators such as S. Evangelatos, A. Antypas, E. Karaindrou, S. Tsakiris, D. Avdeliodis, G. Theofanous, F. Evangelinos, K. Samara, A. Gyra, V. Myrianthopoulos, F. Diplas, V. Adamou, and others. As the frontwoman of the electro duo “MONITOR” and as a solo artist, she has contributed to recordings and performed in concerts and musical events with various ensembles. She directed the one-act opera *La Voix Humaine* and worked as a vocal coach on television talent shows (*Music School* and *Junior Music Stars*).
Dimitris Agoras
Dimitris Agoras is an actor, director and drama teacher. He is member of Kinitiras and works during the last 30 years with professionals and amateurs of all ages in order to create theatre performances. He studied theatre at the Vasilis Diamantopoulos School and trained under Niki Triantafyllidi. He has attended seminars led by Andreas Manolikakis, Dimitris Imellos, Yiagos Andreadis, and others. His collaborations include work with the National Theatre (M. Kakogiannis), Open Theatre (G. Michailidis), Theatre of Neos Kosmos (N. Gouli), Altera Pars (P. Nakos), DI.PE.THE. Crete (G. Antonakis, M. Manousakis), Kinitiras (A. Gyra), Magikes Svoures (D. Adamis), and others. He has also appeared in television series such as *Kokkinos Kyklos*, *Ta Paidia tis Niovis*, and *Gia tin Anna*.
His work “Arkas' Comics” have toured Greece and Cyprus, for 8 years, attracting thousands of audiences. His recent professional work is 'Agenda” where he collaborated with the acclaimed Greek rapper, Anser, and created a season of sold-out performances. For the last 4 years he is working outside Athens, in Sparta, with the local group of amateur actors from different backgrounds and nationalities, creating large-scale performances for diverse audiences. His last work was Medea by Euripides.
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.
Alexis Vidalakis
Actor
Alexis Vidalakis is a graduate of the Veakis Higher School of Dramatic Art, a final-year student in the Department of Mathematics at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (specializing in Education), and a graduate of the Greek Sign Language Interpreting program at the University of Patras. He has attended workshops led by directors Cezaris Grauzinis, Thomas Moschopoulos, Nikita Milivojevic, Giannis Margaritis, Aris Biniaris, and Lydia Koniordou, as well as by choreographer Ersi Pitta and Thomas Verstraeten (of FC Bergman), focusing on site-specific techniques. He has taken classes in dance (classical, contemporary, and jazz), devised theatre, and physical theatre. Additionally, he has completed courses in music theory and classical singing and was a member of the National Conservatory of Athens choir. She has collaborated with Kinitiras and Antigone Gyra on dance-theatre, site-specific, street theatre, research-based theatre, and improvisational theatre productions; with Splish-Splash on performances based on narrative mime and silent film techniques; with Playback Ψ and Alexandra Vasiliou on productions based on documentary and experiential theatre techniques; and with Patari Project and Sofia Paschou on performances based on devised and physical theatre techniques. He has been a member of Kinitiras since 2016.
Iasonas Venetsanopoulos
Visual arts
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
Christos Polymenakos
Christos Polymenakos (GR/US) is a creator, researcher and educator, founder of the body/word method, currently based in Athens, working online worldwide. He is a graduate of the Diomedes Photiades Drama School (1997) and holds an MA in Performance Writing (Merit) from University College Falmouth Incorporating Dartington College of Arts (2010) for which he got a scholarship from the Hellenic Centre for Theatre and Dance. Christos has worked extensively in the performing and live arts field in different positions and roles, like creator, performer, teacher, mentor, dramaturg, editor, artistic director, content and publicity manager. Educational, creative and research projects he has designed or collaborated for have been hosted and supported by State and Private Institutions and Festivals in Greece, Cyprus, Slovenia, Finland, the United Kingdom and France. Articles, papers, essays and interviews Christos has conducted have been published in journals, magazines, newspapers and yearbooks in Greece, France, Germany, France, Portugal, Cyprus and online.
Anna Tsichli Boissonnas
Anna Tsichli Boissonnas was born in Athens and has lived in Athens, Rome, London and Zurich. She studied at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (BA in Theatre Studies), The Central School of Speech and Drama/University of London (MA in Performance Studies), Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences (PhD). In 2017-18 she attended the CAS in Dance and Performative Arts at the University of Bern, Institute of Theatre Studies.
She devised and directed performances, video art, events and happenings. Her works have been presented in Greece, Switzerland and other countries. She has collaborated as a dramaturg with several devised and physical theatre and performance-based groups. She participated in festivals, congresses, committees, European research programs and workshops in Greece, Cyprus, UK, Denmark, Spain and Switzerland. Her papers have been published in Greek and international collective volumes, scientific publications and academic conferences’ proceedings.
She is teaching at the BA and MA Programs of Studies of the Department of Theatre Studies, Faculty of Fine Arts, University of the Peloponnese since 2005. She also taught at the Postgraduate Programme in Theatre Studies, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Open University of Cyprus and at the MA in Performance Studies of The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama/University of London and at drama schools, detoxification centres, arts centers and schools in Greece, Cyprus, Denmark, Switzerland, Spain and UK.
