An exploration of Dimitris Papaioannou’s creations in an open discussion.
April 3, 2025, 12 PM – 2 PM Atelier Hall
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DIMITRIS PAPAIOANNOU DOCTOR HONORIS CAUSA
Dimitris Papaioannou’s Laudatio
Dear Mr. Dimitris Papaioannou, esteemed members of the Senate, Your Excellency Madam Ambassador, esteemed professors and students,
Writing a Laudatio for Dimitris Papaioannou, one of the most remarkable contemporary artists appreciated worldwide, is both a privilege and a challenge. Personally, I have been following his artistic career for twenty years, traveling the world to watch his creations, represented on the stages of the most important theaters, or programmed within the most renowned theater and dance festivals. Not infrequently, on these occasions, I have met with artists or simple spectators from Romania, all driven by the same curiosity and admiration for his art. I confess that it is impossible for me to label him as just a director or a choreographer, a visual artist or a performer. He expresses himself in his creations totally, with strength, madness, audacity, humor and sensitivity, fully assuming all the hypostases in which his personality asserts itself. And if I were to give voice to the performer in me, I would say that I find aspects in his creations that I fully resonate with and at the same time intrigue me, that it satisfies an artistic hunger in me that I inherit from another century, and that it challenges me in a way that I have never allowed myself to desire, or feel.
He is of Greek origin, more precisely Athenian, and this aspect of his biography proves to be, over time, extremely important, both for specialists and for the general public, to have access to the multiple layers of reading that his work reveals. One of his sources of inspiration, perhaps the most sensitive, is the alignment of his themes with archetypes, an aspect that determines the function of his work, its meaning being shaped by cultural and psychological myths.
His work, which spans forty years, is defined by three major periods of inspiration, which make up his imaginative universe. The first of them, between 1986-2003, is marked by the search for his own artistic language, for authentic means of expression, by the public assumption of an attitude in total opposition to the conventionally accepted norms of art in Greece. This formative stage, which is part of the stylistics of the genres: physical theatre, experimental dance and performance art, is supported within his own company Edafos Dance Theatre.
The second stage begins with the creation of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games opening ceremony, an event that will bring him worldwide recognition. Subsequently, eleven years later, he will be invited again to create the opening ceremony of the first edition of the European Games in Baku (2015), an event that will establish him as one of the most creative artists internationally. So, this is an animated period of theatrical experiments conducted on a larger scale, inspired by the experience of working with large groups of performers in generous theatrical spaces, technically equipped to support his artistic directorial vision. With the show “2” (2006), he will experience the satisfaction of gaining notoriety, even setting a record for both the number of tickets sold and the time period in which the show was scheduled.
The period between 2012-2022 represents the stage in which the artist asserts himself as the most innovative in his creations, with international specialized critics unreservedly calling him a genius in their reviews of his performances!
“Primal Mater” (2012), “Great Tamer” (2017), “Ink” (2020), and “Transverse Orientation” (2022) are works that will revolutionize the performing arts through the visual approach they advocate, creations that introduce us to the creator’s most intimate space, a universe that suspends the boundary between dream and reality, opening itself freely to any interpretations. Unlike dance art, whose creative process always starts from movement, which must be integrated into a specific structure of the choreographic performance, Papaioannou’s creations are “woven” starting from the image, from the individual history that each performer’s body contains, and affirm it in relation to others, to the other scenic elements, to the empty space, ultimately grounding the choreographic dramaturgy of his performances. The human body in his creations is never exposed naked, as a subject of social negotiations, but nude, that is, as a work of art, forcing you not to look at it, but to contemplate it, as God’s most perfect creation! It takes you back to the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve had not yet tasted of the tree of knowledge. It is one of the innovative aspects that Papaioannou’s work brings to both theater and dance. He plays with the audience’s perception, who come to his performances to watch a story. The rhythm of the performance, however, connects you to another dimension of time, one that you encounter only when contemplating an image, a painting, and it targets the spectator’s attitude. He does not passively follow something that is presented to him, he is not just a witness, but participates directly by finding an interpretation for each image created by the artist, thus infinitely multiplying the possible readings of his creation. References to the works of art belonging to great painters in his shows never represent an purpose in themselves, but merely metaphors through which he alludes to the idea/situation he wishes to comment on. In other words, he never directly delivers to the audience what he wants to convey, mastering the art of suspense like a Maestro. Not even the images are provided directly; they gradually accumulate meaning in relation to the dynamics of the entire performance.
Like an alchemist who, over time, refines his means of expression more and more, his latest works masterfully bring together the original vision of a genius artist, who escapes any aesthetic determinations. His work is not physical theatre, it is not tanztheatre, it is not performance art, yet it brings them all together, like a puzzle, whose splendid image reveals itself only at the end of the construction. The encounter with his works completely surprised the specialized critics, but they felt, vibrated, and intuited with that part of their being that belongs to the spirit, the intelligence of the heart, and at the same time to instinct, that they were witnessing a completely new artistic event. Papaioannou’s work transcends the boundaries of any artistic genre created so far, because it, through the originality it brings to the performing arts, inaugurates an entirely new genre! Therefore, it is the task of researchers in the field of critical theatrical and choreographic studies to reevaluate their tools and methods for analyzing spectacular creations, so that they can conceptualize the new aesthetic directions inaugurated by Papaioannou’s work, not to label or categorize it, but to highlight the innovative perspective his work opens up.
Assoc. Prof. Simona Șomăcescu, PhD
The ceremony of the awarding the academic title by the Senat of the UNATC “I.L. Caragiale”
April 4, 2025, 1 pm – 3 pm, Ileana Berlogea Hall, first floor
photo © Julian Mommert
In the last seven years, Dimitris Papaioannou became the first Greek artist of the performing arts to penetrate the international art scene as an auteur, with his creations co-produced and commissioned internationally and enjoying sold-out performances in long tours at the most renowned festivals and theaters on the planet.
Papaioannou is considered “one of the four most important choreographers in the world” (Le Figaro), “a masterful theatrical magician and imagist” (The Times), “the most original choreographer of our time” (La Repubblica), and “a master of contradictions,” who’s creations “cross beauty with disgust, wonder and comedy” (The Guardian), and are an “act of artistic magic created before our eyes” (New York Times).
His most recent creations have traveled the four continents in over 30 countries and over 51 cities. His first international venture with ten co-producers, including the Avignon Festival, The Great Tamer (2017), enjoyed a run of 112 performances seen by 70,000 spectators and Transverse Orientation (2021), surviving the pandemic, was presented for 108 performances to 80,000 spectators. His latest work, INK (2020), after 22 cities, 16 countries, and over 60.000 spectators, will conclude its world tour in May 2024 in Paris at Théâtre de la Ville.
He is the first artist to create a work for the Tanztheater Wuppertal after the death of Pina Bausch.
Papaioannou is one of the rare occasions of artists who feature in their body of work creations from the minimum recourses, Primal Matter (2012), and of the largest possible scale, the Athens 2004 – Opening Ceremony of the Summer Olympic Games.
He is the first Greek artist to receive the European Theater Prize (2017) and has been nominated twice for the Emmy Award (2016) and twice for the Olivier Award (2019 + 2022).
Born in Athens in 1964, Dimitris Papaioannou was a student of the iconic Greek painter Yannis Tsarouchis and has gained early recognition as a painter and comics artist before his focus shifted to the performing arts as director, choreographer, performer, and designer of sets, costumes, makeup, and lighting.