Two productions of the Onassis Stegi, directed by young choreographers with disabilities, are presented at this year’s “Our Festival”
Multidimensional, inclusive, solidary. “Our Festival” makes room for two commissions and productions of the Onassis Foundation to introduce us to an artistic world beyond access. On Thursday, September 1, the projects “Do Robots Have Emotions?” by Manolis Saridakis, and “Love’s underworld” by Stavros Zafeiris are landed at the Evripideion Theater of Rematia in Chalandri, Attica.
Photo: Pinelopi Gerasimou
Withing the framework of the “Europe Beyond Access” program, last year the Onassis Stegi commissioned young choreographers with disabilities to create three projects with short duration, which were presented as works-in-progress in December 2021.
Following the second development stage and the continuation of the rehearsals, the projects “Do Robots Have Emotions?” by Manolis Saridakis, and “Love’s underworld” by Stavros Zafeiris will be presented in this year’s edition of “Our Festival.”
Manolis Saridakis touches upon the remarkably timely topic of robots, weaving critical issues around control, as well as artificial and emotional intelligence alike, into his own struggle for autonomy and freedom of expression. The choreographer himself appears on stage, programing each “robot” to perform – both individually and collectively – a dance of their own. He then transports them into a virtual bar/club setting, where he creates new commands, invoking emotions on-demand. On the dance floor, sipping on their screwdriver cocktails, each robot will tackle the emotion it has been assigned, upending their interrelationships in the process, and leading us into the scene of the climax, in this sci-fi adventure by the programmer and choreographer Manolis Saridakis.
Credits
Concept: Manolis Saridakis
Choreography: Manolis Saridakis, in collaboration with the dancers
Dancers: Olympia Antonena, Irini Kourouvani, Christos Christakopoulos, Manolis Saridakis
Mentoring – Dramaturgy: Medie Megas
Original Music: Christos Christakopoulos
Costumes: Marilena Kalaitzandonaki
Lighting: Kostas Bethanis
Make-up: Alexandra Renzou
Production Management: Christos Papamichael – Liminal
Production Organization: Christina Liata – Onassis Stegi
Presentation Support: Onassis Cultural Export Program
Photo: Pinelopi Gerasimou
Love as redemption and an existential game that nature plays at our expense. How far can we pull its bonds before they start hurting us? What are its boundaries and rules? Who are the rulers and the dominated? How do toxic feelings triggered by unmet needs travel through our body with tiny hints, gestures, and signals, until they reach the most unlikely recipients? What is the name of this underworld we create and into which we repress our small or large frustrations?
The project by Stavros Zafeiris was created within the framework of the Europe Beyond Access program and the commitment of the Onassis Stegi to issues of accessibility of dance for people with disabilities.
Credits
Performance – Concept – Choreography: Stavros Zafeiris
Performance – Co-Creation: Elena Boti
Performance – Co-Creation: Konstantina Barkouli
Dramaturgy Consultant: Rodia Vomvolou
Costumes: Stavros Zafeiris
Mentoring: Medie Megas
Lighting: Kostas Bethanis
Make-up: Alexandra Renzou
Production Management: Christos Papamichael – Liminal
Production Organization: Christina Liata – Onassis Stegi
Presentation: Onassis Stegi
“Our Festival” was created by the collective cultural group “Emeis [WE]” and aims to realize long-lasting cultural partnerships with artists and institutions in Greece and abroad. In collaboration with Liminal, the festival attends to the provision of universal accessibility services in all its actions, as well as the accommodation of events conceived by artists with disabilities in the context of inclusion and equal participation in the cultural sector.
The commissioning and production of the projects was made possible within the framework of the “Europe Beyond Access” European project, which is co-financed by the Creative Europe Program of the European Union.
