Following graduation from the Greek State School of Dance in 1997, Zoi Dimitriou (b. Athens, 1975) received a Onassis Foundation Scholarship to study at Trisha Brown’s Company in
New York (1999), going onto complete an MA in European Dance Theatre Practice at Trinity-Laban in London (Distinction, 2005). She has danced with many contemporary companies including: with Choreftes and Lathos Kinisi (Greece); with Kirstie Simson’s improvisation group Scratch 6 and Yvonne Rainer (New York); and with Felix Ruckert, Bedlam Dance (Yael Flexer), Blue White Dance Company (Melanie Clarke) and Siobhan Davies (London).As an independent choreographer, Zoi has been commissioned to make works for The Greek National Ballet Company under the directorship of Lyn Seymour (“Limen” premiered in
Athens, April 2007), for Shift Company (“You're too short for that gesture” premiered Dec 2007, Robin Howard Theatre, London) and for the 3rd year undergraduate students at Laban (“If I told him” premiered October 2009, Bonnie Bird Theatre). Her first solo work “Can You See Me?” was performed at the Royal Opera House (Something Big), Bonnie Bird Theatre, Robin Howard Dance Theatre (Springloaded), The Michaelis Theatre and the Kalamata International Dance Festival. She participated in the 2007 Choreodrome season, where she completed her solo work “Dromi” and presented it at the Robin Howard Dance Theatre as part of Touch Wood. She was the 2008 recipient of the Robin Howard Foundation Award and her work “Goddesses in Exile” was presented at Springloaded, the Bonnie Bird Summer Season, the Athens Epidaurus Festival in 2008 and the Milano Incontra la Grecia Festival in 2009. In 2008 Zoi participated in the Choreoroam project, a joint research-based project between The Place (UK), Dansateliers (Netherlands) and Operaestate Festival Veneto (Italy) whereby choreographers from each country shared practice and ideas. In March 2009 she was announced one of the chosen choreographers for an International project, a dialogue event for 12 artists, initiated as a joint project between Dance4, the dance festival Springdance in Utrecht, Holland and the National Centre for Dance (CNDB) in Bucharest. As part of this project she presented her solo “Can You See Me?” during the Europe in Motion festival on the 24th of March 2009 at CNDB.In the summer of 2009 Zoi undertook a research and development period for a new duet called “In the process of…” supported by the Arts Council of England, and the Hellenic National Centre of Theatre & Dance (Ministry of
Culture). The 20minute work in progress awarded her the Bonnie Bird Choreography Fund Award 2009 and was presented in Touch Wood at The Place, Laban, the Isadora & Raymond Duncan Research Center in Athens and the Michaelis Theatre at Roehampton. The same work was also voted number 7 in the first 20 best works of Aerowaves and is booked for performances at the Kalamata International Dance Festival in July 2010. In the winter of 2010 Zoi was commissioned by The Place and Laban to develop the “In the process of…” to a fullevening of work, which was successfully premiered at The Place on the 5th and 6th of May 2010 and with confirmed subsequent dates at Laban, Athens and as part of the Ekon festival in London in the autumn of 2010.
Zoi has been recently announced one of the two winners of the CfC 2010 Award (Choreography for Children) a project between Sadler’s Wells, Company of Angels and London Contemporary Dance School. For this project she will create work on LCDS students targeted for young audiences with performances in the winter of 2011 at the Robin Howard Dance Theatre and the Lilian Baylis Studio.
Zoi also undertakes teaching for various organizations including Laban, The Place, Independent Dance, Central School of Speech and Drama, Westminster University, the Greek State School of Dance and the Dance Cultural Centre in Athens. She has created a number of works for students including for: London Contemporary Dance School (“Panthalassa”), Laban (“If I told him”, “And the winner is…”, “Flipiti Flopiti”, “Letter to a Young Lady in Paris”, “Blue Skies with Silver Curves”, “From the tip of the thought”, “Strange Attractors”) and the Touring Company of Lewisham College (“Poetry of distance, Emergent Ties, Spiro Helix”).
