RUNWAY | Christiana Kosiari

A woman indulges maniacally in jogging in place—in this health practice as much as self-torture. Someone is monitoring her like a metronome of her steps: the composer Jan Van Angelopoulos, live, along with his keyboards and electroacoustic soundscapes.

Inspired by catwalks (European, New York, Dramatic Catwalks, etc.), “RUNWAY” explores a woman’s array of behaviors and transformations based on the era’s dominant beauty standards. Catwalks morph into a form of silly walks as the performer walks, runs, stumbles, puts on make-up, fixes her hair, stumbles on her heels, and recovers her balance in a race against the corrosion of time and the terror it induces. The treadmill is used as a beauty and wellness tool, as well as an existential prison, a torture instrument, and a conveyor belt for standardized products with expiration dates. It is eventually elevated to the symbol of a grotesque and absurd catwalk.

A dancer and choreographer, Christiana Kosiari presented her first work, "Chained," at the Arc for Dance Festival 15 and won the second jury award at the Masdanza Dance Festival 28. In the summer of 2023, in Elefsina, she made the best impression by presenting the work "Bouboulines," in the framework of the European Capital of Culture "2023 Elefsis" and the U(R)TOPIAS Choreography Academy, with her mother and other elderly non-professional dancers in the leading roles holding a heroic ritual against the wear of time in a seaside tavern. Now, with RUNWAY, it's her turn to harness time on a treadmill that never stops.

Special thanks: Olivier Dubois, Christian Rizzo, Christos Polymenakos—Body/Word Performance Writing Mentoring, Vangelis Mountrichas, Christos Christopoulos, Ioanna Papakosta, Penelope Koufopoulou, Maria-Angela Katsikali Kosiari, Anastasia Tsopelaki, Pavlos Christophoros Sinigalias

Supported by the Onassis Stegi “Outward Turn” Cultural Export Program.