Transverse Orientation

Born in Athens in 1964, Dimitris Papaioannou 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, make up, and lighting.

He was a student of the iconic Greek painter Yannis Tsarouchis before studying at the Athens School of Fine Arts.

He formed Edafos Dance Theatre in 1986 as an initial vehicle for his original stage productions, hybrids of physical theatre, experimental dance, and performance art.

Originating in the underground scene, the company challenged perceptions and gained an expanding number of dedicated followers. Medea (1993) marked the company’s transition to big theatres and is considered its iconic work. The Edafos company spanned 17 years to 2002, and set its indelible stamp on the arts scene in Greece.

Papaioannou became widely known in 2004, as the creator of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the ATHENS 2004 Olympic Games.

Restarting in 2006, with his production 2, he found himself in the odd position of creating avant-garde works in major theatres in Athens that enjoyed record-breaking long runs, with over 100,000 tickets sold.

In 2009, he began using this platform to create theatrical experiments on a large scale: Nowhere (2009) for the inauguration of the renovated Greek National Theatre and Inside (2011) for the Pallas Theater.

In 2012, stripping down his work to bare essentials, he created Primal Matter for the Athens Festival, with him back on stage after a ten-year absence.

On the same quest for simplicity, he created Still Life (2014), the first work that toured extensively in Europe, South America, Asia, and Australia.

In 2015, he created the Opening Ceremony for the Baku 2015 First European Games.

Papaioannou’s 25 productions range from mass spectacles with thousands of performers, to intimate pieces, and have appeared in a wide variety of venues, from his famous underground squat theater in Athens, to the ancient theatre in Epidaurus, and from Olympic stadiums to Théâtre de la Ville – Paris, and Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza.

In 2017, he created The Great Tamer, his first international co-commissioned work with ten co-producers, including the Festival d’Avignon. The Great Tamer toured for two and half years, through four continents, 23 countries and 38 cities. It was presented a total of 112 times, before over 90,000 spectators. The work was bestowed with the special award Europe Theatre Prize in Rome in 2017, and Papaioannou was nominated in 2019 for the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance.

In 2018, Dimitris has become the first artist to create a new, full-length work for Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch. Since She premiered in May 2018 in Wuppertal (Germany) and was presented in Amsterdam, London, Athens, Paris, and Catanzaro.

In September 2020, he premiered Ink, a duet performed by Šuka Horn and Dimitris Papaioannou at the Torinodanza Festival.

His latest work Transverse Orientation premiered in June 2021 and is scheduled to be presented in more than 30 cities around the world. The production was nominated as Best New Dance Production by the Oliver Award in 2022 in London.

Read more:

Dimitris Papaioannou: Making dance theater with a painter’s eye

Dimitris Papaioannou: “I believe I’m a choreographer of illusions”

Conceived – Visualized + Directed by Dimitris Papaioannou
With Damiano Ottavio Bigi, Šuka Horn, Jan Möllmer, Breanna O’Mara, Tina Papanikolaou, Łukasz Przytarski, Christos Strinopoulos, Michalis Theophanous

Music Antonio Vivaldi
Set Design Tina Tzoka & Loukas Bakas
Sound Composition + Design Coti K.
Costume Design Aggelos Mendis
Collaborative Lighting Designer Stephanos Droussiotis
Music Supervisor Stephanos Droussiotis
Sculptures + Special Constructions - Props Nectarios Dionysatos
Mechanical Inventions Dimitris Korres

Creative - Executive Producer + Assistant Director Tina Papanikolaou
Assistant Directors + Rehearsal Directors Pavlina Andriopoulou & Drossos Skotis
Assistant to the Set Designers Tzela Christopoulou
Assistant to the Sound Composer Martha Kapazoglou
Assistant to the Costume Designer Aella Tsilikopoulou
Special Constructions - Props Assistant Eva Tsambasi
Photography + Cinematography Julian Mommert

Technical Director Manolis Vitsaxakis
Assistant to the Technical Director Marios Karaolis
Stage Manager – Sound Engineer + Props Constructions David Blouin
Props Master Tzela Christopoulou
Lighting Programmer Stephanos Droussiotis
Set adaptation Evangelos Xenodochidis
Costumes Construction Litsa Moumouri, Efi Karantasiou, Islam Kazi
Stage Technicians Kostas Kakoulidis, Evgenios Anastopoulos, Panos Koutsoumanis
Lighting Constructions Miltos Athanasiou
Silicone Baby made by Joanna Bobrzynska-Gomes
Props Team Natalia Fragkathoula, Marilena Kalaitzantonaki, Timothy Laskaratos, Anastasis Meletis, Antonis Vassilakis

Executive Production 2WORKS in collaboration with POLYPLANITY Productions
Executive Production Associate Vicky Strataki
Executive Production Assistant Kali Kavvatha
Props Production Manager Pavlina Andriopoulou
International Relations + Communications Manager Julian Mommert

A production of ONASSIS STEGI
Created to be premiered at ONASSIS STEGI (2021)

Co-Produced by Festival d'Avignon, Biennale de la danse de Lyon 2021, Dance Umbrella / Sadler's Wells Theatre, Fondazione Campania dei Festival - Napoli Teatro Festival Italia, Grec Festival de Barcelona, Holland Festival – Amsterdam, Luminato (Toronto) / TO Live, New Vision Arts Festival (Hong Kong, Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen, Saitama Arts Theatre / ROHM Theatre Kyoto, Stanford Live / Stanford University, Teatro Municipal do Porto, Théâtre de la Ville - Paris / Théatre du Châtelet, UCLA’s Center for the Art of Performance

With the support of Festival Aperto (Reggio Emilia), Festival de Otoño de la Comunidad de Madrid, HELLERAU – European Centre for the Arts, National Arts Centre (Ottawa), New Baltic Dance Festival, ONE DANCE WEEK Festival, P.P. Culture Enterprises Ltd, TANEC PRAHA International Dance Festival, Teatro della Pergola – Firenze, Torinodanza Festival / Teatro Stabile di Torino - Teatro Nazionale

Funded by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports

Dimitris Papaioannou’s work is supported by MEGARON – THE ATHENS CONCERT HALL