Artist statement
My name is Ioanna Angelopoulou and I am a choreographer based in Athens, Greece.
I understand choreography as an experimental way of approaching a concept/an idea or telling a story. I work with improvisational movement scores in relation to more theatrical discourses. I place my work in the field of experimental dance performance. Specialized interest for me within the field of choreography is working with functional pedestrian (everyday) actions, because they are recognizable, and by choreographing them I can play with our perception and our relation to them.
I also like to work with voice and speech in relation to the body and movement. Conceptually I am attracted to themes that have to do with memory and history and I work a lot with archives; photography archives and other kind of records (like the media reports on femicide in ‘The room is filled with light’). I have created a practice which I call ‘stop-motion’ practice. ‘Stop-motion’ is a movement language inspired by the animated film making technique. Using choreographic tools that relate with time, movement gets fragmented, creating an uncanny way of moving. ‘Stopmotion’ puts the attention in the present moment by expanding time inside of an action sometimes almost to stillness. Beyond being a technical tool, it produces conceptual questions in relation to the fragmentation of memory, history, reality and representation. I research the ‘stop-motion’ in my works since 2018, along with working with archives as a starting point. In the piece Effigies (2018), I used stop-motion in relation to everyday actions and gestures, representing the photographs of the archive of a family living in a listed building in Athens. In Re-pose (2021), the fragmentation of the photographic archive of a Greek photographer is being conveyed through ‘stop-motion’, to the bodies and the voices of the performers creating a kind of distorted speech. In ‘The room is filled with light’ (2021), inspired by the recent femicide reportage in the Greek Media, I used ‘stop-motion’ in contrast to the voice and narration and in combination with freer movement tools.
My initial studies before studying dance professionally were in the department of Rural and Surveying Engineering and later on I continued with Postgraduate Studies in “Protection, Conservation and Restoration of Architectural Monuments” of the Department of Architects in Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. My background in professional dance starts in Thessaloniki, Greece where I completed my studies by the Higher Professional School of Dance at the “IRIS” Municipal Socio-cultural Enterprise at the Municipality of Stavroupolis, Thessaloniki, Greece. As a next step, I graduated from the Master of Arts – Choreography Program in the ‘Palucca University’ in Dresden, Germany.
A significant factor that has influenced my professional development was my participation in the American Dance Festival (ADF). During my studies in Dresden I got the “Esther-Arnhold-Seligmann-Scholarship 2013” in order to participate in ADF (it takes place in the Duke University in Durham, NC). I took part in ADF as part of the International Choreographer’s Residency (ICR) Program. As part of the ICR Program I made a piece called “ανησυχία” and I collaborated with eight dancers (I held an audition) and two musicians of the festival. The ICRs Informal Showcase took place in Page Auditorium in Duke University on the 18th of July 2013 and got very rewarding reviews. Except from that, I also took part in Jesse Zaritt’s Repertory Project as a performer. Significant factors in my experience as a dancer was also taking part in Kettly Noël’s piece ‘Zombification’ in Documenta 2017 and also in the piece ‘Rapidly Becoming’ in Athens & Epidaurus Festival.
Until now, I have completed six years of professional experience in the field of Choreography. I presented my first piece with the title ‘Palm in Palm’ in 2016 in the ‘3rd Young Choreographers Festival’ in Onassis Cultural Center in Athens and I took part in the first international and interdisciplinary Symposium for Dance ‘Engagement: Philosophy and Dance’ in ‘Texas State University’ in Austin, Texas.
In 2018, I presented my next piece with the title ‘Effigies’ in ‘Artiria Athens–performing arts lab’ and in ‘Istanbul Fringe Festival’ in 2019 with the financial support of the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports. Additionally, in
2019, I participated in ‘Zoom In’ an Atelier on ‘Dance and Craft’, organized by Duncan Dance Research Center and EDN (European Dancehouse Network) in Athens.
My next piece with the title ‘Re-pose’ with the financial support of the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports and Flux Laboratory Athens was presented in ‘Locus Athens’ in December 2021. My latest piece ‘The room is filled with light’ was presented in Bageion Hotel in December 2021.
I am currently working on a research project focusing on ‘motif notation’ and the creation of scores in dialogue with visual artists.