'These gentle hearts are like shot birds falling' Fotis Nikolaou / 'The more you dance the more you get' Evi Dimitriou

‘These gentle hearts are like shot birds falling’ Fotis Nikolaou

It is the hour between night and dawn.
It is the hour when most die and are born.
It is the hour the wolf lurks outside your door.
It is the hour in which ghosts and demons
become all-powerful creatures in your imagination.
It is the hour, for those who sleep,
that dreams turn into nightmares.
It is the hour, for those who don’t, that they are haunted
by their deepest fears, and the only thing
they hear, is the sound of their heart.
It is the hour of great confessions…

‘These gentle hearts are like shot birds falling’ is a piece on male tenderness and the need for love and coexistence. Based on momentary meetings that come, are lost and return once more, the fragile hearts of the piece come face to face with their passions, desires and fears. Their main opponent is always their self and their loneliness.
A dark, pagan and poetic journey all at once, a quest for identity and the need to belong somewhere. In a timeless place, in a space with no memory, the characters of the play soundlessly struggle in search of companionship, acceptance… their place in the pack.
Fotis Nikolaou was born in Famagusta. He is a graduate of the National School of Dance, he continued his studies in New York with a scholarship from the Patsika Foundation. He is the founder of the X-it Dancetheatre Group based in Athens, he has presented his work at festivals in Greece and abroad (Lyon Dance Biennale, Athens Festival, Kalamata International Dance Festival, Kypria International Festival, European Dance Festival in Cyprus, Athens System ITI, Hildesheim Contemporary Dance Festival, ARC for dance, Cyprus Contemporary Dance Platform, Dance Days Chania, Solus, and others). As an independent choreographer he has collaborated with organisations and groups such as: the National Theatre, the National opera, the National Opera Ballet, Malmö Opera (Sweden), Black Box Dance Company (Denmark), the Theatre Organisation of Cyprus (THOC), and others. As a dancer he has collaborated with groups and choreographers such as: Edafous Group, Oktana Dance-Theatre, Sine Qua Non, Haris Mandafounis, Zouzou Nikoloudi, and many others. He was the official choreographer of the opening and closing ceremony of the Athens 2004 Olympics, while he has received the THOC Choreography Award for the piece ‘Electra-Orestes, The Trial’.

Performance contributors
Choreography – Costumes: Fotis Nikolaou
Dramaturgy: Thanassis Georgiou
Music: Dimitris Spirou
Performers: Fotis Nikolaou, Hamilton Monteiro, Dimitris Spirou
5 more performers will participate in the performance

‘The more you dance the more you get’Evi Dimitriou

The more I move the more I dream
The more I dream the more I move
The more I move the more I dance
The more I dance the more I let go

A faceless person on stage. A person who is forced to expose, sell and resell a body again and again. The performance unfolds around the idea of the forced use of the body as a commodity for sale, with reference to the sexual exploitation of women. Performed with a highly physical movement language the work succeeds to combines intimacy and humour, movement and sound, risk and surprise.
Evi Dimitriou’s choreographic work is characterised by constant experimentation on the concepts “dance – performance – performer – audience member”, which aims at creating small openings for communication, places and times where she can meet the audience. In fact, people and their role in society are a starring theme in her work.
The En drasi team was founded in 2004 by Emily Papaloizou and Evi Dimitriou, who is also a founding member of Dance House Lemesos. Evi Dimitrious studied dance at Laban Centre in London and, on a scholarship, at Limon Institute in New York. She is a Danceweb Program 2004 Scholar. As a dancer she has worked with choreographers Alain Buffard, Felix Ruckert, Rosemary Lee, Athina Vahla and many Cypriot choreographers. She has presented her work at international festivals in Latvia, Romania, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland, Turkey, Italy and Kenya.

Performance contributors
Choreographer/Performer: Evi Dimitriou
Consultant: Tabea Martin
Vocal coach: Cathryn Robson
Music: Come and Play, Damian Lazarus
Hair and Make Up: Kristia Michailidou
Lighting Design: Αleksandar Jotovic
Photography: Michalis Papamichael, Pavlos Vrionidis
Produced by:   En Drasi 2016