ΜEDEA was commissioned by Spyros Mercouris, the brother of Melina. On  the night Melina attended a performance of THE SONGS (1991), she came  backstage, put her feet up on the table, lit a cigarette, and said:  “This is the sort of wine I’d like to export.” Two years later, and as  we were putting on our make-up to take the publicity shots for Medea,  her death was announced on the radio.

The cast of MEDEA was  originally different. I was to have played Medea, with Stavros Zalmas as  Jason, and Angeliki Stellatou in the role of Glauce. Stavros left the  company after a couple of rehearsals, and the remaining performers  shifted between the parts; thus audiences were given the opportunity to  see Angeliki Stellatou at her best on stage. The two standout elements  of the production were Nikos Alexiou’s set, and my design for Medea’s  dress.

This work was destined to become the biggest hit of  Edafos. It signalled our exit from the alternative, sixty-seat squat  theatre to the 700-seat National Theatre Stage for our first five  sell-out shows (tickets for the final two performances were being sold  on the black market).

Emotionally accessible to all, but at the  same time quite abstract, the success of this piece lies mainly in the  storytelling. Simple, majestic, and decorative up until the moment of  the betrayal, the play suddenly becomes dangerous, and when the tragic  drama takes over, it seems as if everything will be destroyed before our  very eyes. It is as if the myth meets the tragedy half way through the  work. The characters of the myth are presented as archetypes, while the  character devised for the purposes of this production, the Dog, embodies  the dark instinct of Medea, and acts as a kind of sinister master of  ceremonies, protecting the sorceress but at the same time ensuring that  everything is steered towards the tragic conclusion.

Source: dimitrispapaioannou.com

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 in 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 made an international tour until 2019. In 2018, Dimitris became the first artist to create a new, full-length work for Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch. SINCE SHE premiered on 12 May 2018 in Germany. In 2020, during the lockdown of the Covid 19 pandemic, he created INK.

Source: Dimitris Papaioannou's website

More information: www.dimitrispapaioannou.com

Author, filmmaker and video artist Charles Picq (1952-2012) entered working life in the 70s through theatre and photography. A- fter resuming his studies (Maîtrise de Linguistique - Lyon ii, Maîtrise des sciences et Techniques de la Communication - grenoble iii), he then focused on video, first in the field of fine arts at the espace Lyonnais d'art Contemporain (ELAC) and with the group « Frigo », and then in dance.
   On creation of the Maison de la Danse in Lyon in 1980, he was asked to undertake a video documentation project that he has continued ever since. During the ‘80s, a decade marked in France by the explosion of contemporary dance and the development of video, he met numerous artists such as andy Degroat, Dominique Bagouet, Carolyn Carlson, régine Chopinot, susanne Linke, Joëlle Bouvier and regis Obadia, Michel Kelemenis. He worked in the creative field with installations and on-stage video, as well as in television with recorded shows, entertainment and documentaries.

His work with Dominique Bagouet (80-90) was a unique encounter. He documents his creativity, assisting with Le Crawl de Lucien and co-directing with his films Tant Mieux, Tant Mieux and 10 anges. in the 90s he became director of video development for the Maison de la Danse and worked, with the support of guy Darmet and his team, in the growing space of theatre video through several initiatives:
       - He founded a video library of dance films with free public access. This was a first for France. Continuing the video documentation of theatre performances, he organised their management and storage.
       - He promoted the creation of a video-bar and projection room, both dedicated to welcoming school pupils.
       - He started «présentations de saisons» in pictures.
       - He oversaw the DVD publication of Le tour du monde en 80 danses, a pocket video library produced by the Maison de la Danse for the educational sector.

       - He launched the series “scènes d'écran” for television and online. He undertook the video library's digital conversion and created Numeridanse.

His main documentaries are: enchaînement, Planète Bagouet, Montpellier le saut de l'ange, Carolyn Carlson, a woman of many faces, grand ecart, Mama africa, C'est pas facile, Lyon, le pas de deux d'une ville, Le Défilé, Un rêve de cirque.

He has also produced theatre films: Song, Vu d'ici (Carolyn Carlson), Tant Mieux, Tant Mieux, 10 anges, Necesito and So schnell, (Dominique Bagouet), Im bade wannen, Flut and Wandelung (Susanne Linke), Le Cabaret Latin (Karine Saporta), La danse du temps (Régine Chopinot), Nuit Blanche (Abou Lagraa), Le Témoin (Claude Brumachon), Corps est graphique (Käfig), Seule et WMD (Françoise et Dominique Dupuy), La Veillée des abysses (James Thiérrée), Agwa (Mourad Merzouki), Fuenteovejuna (Antonio Gades), Blue Lady revistied (Carolyn Carlson).

Source: Maison de la Danse de Lyon