The fourth workshop of the Academy of Choreography took place with Dimitris Kamarotos as a lecturer, on the weekend of March 5 and 6 and the central theme was the models of artistic collaboration. The workshop was dedicated to the study of a mechanism aimed at implementing a unit of sound and movement actions centered on Aeschylus and Eleusis.
The U(R)TOPIAS Academy of Choreography is organized by the 2023 ΕΛΕVΣΙΣ European Capital of Culture in collaboration with the Aerites team. The speaker at the 1st Workshop held on 4-5 December 2021 on “Body and Movement Research” was the choreographer and artistic director of the Academy, Patricia Apergi, while at the 2nd Workshop “Composition and Drama“, held on 8-9 January 2022 , the speaker was the playwright Roberto Fratini Serafide.
A few words about the U(R)TOPIAS Academy of Choreography
The U(R)TOPIAS Academy of Choreography under the artistic direction of Patricia Apergi collaborates with young professional choreographers who are interested in cultivating their skills in the field of composition and choreography. Each young choreographer is invited to construct his personal utopia, his own non-place and present it as a dance work. The aim is to highlight emblematic sites of Elefsina through the site-specific works of choreographers, creating a new map of the city of Elefsina. Through their participation in the Academy they will be able to develop their synthetic skills and shape their own creative approaches, under the guidance of distinguished creators and professionals from the field of arts, art historians and theorists as well as producers.
The theme of U(R)TOPIAS as the common “place” of the project.
The European Capital of Culture can be a great opportunity to rethink Europe as a utopia. What happens if we treat Europe as a region “without place” (from the Greek: ου=not + τόπος=place)? That is, as a place where there is no discrimination or inequality. This turn can be crucial for Europe and could once again create a common utopia for European citizens. The academy is here to reopen the dialogue about this utopia.
The Academy’s name is inspired by the word “Utopia,” which is defined as the ideal place to live. The term was coined from ancient Greek, where “οὐ” stands for “not” and “τόπος” stands for place. Joined, the two words compose “utopia,” i.e., the place that doesn’t exist. The Academy of Choreography is here to redefine this place, with the main goal of establishing today’s utopia, through the knowledge of the past. Utopia transforms to U(R)TOPIAS, self-defining its existence through the Anglo-Saxon prefix “ur,” which means ancient, primitive, original and lending this name to the entire project. As a new manifesto, U(R)TOPIAS is presented in Elefsina, a city with a rich history and heritage, introducing the art of choreography to the public.
