"The nudity in the show stems from the way I express my love for the human body"
The famous Greek choreographer Dimitris Papuiano, who brings his work "horizontal direction" to Israel, talks with surprising frankness about his creative process, sources of inspiration, exposed buttocks, the connection to the "favorite" film and also about the Israeli who danced thanks to him at the Olympics
Ofir Artzi
28/03/2022
Monday, 28 March 2022, 08:00 Updated: Tuesday, 29 March 2022, 08:23
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The Transverse Orientation dance performance by choreographer Dimitris Papiano (Israeli Opera Tel Aviv-Yafo)
Total darkness in the hall.
Individual coughs fill the forced silence, the latter being late trying to grope in the dark for their seat.
nothing's happening.
One fluorescent suddenly starts flickering on the stage on the left.
Eyeshadows with balloons as heads begin to creak around it, like insects trying to magnetize to a light source, as befits the Transverse Orientation phenomenon after which the work is named.
This amusing and original but not-quite-obvious start will later lead to a series of images that will include a giant bull, bubbles, water fountain, brick wall, birth, cages, hybrids and a naked woman crossing the stage and disappearing in pure David-Lynch style.
It certainly does not sound like a theatrical performance, certainly not a dance or dance.
This experience is inexplicable, and certainly not the feelings that follow.
Dimitris Papiano, the famous and active Greek choreographer who created it, was actually happy to try and host Israeli journalists to talk about her with great joy, just before she arrives in Israel.
From a representative sample, there is no Greek who does not know the name of the 58-year-old Papiano, who will henceforth be called Dimitris for the sake of brevity (and will probably prefer it anyway).
He has even gained worldwide recognition mainly for his victory at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Athens Olympics, but his biography is laden with dozens of works he created before and after ("Medea", "Still Life", "Primal Matter" for example), and yet - he still seems excited and enthusiastic As if this is his first time outside of Greece.
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"Everything here is a bit fluid."
From the show Transverse Orientation (Photo: Julian Mommert)
"There is always relief after a premiere because it is difficult," he admits with a metaphorical sigh of relief, in an interview that takes place the morning after the premiere of the show in Antwerp, as part of a tour of 60 cities that will bring him to Israel in late April.
"I was not happy because I liked the show I saw, I was happy because it ended successfully, without too many mistakes or technical problems, these are always three days of stress."
Three - because that's what it takes to put "horizontal direction" on the stages wherever he goes, two days of technical settings and rehearsals and a full day of lighting ("this is the thing that sucks the most time").
A quick glance at the photos or trailer will make it clear why: the visualization of "transverse direction" is one of the cornerstones of the show, and most of it relies on pulsating games of light and shadow, visible and hidden, reflections on reality, images, illusions and effects of shapes, colors and water.
Why water?
"I do not really know," Dimitris whispers in a kind of shy apology, "I like the way they treat light and sound and the way they change the appearance of the body. Because theater is artificial, the reality of water seems interesting to me."
Dimitris, in general, is surprisingly portrayed as a very calm artist with captivating sincerity, a precise combination of self-confidence and humility, and a lack of style that does not really characterize artists of his type and status.
He has no qualms, for example, about explaining his work and its sources of inspiration, without any hassle-free post-modern gardening of 'everyone understands what he understands'.
He also has no problem weaving brilliant outbursts in the conversation like "art is what you can create, not what you could create", tell one of the journalists in the room "I'm glad you took the show so seriously", or admit - "I do not really know what I'm doing To the end, and sometimes even after it, "in relation to his creative process.
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Why water?
"I do not really know".
From the show Transverse Orientation (Photo: Julian Mommert)
"I start with a certain curiosity when we play in the studio because I'm an art lover and have studied painting, so I have an encyclopedia of art history in my head. Occasionally I come across images and situations that remind me of something an artist needs. Sometimes when it's useful I encourage it on stage. "When it's not useful I give up. I have questions about life that are not specific, and I work around those ideas."
"Lateral direction" is indeed spiced with quite a few references and references to more or less familiar elements from the history of art, Greek mythology and a repertoire of paintings and works from ancient and modern culture.
“Because I create a hybrid type of wordless theater, I need a kind of codes of communication with my fellow human beings,” he explains.
"Everything here is a bit fluid, people do not quite know what they see. I try to take you on a journey that is not completely understood and I myself do not know what it is, but it feels right and maybe cathartic and exciting, so it is important to have common references and that brings me back to archetypes. I play With this idea because these archetypes excite me, and I understand that they can excite other people without having to explain. "
The exact same direction guided him in choosing the soundtrack of the show, which consists entirely of works by composer Antonio Vivaldi.
Here, too, by the way, it is a completely accidental trial and error that came at all out of love for another art, cinema: "A very good friend of mine that I admire, director Yorgos Lantimos, directed 'Favorite' a few years ago and used Vivaldi's very strong melodies. When I saw I rediscovered the film and thought it had a delightful sensitivity of sound, something lively and sensitive in a boyish and not necessarily classical way. "Then I realized why I was excited."
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Does not treat naked bodies as flesh.
From the show Transverse Orientation (Photo: Julian Mommert)
"Vivaldi's music is also very structured and my work is fluid so there is an attempt here to unite, provide structure and entertain. It's easy to excite people with Vivaldi. Music is the most powerful art because it is vibrations that penetrate straight to the heart, and I use others' art to excite others. I wish there were "I have quieter parts in the show. My works that I like the most are the ones that have no music at all except the sounds of the corpses and the elements. When I am stronger as a director, I do not need music."
On the other hand, Dimitris argues, one of his most important goals in "transverse direction" is simply to entertain people, which certainly explains quite a few amusing parts that take place on stage, and the careful giggles that emerge from the hall at the sight of some images, giggles that are completely directed.
"I like to entertain and I like humor, to be funny and gloomy at the same time, or to express happiness and melancholy together. In England, for example, I was very surprised that viewers picked up all the jokes in no less than three different works I presented there. Every little joke scattered in each work "A 'sacred' atmosphere is established, they absorbed it. Humor is an abbreviation for human communication. I wish I could create a theater that is much more entertaining. One day I will get there."
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Captivating sincerity.
Dimitris Papiano (Photo: Julian Mommert)
Lots of buttocks
According to some romantic rumor circulating somewhere out there, "transverse direction" is a result of island, free time and corona isolation, but the truth is that work on it began two months before March 2020 ("think of it because of Instagram," Dimitris clarifies).
The period of closure sent all those engaged in the craft to their home and the work was stopped, and then Dimitris created another work called "Ink."
The facilitation in Athens, his hometown, did not allow him to perform in theaters, so all eight dancers (two women, six men - a mix of those who worked with him in the past and those who did not) were reunited for rehearsals only, with the premiere last spring in Lyon, France.
The dancers, by the way, are the most important part of this custom puzzle, since without them, Dimitris rules, there would be nothing: "Everything was created for them and because of them, because of their skin tone, their presence on stage, their skills, their flexibility. I choose people because I feel "That they will inspire me and that I will need to create an environment for them where they will look great. It's like being in love - you want to create a world where man thrives."
Without meaning to, Dimitris makes the perfect context here to address the attention-grabbing asterisks that accompany the commercials in a "horizontal direction": "The show contains full nudity."
Shall we talk about this nudity?
We'll talk.
There is a variety of visible genitals in the show, in quite a few sections and for quite a short time.
Is it eye-catching?
At first for sure.
Is it distracting, disturbing or screaming?
We bet that after five minutes you will forget that he exists at all.
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"I destroy the male body because I feel I am entitled to it."
From the show Transverse Orientation (Photo: Julian Mommert)
"My approach to nudity is completely different from the German approach for example," says Dimitris.
"My expression does not create distortions, I do not treat naked bodies as flesh. It is an interesting approach and I like it when I see it, but my attitude comes from the way I express my love for the human body. I do it for voyeuristic, artistic reasons. "Aesthetics, out of a sense of vulnerability. I show something in its most beautiful form, it's saying 'yes' to life, a kind of sense of approval that is felt when looking at a person's body. Only the male body I destroy because I feel I am entitled to it," he laughs, "But then I re-idealize him."
How the Israeli audience, or any audience in the world will react to this, is a consideration that does not affect the work at all, it is important for him to clarify.
"All my decisions are made outside of political or social circumstances, and that's also fairest to my audience. When people buy a ticket to come and see me, the only fair thing to give them is what I find interesting, not what I think would be appropriate for them, because I do not advertise or I also paint portraits and nudity as a practice, because that's how I see things. The context in which nudity is perceived is something I think about sometimes and it does intrigue me, to see how different cultures deal with my works. But it's like a museum. If I know in advance when I enter "I'm sorry for the artistic department of Greek culture, but there are going to be a lot of buttocks there."
This will be Dimitris' second time in Israel, about 22 years after "Medea" was presented in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
"Your response to the 'media' was powerful," he recalled, "it was nice, I was very excited. Yair Vardi from 'Suzanne Dellal' has since tried to bring me back to Israel many, many times. Now it has finally succeeded."
Speaking of "Medea" - "there was one boy who saw the show in Tel Aviv and it changed his life," Dimitris proudly reveals.
"He subsequently became a dancer and came to Athens to volunteer at the opening ceremony of the 2004 Olympics. I cast him as my pink fiancé."
The writer was a guest of the show's production in Israel.
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