Hero

Patricia Apergi

GREECE

MONDAY 4.12

10:30

Roes Theatre

DURATION: 40′

AGES: 12+

Do we still need heroes? Who are they? What significance do they have in our everyday lives?
Greek choreographer Patricia Apergi has studied the heroes of our society and gives them an embodied expression in this dance piece. “Hero” speaks for the people who turned their defeat into victory and those who became heroes without realizing it. It shows the courage, the effort, the perseverance and strength that needs to take up the fight. It was clear to her from the beginning that “Hero” is aimed particularly at teenagers. Patricia Apergi draws the audience into a carousel of emotions and asks about the hero in each and every one of us. A powerful, energetic, encouraging and humorous dance production that has been presented in both classrooms and on stage in Northern Germany since 2020, and now premieres in Greece at the Moving Colors Festivals.

“Just the physical presence of a young athletic woman, spotlights focused at the dynamics of the beginning dance movements, and a large empty stage—this is all it takes to turn the piece “Hero” by Greek choreographer Patricia Apergi into a captivating, powerful performance. This is what happened at the premiere…at the Eisengießerei, where dancer Sofia Pouchtou stunned the audience with her powerful solo performance.”. Ostsee-Zeitung

ORIGINAL IDEA, CHOREOGRAPHY & DIRECTION: PATRICIA APERGI
PERFORMER: SOFIA POUCHTOU
DRAMATURGY: NIKOS VLASOPOULOS
LIGHTING DESIGN: NIKOS VLASOPOULOS
SOUND DESIGN: GIORGOS POULIOS
COSTUME DESIGNER: VASSILIKI SYRMA
PHOTOS: PETER VAN HEESEN
PRODUCTION: DORTE WOLTER

COMMISSIONED AS A CLASSROOM DANCE PIECE OF “VORPOMMERN TANZT AN” – TANZPAKT STADT-LAND-BUND. THE STAGE VERSION IS A CO-PRODUCTION OF PERFORM[D]ANCE AND AERITES DANCE COMPANY.

THE STAGING OF “HERO” WAS SUPPORTED BY BUREAU RITTER / TANZPAKT RECONNECT, FUNDED BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT COMMISSIONER FOR CULTURE AND THE MEDIA AS PART OF THE INITIATIVE “NEUSTART KULTUR – HILFSPROGRAMM TANZ” AND THE MINISTRY OF SCIENCE, CULTURE, FEDERAL AND EUROPEAN AFFAIRS OF MECKLENBOURG-VORPOMMERN.

Patricia Apergi

Patricia Apergi was born in Athens. In 2006, she founded the Aerites Dance Company, for which she has choreographed the pieces: “U(R)TOPIAS” (2021), “Hero” (2020), “Polittes (Citizens Defeated)” (2018), “Cementary” (2017), “TANZheimer” (2014), “Planites” (2013), “Era poVera” (2012), “The Manifest of the Other” (2010), “d.opa! (dopamines of post-Athenians)” (2009), “Ferry Tales” (2009), “Apolost” (2008), and “Anorexia Socialis” (2007). Her works have toured widely, appearing at numerous festivals and performing arts venues in Greece and beyond. She has also worked as a movement director for the theater, opera, and art installations – collaborating with Greek and international artists in the process – and has choreographed pieces for dance and ballet companies around the world.

Apergi co-wrote the book “Theatre History – Theatre Studies” (Hellenic Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, Institute for Continuing Adult Education – IDEKE, 2007). She has been a European Dancehouse Network (EDN) Modul-dance artist, and a Maison de la Danse Lyon associate artist. From 2020 to 2022, she sat on the Athens Epidaurus Festival Board of Directors. She teaches dance and theater at the Leonteios School of Athens, where she also serves as a cultural events consultant. She has also taught dance and improvisation at numerous schools in Greece and beyond. In 2021, she founded the first U(R)TOPIAS School of Choreography, an arts project run in partnership with 2023 Eleusis European Capital of Culture.