DANCE BANOPTIKON at Deree Theater Posted in: Dance Performances

A performance by the dance company Dancevacuum, led by choreographer Vicky Vasilopoulou and the media arts team PersonalCinema led by Ilias Marmaras.
When: Thursday, October 15 2015, 18:30
Where: Blackbox Theater, Communications Center Building
Organized by: The Norwegian Embassy in cooperation with the Frances Rich School of Fine & Performing Arts

The performance Dance Banoptikon is an interdisciplinary project that aims to promote awareness of the experience of immigrants living in Athens. The project brings together local dancers and non-dancers who have worked together since 2013 to offer a human perspective on themes of daily exclusion, discrimination and violence faced by many of Athens immigrant population.

The project is a two-part collaboration between the dance collective DanceVacuum led by choreographer Vicky Vasilopoulou and the media arts team Personal Cinema led by Ilias Marmaras, whose videogame BANOPTIKON serves as the backdrop for the dancers. The videogame project Banoptikon was launched in January 2010, and was completed in the spring of 2013 as part of the European research MIG@NET project, and explored ways in which migration as a global condition has transformed international digital networks. The project was coordinated by the University of Social and Political Sciences, Gender Studies Centre and includes partners from seven European countries.

Following the performance, a panel discussion offered further consideration and discussion of the themes stemming from Banoptikon. At the panel Mr. Daniel Esdras Head of the IOM Office in Greece, Dr. Chryssa Zachou, Professor of Sociology at DEREE- The American College of Greece, Mr. Ilias Marmaras who is a media artist and creator of the Banoptikon video game project, Mr. Michael Afoloyan, Coordinator of ANASA CULTURAL CENTRE, Ms. Vicky Vasilopoulou who is a choreographer and director of dancevacuum and Mr. Lambros Arapakos, dance and theater facilitator. The speakers reflected on the role of art in social change, each one addressing the issue from their own perspective.

Dance Banoptikon was presented at Embros Theater (12/2013), DanceVacuum Centre (4/2014) and (5/2014), Michael Cacoyannis Foundation (6/2014), the House of Cyprus (9/2014) and the Deree Theater (10/2015) at the initiative of the Norwegian Embassy.