Clear Midnight

Clear Midnight explores ritual as a secular social construction focusing on the shared conventions through which we inhabit a society. As research starting point, the work draws a parallel between the 1518 dance epidemic in Strasbourg and modern pandemic conditions, examining the tension between enforced stillness and the primal urge to move. The ensemble of 9 female dancers with and without disabilities, undergoes a continues reformation, where transitions from the individual to the group shape their spatial relations. 

By counterpointing the social isolation of COVID-19 with the historical phenomenon of choreomania, the choreography manifests an ecstatic body caught in a perpetual, cyclical vortex. This collective movement acts as a generative force, constantly reshaping and reconfiguring the group to explore notions of initiation and transcendence through a shared, rhythmic coexistence.

The performance takes its title from Walt Whitman's poem "Clear Midnight", and like poetry, it finds itself in-between the real and the imaginary.

Credits

Concept Vangelis Artemis, Yiannis Isidorou, Maria Koliopoulou

Choreography Maria Koliopoulou

Visual installation Vangelis Artemis, Yiannis Isidorou

Dramaturgy consultant Betina Panagiotara

Vocal coaching - Vocal dramaturgy Anna Pagalou

Assistant to the choreographer Evgenia Sigalou

Sound and visual design Yiannis Isidorou

Lighting design Thomas Oikonomakos

Costume design Marios Rammos

Artistic collaboration Mariza Vinieratou

Set construction Thodoris Artemis

Performers Katerina Avramopoulou, Anna Apergi, Konstantina Barkouli, Lia Chamilothori, Vivi Christodoulopoulou, Katerina Gevetzi, Loukiani Papadaki, Dimitra Papathanasiou, Smaragda Vagia

Production manager Cultόpια

Funded by the Ministry of Culture & Sports 

Co-production Athens Epidaurus Festival

Supported by Onassis Cultural Centre

The work premiered 7th June 2021 at the Athens Epidaurus Festival