ANΩNYMO

by Tzeni Argyriou

Choreography and Concept Tzeni Argyriou

Performers Chara Kotsali, Sotiria Koutsopetrou, Hermes

Malkotsis, Konstantinos Papanikolaou, Stavroula Siamou, Nancy Stamatopoulou, Dimitris Sotiriou

Dramaturgy Miguel Angel Melgares

Original Music/Sound Design Pepe Garcia Rodriguez

Scenography/Visual Concept Vassilis Gerodimos

Lighting Adaptation, Design, and Engineer Vangelis Mountrichas

Sound Engineer Vangelis Tsatsis

Costumes Design Ioanna Tsami

Choreographer’s Assistant Natalia Baka

Production Manager/Executive Producer Konstantinos Sakkas

Commissioned and Produced by Onassis Stegi (Greece)

Co-produced by Rencontres chorégraphiques internationals De Seine

Saint-Denis (France), Kalamata International Dance Festival (Greece)

Research Support Duncan Dance Research Center

Touring Support Onassis Stegi “Outward Turn” Program

Touring and Production Management Delta Pi

Acknowledgments: Many thanks to the original cast members, substitute performers, production members, and contributors during the research and creation period, among them: Pavlina Andriopoulou, Danai Arsenia, Rallou Avramidou, Ilias Flammos, Danai Giannakopoulou, Amalia Kosma, Dimitris Koutsoumpas, Remco van der Meer, Dimitra Mertzani, Antonis Nikiforos, Ioanna Paraskevopoulou, Erato Tzavara, Antonis Vais, Anna Vakontiou, Marileni Vourtsi, and Alekos Yiannaros.

ANΩNYMO takes the form of a physical ceremony, a contemporary ritual that recalls the power of bodies dancing together. Based on extensive research, the work draws from traditional folk dances from all over the world to articulate the social disconnect that has become all too familiar to many in recent times. The result is a celebration of human connection through shared joy and collective dance.

The work invites the audience back to a time when art did not bear a creator’s name, but was a form of heritage that brought people closer and maintained social cohesion—the earliest rituals of initiation and participation. The first dances did not belong to anybody because they belonged to everybody. Someone made the first move, another picked it up, and step by step the different components formed a pattern. From one body to the next, dances moved through the centuries, accompanying every human ritual: weddings, death, war, peace.

The performance of ANΩNYMO at PEAK Performances is supported by the Onassis Stegi “Outward Turn” program.

Tzeni Argyriou (b. 1977, Kavala, Greece) is an independent choreographer and media artist. She is a graduate of the National School of Dance, Athens (1995–98) and a scholar from the Onassis Foundation (New York 2000–02). During her stay in New York (2000–04) she collaborated as a performer with choreographers such as Chamecki Lerner, Bill Young, Maria Hassabi, Nina Winthrop, Jeremy Wade, Amanda Loulaki, and others, all the while creating and presenting her own individual projects.

Since 2003 Argyriou has been a founding member of Amorphy.org, a nonprofit company that supports the creation of multidisciplinary and hybrid art forms. For more than 10 years her interest has been to engage the performing arts with new technologies and other artistic genres, generating choreographic artworks. This work has often led to co-creations with local and international artists such as Vassilis Gerodimos, Miguel Angel Melgares, Ash Bulayev, and Euripides Laskaridis. One of her major interests is the creation of projects that suggest the active engagement of the audience. After exploring the merging of media constructions with performative exploration, she has currently returned to the “analog” body and the empowerment of collective physical experiences.

Argyriou’s work varies from multimedia performances to in situ installations based on specific locations’ history. Some of her latest works are Eleusinio Kinima (2023), Praxis vs. Phrasis (2022), Συνομιλίες:Conversation (2022), Synthesis-movie (2022), Article 1, Test 1: An idea in progress (2022), Synthesis (2021), Identity in Between (2020), Phrasis to Go & Phrasis to Build (2020), Αποθέματα:Inventory (2018), ΑΝΩΝΥΜΟ (2018), Stigmiographies (2018), Face to Phase (2017), Untitled (2015), and Memorandum (2014).

Argyriou’s work has been presented and produced by renowned institutions and festivals such as EMST, Onassis Stegi, Cosmopolis Festival, the Athens Festival, Festival Rencontres chorégraphiques internationales de Seine-Saint-Denis (France), Kalamata International Dance Festival (Greece), Spring Performing Arts Festival Utrecht (Netherlands), Benaki Museum, Athens (Greece), Kunstkapel Virtual Museum, Amsterdam (Netherlands), Fast Forward Festival–OCC (Greece), MIR Festival (Greece), Temps D’Images Festival at Tanzhaus nrw, Düsseldorf (Germany), Arc For Dance Festival (Greece), Judson Church at Movement Research NY (USA), and more. She has been an invited artist in residency at Greek and international art institutions (Germany, France, Netherlands, Portugal, Bulgaria), and has received support from EU Culture 2000, the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports, the Non-Profit Organization NEON and Duncan Dance Research Center.

Duration: 70 minutes, no intermission

In consideration of both audiences and performers, please turn off all electronic devices. The taking of photographs or videos and the use of recording equipment are not permitted. No food or drink is permitted in the theater.

We respectfully acknowledge that Montclair State University occupies land in Lenapehoking, the traditional and expropriated territory of the Lenape. As a state institution, we recognize and support the sovereignty of New Jersey’s three state-recognized tribes: the Ramapough Lenape, Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape, and Powhatan Renape nations. We recognize the sovereign nations of the Lenape diaspora elsewhere in North America, as well as other Indigenous individuals and communities now residing in New Jersey. By offering this land acknowledgement, we commit to addressing the historical legacies of Indigenous dispossession and dismantling practices of erasure that persist today. We recognize the resilience and persistence of contemporary Indigenous communities and their role in educating all of us about justice, equity, and the stewardship of the land throughout the generations.