A Special Event Combining Classical Philology and Live Dancing

When: Saturday, September 24, 2022
First performance: 18:30 – in English &
Second performance: 20:30 – in Greek

Where: Black Box Theatre
Deree – The American College of Greece
6 Gravias Street, 153 42 Aghia Paraskevi

Supported by: The Theatre Arts and the Dance Department, Frances Rich School of Fine and Performing Arts, Deree – The American College of Greece

Speaker

Nina Papathanasopoulou, Classics Professor at College Year in Athens (CYA)
Featuring dance excerpts from Martha Graham’s Clytemnestra and Night Journey restaged by
Penny Diamantopoulou, Graham technique and repertory instructor 

Dancers: Eleftheria Iliopoulou, Vassia Kolliou, Marianna Papakonstantinou, Marianna Tsikmanli, Mara Tsourma, Androniki Vasili

About the event
This presentation explores Martha Graham’s groundbreaking technique, vision, and movement vocabulary; her approach to Greek mythology; and her reimagining of the myth of Oedipus and Jocasta through her masterpiece Night Journey.

Free admission – open to the public

Pre-registration to attend is required.

No parking available on campus

Bios

Nina Papathanasopoulou is a Classics Professor at College Year in Athens (CYA). She specializes in Greek drama and mythology, and her current research explores interpretations of Greek myths by the American dancer and choreographer, Martha Graham. She completed her PhD in Classics at Columbia University in 2013 and her BA in Classics at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in 2003. From 2013 to 2019 she was Visiting Assistant Professor of Classics at Connecticut College, where she taught classics and theater courses and was heavily involved in outreach programming for Classics. Since January 2019 she is also the Public Engagement Coordinator for the Society for Classical Studies, overseeing Ancient Worlds, Modern Communities, an initiative that engages new audiences in the study of classical antiquity.

Penny Diamantopoulou is a Graham Technique and Repertory instructor reconstructing Graham pieces in collaboration with the Martha Graham Dance Company since 2002. She studied at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance (MGSCD) on a demonstrator’s scholarship and completed the Professional and Post-Graduate Program in 2000 with Diane Gray and Joyce Herring. A dancer in the Martha Graham Dance Ensemble from 1996 to 2000, she performed in various repertory pieces, and taught at the Martha Graham Dance School from 1998-2000. Penny taught at the National School of Dance in Athens from 2002-2021 and teaches at the Professional Dance School ‘Horohronos’ since 2017. Since August 2020 she has been teaching virtual Advanced Graham Technique classes for dancers in Europe, Asia, and the USA, while in December 2021 she was invited by the MGSCD to teach in an International Graham Intensive course in Sarajevo. In 2003 she founded ARTHROSIS Dance Company, with which she has presented fourteen original full-length pieces.

For more information, please contact College Events, at [email protected] or 210 6009800 ext. 1570.