Aleajactaest
Aleajactaest was founded in December 2011 by Vasilis Skarmoutsos in Athens. It is a dance /theater group with artistic focus on issues on the relationship of action-reaction to social norms. The group behaves like a living organism: it changes, adapts and (re) acts. Therefore there is flexibility and diversity in the selection of its members.This pluralism contributes significantly to the creative dialogue, and realization of the team’s artistic goals.
Aleajactaest has presented the following projects:
1. “My birthday” (June 2012, theater “Roes”)
2. “Must” (May 2013, “horos tehnis 14h mera”)
3.”:Violence” (July 2013 “Vyrsodepseio”, 1st site specific festival)
4.”Violence 2″(October 2013,”Vyrsodespeio”,2nd site specific festival)
5.”S-exit” (January 2014 , “Vault theatre plus” )
6.”Delirium” (June 2014,”Michael Cacoyannis foundation, 13th festival of Greek choreographers)
7.”:abuse” (November 2014 , “Empros theater”)
8. “Beings” (May 2015 , Trianon theater)
9.”That Girl” (June 2015, Palaia ilektriki)
10.”Memoria” (June 2015, Theater of school of Fine Arts)
11.”An ant in mourning” (June 2016, Festival HoroHronos)
12.”Close” (June 2016, Festival HoroHronos)
13.”I felt a funeral” (June 2016, Festival HoroHronos)
14.”Eyes Closed” (September 2016, Theater Under the bridge)
15.”In anticipation” (October 2016, Theater Train in Rouf)
16.”Vetans Verbum” (October 2016.Theater Kefallinias)
17.”Hysteria” (February 2017,Athens International Digital Festival)
Vasilios Skarmoutsos
He was born on 20/12/1984 in Lamia. He studied Communication and mass Media at the university of Athens, dance at the professional dance school “Rallou Man0u”, has a master in cultural studies and Film studies(university of Athens) and he is a PhD candidate in the school of Fine Arts in the University of Peloponnesus. He has attended a series of seminars on classical ballet, modern dance (Graham, Limon, release), improvisation and partnering, alexander technique and choreography, with Greek and foreign teachers. At the same time, he participated in seminars of acting, directing and vocal training. He has worked as a performer with various choreographers (Agg.Karistinou,Ch Lantziviri, K. Kosmidis etc.), with theater Entropia and the artists Pil & Galia.He has attended residencies in Asterius Hus(Denmark), in teatro Potlach(italy) and in Skiathos(Greece). In December 2011 he founded the dance/ theater group Aleajactaest,with which he choreographs and directs his own projects. He also works as a journalist in cultural themes.
Projects
My birthday
Birthdays are something unique to each person: they commemorate the specific time a person was born. Moreover they are an annual reminder – an anniversary of sorts- of one’s biological (or social) age. Therefore, birthdays should be approached as a social event with various aspects: do we celebrate one’s age, or do we examine the social image of what they should be, according to that age? It is a question of biology, social personas, and psychological awareness. The question is whether our life should have a specific structure compatible with the social perception of maturity and, by extension, if our behavior should be specific to a certain biological age…
contributors
choreography/direction: Vasilios Skarmoutsos
performing: Maria Filippou, Ismini Motou, Myrto Trihili,Christina Tsatsou,Jenny Vangopoulou
photos: Andreas Myriounis
premiere: 3rd of June 2012,theater Roes
Must
Society. The Organized group of people associated with religious, political, ethnic and other types of bonds.Individuals who are forced to have common characteristics,who live in a certain place and time under the influence of developments starting from it and come to the same.
Based on this interaction, questions are always posed . Questions about what the composition of that society is, whether members can maintain the diversity and if the principles of the modern democratic society could be maintained …
The performers express the emotion, the wonder, the response, caused by the social stimulation of the masses.
The performance “must” is an attempt to approach a basic series of questions, relating to the Aristotelian concept of man as a social being.” must” is not designed on the basis of direct response but as a form of provoking questions…
contributors
choreography/direction: Vasilios Skarmoutsos
performing: Marilou Andrikou,Christina Gazi,Nadi Gogoulou,Iro Grigoriadi,Christina Tsatsou,Jenny Vangopoulou,Fotini Zouma
music: George G.Vasiliadis
costumes:G.Stergiou
light design: Costas Aggelou
Trailer: Nikos Mylonas,George Tsantilas
photos: George Dimopoulos
premiere: 10th of May 2013,horos tehnis 14h mera
:violence
Violence is the different acts of aggression causing or intended to cause physical injury or any kind of injury. Violence is a reality that we all understand, reproduce or experience, in different forms and intensities. Acts of violence usually target individuals. But there are cases where violence is caused and experienced by the same person: either directly or through other people .The performance / installation “: violence” is the first part of the Museum project, which attempts to create portraits of people, whose life was associated with specific characteristics.
contributors
direction/movement:Vasilios Skarmoutsos
performing: Marilou Andrikou,George Kastellis,Eva Michailidou,Vassia Paspali,Vasilios Skarmoutsos,Christina Tsatsou,Jenny Vangopoulou
trailer/poster: Panagiotis Stamatopoulos
photos: George Dimopoulos
premiere:14th of July 2013,Vyrsodepsio 1st site specific festival
Violence 2
This project is a further research on the subject of violence.Using the same portraits as in the first version but adding to them an interaction with the audience , researching their reactions and how they can result in the outcome of the performance.
contributors
direction/movement:Vasilios Skarmoutsos
performing: Marilou Andrikou,Eva Michailidou,Vassia Paspali,Vasilios Skarmoutsos,Christina Tsatsou,Jenny Vangopoulou
trailer/poster: Panagiotis Stamatopoulos
photos: George Dimopoulos
premiere:4th of October 2013,Vyrsodepsio 2nd site specific festival
S-exit
Inspired by the work of Federico García Lorca “the house of Bernarda Alba”, “S-Exit” focuses on the figures of the five daughters of Bernarda Alba and the dynamics that thrive in an environment of isolation and forced restriction . Within the claustrophobic house of an authoritarian mother , emotions and instincts reach their climax because of the oppression and the extreme deprivation.
AleaJactaEst sets the question: If freedom is removed , there is desire?The human touch translates into sexual desire and sociability into nymphomania ? redemption is possible in a state of restriction ?
contributors
choreography/direction: Vasilios Skarmoutsos
performing: Marilou Andrikou,Nadi Gogoulou,Christina Tsatsou,Jenny Vangopoulou,Fotini Zouma(1st version),Carolina Apikian,Afrodite Kalafati (2nd version)
music: Kevin MacLeod , Dmitri Shostakovich
light design: Anna Remoundou
Trailer: Nikos Mylonas
photos: Yiannis Priftis
graphic designer : Panagiotis Stamatopoulos
premiere: 29th of January 2014, Vault theatre plus
Delirium
Mass hysteria is the phenomenon in which delusive ideas are appeared in a crowd , usually referred to something that is a threat to society, such as the spread of a disease, a microbe, a coming disaster etc. A special feature of such events is the speed that the idea is spread through reputation, gossip and especially the fear it causes. The incidents of mass hysteria are linked physical symptoms with no organic etiology. Many factors contribute to the creation and dissemination of a mass delusion (the media, the rumors, the excessive stress, etc.), but the real causes remain unknown. Mass hysteria is a phenomenon-characteristic of today’s societies and is studied both by sociology and psychology, dance theater aleajactaest through the “Delirium” tries to convey a sense of mass hysteria as occurrence and how they can affect humans in physical, psychological and behavioral level.
contributors
choreography/direction: Vasilios Skarmoutsos
performing:Christina Antonopoulou,Carolina Apikian,Afrodite Kalafati,Eva Michala,Eliane Roumie,Zaklin Simonian,Jenny Vangopoulou,Fotini Zouma
music: Kevin MacLeod , mobygratis,George Frideric Handel
Trailer: Thanos Kagalos
photos: Yiannis Priftis
graphic designer : Panagiotis Stamatopoulos
costumes : Katerina Hatzopoulou
premiere: 15th of June 2014,13th festival of Greek choreographers,Michael Cacoyannis foundation
:abuse
Beings
The concept of “being” is often restricted to describe entities (such as the concept of human being) .The human being, according to science, has gone through various stages of development and could be examined in many ways, one of them is psychology. The “beings” refers to two human beings, in a random time and space observing their communication but at the same time their existence also, such as units but as an interaction between them. Their relationship will be discussed between the diptychs of sleep-dream, consciousness thinking, motivation-emotion, and sexuality-love.
contributors
choreography/direction: Vasilios Skarmoutsos
performing: Eva Michala , Vasilis Skrmoutsos
music : Odysseas Gallios
graphic designer : Panagiotis Stamatopoulos
photos: Yiannis Priftis
video: Thanos Kagkalos
premiere:31 of May 2015 , music in motion festival , Trianon theater
That Girl
Inspired by Katerina Gogou’s poem “The sad mothers in the supermarkets”, “That girl” potrays a woman as she is confronted with the reality in a random time and space.
contributors
choreography/direction: Vasilios Skarmoutsos
performing: Jenny Vangopoulou
music : Erasmia Tsipra
video: Thanos Kagkalos
premiere:6 of June 2015, Palaia Ilektriki theater
Memoria
Memoria negotiates the memory and the implications it may have on human life. In memory, which is mainly located in the brain, information is transferred, encoded and recorded in another form that transmits the reality in the sensory organs and there is the possibility of recovery.
Memoria questions if there is genetic memory, a type of memory that is transferred from generation to generation and transferring experiences and information. Situated in a fantastic camp investigates whether people act and react based on a type of memory derived from genetic memory rather than experience and how the same memory functions as action-reaction and as a means of survival.
Supported by Amnesty International
contributors
choreography/direction: Vasilios Skarmoutsos
performing:Christina Antonopoulou,Anna Apergi,Carolina Apikian,Afrodite Kalafati,Ioanna Mantzari,Eva Michala,Eliane Roumie,Zaklin Simonian,Jenny Vangopoulou,Fotini Zouma
Original music:Erasmia Tsipra
music: moby , Luis Demetrio, Pablo Beltran Ruiz ,Tomaso Giovanni Albinoni, Johann Sebastian Bach , Ludwig van Beethoven
Trailer: Thanos Kagalos
photos: Yiannis Priftis
graphic designer : Panagiotis Stamatopoulos
costumes : Katerina Hatzopoulou
premiere:26 of June, Theatre of School of Fine Arts
An ant in mourning
Based on the poem by Sylvia Plath ‘Colossus‘by Sylvia Plath , examines the dark nature of the poem , the attachment to the past, and how it affects the present emotional state. In combination with the dark and troubled life of the poet , a female portrait is created, which seems lost in the emotional state and time.
contributors
choreography/direction: Vasilios Skarmoutsos
performing:Eva Michala
music: Yasume
photos: Yiannis Priftis
premiere: 17th June 2016, Festival HoroHronos
Close
Based on the poem “near you” by Maria Polydouri, the solo piece presents the driving force of creation of love , in combination with the weak nature of the poetress.
contributors
choreography/direction: Vasilios Skarmoutsos
performing:Foteini Zouma
music: Koutaro Fukui
photos: Yiannis Priftis
premiere: 17th June 2016, Festival HoroHronos
I felt a funeral
Based on the poem «I felt a funeral, in my brain» by Emily Dickinson. The elements of isolation and psychological deterioration define and compose a woman who decided to withdraw from all, but continued to observe and wanted to talk about all, as an observer who did not remain unaffected.
contributors
choreography/direction: Vasilios Skarmoutsos
performing:Karolina Apikian
music: Erasmia Tsipra
photos: Yiannis Priftis
premiere: 17th June 2016, Festival HoroHronos
Eyes Closed
The core of the “Eyes Closed” is the important artist of the Avant-Garde, Maya Deren. She was a director, a performer,a choreographer, a photographer,a poetess and a theorist. Her artistic work and her personality influenced the generations that followed the alternative art. “Eyes Closed” is a combination of events and characteristics that are involved in Deren’s life in artistic and in personal level.
contributors
choreography/direction: Vasilios Skarmoutsos
performing:Christina Gazi
photos: Yiannis Priftis
premiere: 23rd 2016, Theater Kato Apo ti Gefira
