Images, feelings, friends and the effort to cope with everyday life are teaming up on the benefit of creation.
Antigoni Tsiouli
Dancing on the pyramids
Text: Zafeiris Konstantinidis
From Greece to Egypt, from Haidari of Athens to Cairo, and from the Professional Dance School of the Greek National Opera to the Cairo Opera House; one could hardly disagree that it has been a rare and fascinating journey. Antigoni Tsiouli, after having dedicated countless hours in practicing as a young dancer, was accepted to join the GNO’s Professional Dance School. Since 2014, when she graduated, she has been living in Egypt, where she works as a dancer at the Cairo Opera House.
Her first spark for dancing was ignited at the age of eight years old, when her mother enrolled her at a dance school. This random acquaintance blossomed into a crush before evolving into a deep love meant to last forever. “In my first course, I put on my tiny shoes and a cute little dancing dress, and I simply wouldn’t take them off. Right from the start I was thrilled to climb on the tips of my toes like a true ballerina and improvise. When I dance, I feel free. I just let go and the music guides my steps. I was immediately overwhelmed by a sense of belonging,” she confesses. No surprise, therefore, that her childhood zeal grew to become her lifetime profession.
Classical dance is the foundation and bedrock for many forms of dance. Precision in technique, discipline and daily practice are the stepping stones for every full-blown dancer. Life itself and its multidimensional aspects inspire her to surrender to the movement of the body. Images, feelings, friends and the effort to cope with everyday life are teaming up “on the benefit of creation.” All the above walk the tightrope in harmony to send the final signal to the body to express itself on stage. Facts and events play their role, but human beings will always be the points of reference. Antigoni Tsiouli is inspired on a daily basis by her colleagues at the opera, who nurture her creative vision. The interaction between people who share the same passion makes their energies’ orbits cross paths, serving as communicating vessels of artistic refueling.
Dance is a form of art grounded on the soul, and expressed through the body. For this reason, the daily routine of a ballerina could be identified with the one of an athlete of the highest level: long hours of practice and a controlled diet. Dance is the combination of devotion, discipline and hard work. Discipline may seem like an imposed restriction, but at the end of the day self-discipline is our no-one’s choice but ours.
Dance is a form of art grounded on the soul, and expressed through the body. For this reason, the daily routine of a ballerina could be identified with the one of an athlete of the highest level: long hours of practice and a controlled diet. “Dance is the combination of devotion, discipline and hard work. Discipline may seem like an imposed restriction, but at the end of the day self-discipline is our no-one’s choice but ours,” she explains.
The title of prima ballerina stands out in her rich resume, an utmost honor for every female dancer as it represents the most preeminent role in ballet productions, demanding not only technical mastery but also a display of leadership on stage. In her international performances, Antigoni Tsiouli grasps the dancing culture of each country and ballet’s impact on each society. “In Greece, even though ballet is appreciated, the dominance of traditional and folklore dances places it on a lower scale compared to countries such as France or Sweden, where ballet is an integral part of the artistic culture. In Sweden, they place emphasis on innovation, whereas in Spain, a country mostly known for flamenco, ballet keeps gaining ground over the last years. Whenever asked, she singles out her appearance at the Bolshoi theater as the most iconic moment in her professional career, as it is a sacred venue where ballet reaches its aesthetic perfection – a true badge of honor for those who have danced on its stage, but also a dream for those who have not made it there yet.
Greece and Egypt are linked through cultural bridges for thousands of years, and Antigoni Tsiouli can corroborate this bond through her lived experiences. “The sense of tradition and culture is omnipresent in the country, from its ancient remains and monuments all the way to the field of contemporary art. Egypt’s society is multileveled, intertwining the traditional values with a modern perspective,” she describes. As a dancer at the Cairo Opera House, she has witnessed first-hand how art has the power to bring people from different social and cultural layers together. “Egyptian society has a powerful sense of respect towards art and culture, an element that renders my work as a dancer even more important. Despite the social and financial challenges, people remain devoted to the cultivation and support of artistic expression,” concludes Antigoni Tsiouli.
