dazzling with beauty

"Biennale de la danse de Lyon: the shock wave of Dimitris Papaioannou's new creation shakes the festival"

“Papaioannou assembles and dismantles an empire where all the senses collide, where philosophical discourse questions the very essence of being.

"Papaioannou conjures up intimate metaphors, distressing and at the same time dazzling with beauty. “

– Odile Morain, franceinfo:culture, 5 June 2021
original article


artistic magic

"Like all of Papaioannou’s pieces, it’s a meticulously crafted, intensely visual experience."

"a long act of artistic magic created before our eyes by the superbly precise performers”

– Roslyn Sulcas, The New York Times, 8 June 2021
original review


the masterpiece by Dimitris Papaioannou

"What do you expect from a dance performance?  That it leaves traces in our bodies and our memories, that it delves into us without us realizing it, that it lets us see, experience, imagine, recompose.  May it make us cry too.  This is all that Dimitris Papaioannou offers to us with Transverse Orientation his latest creation, a pure masterpiece presented as a world premiere at the Biennale de la danse de Lyon."

"Carried by eight magnificent performers, enveloped in the music of Vivaldi, Transverse Orientation is an abundance of images whose formidable aesthetics question the meaning of our lives or simply challenge our emotions, leaving us the choice to imagine and create our intimate shocks. It is all the strength of this work which, behind the apparent chaos, lets in the luminous bursts of a rebirth!"

– Martine Pillars, Toute la culture, 3 June 2021
original review



Papaioannou grabs the bull by the horns

“Dimitris Papaioannou grabs the bull by the horns. He creates a stir by presenting his latest creation at the Biennale de la danse de Lyon: Transverse Orientation. A jewel of inventiveness and beauty.”

– Al. M.,  Le Progress, 3 June 2021
original review



we are dealing with a master

"Papaioannou, 1st shock of the La Biennale de Lyon / Danse, somewhere between Giacometti and the musical, the world premiere of Dimitris Papaioannou, Transverse Orientation, our first big favorite of this Biennale de la danse de Lyon 2021."

"It is not every day that we have the feeling that we are dealing with a master, in sublime paintings of Madonna or in Greek male statuary revisited."

– Luc Hernandez, Exit Mag, 3 June 2021
original review


Master of enchantment

"Master of enchantment, the choreographer delivers with Transversal Orientation an opus perfectly served by eight magnificent dancers, alternately violent, enchanting and contemplative.” 

"a work faithful to the phantasmagorical and mythological obsessions of the brilliant body visual artist"

— Delphine Baffour, la terrace, 5 June 2021
original review


a waking dream

“a waking dream of nearly two hours, between staggering beauty and sublime monstrosity.” 

"Papaioannou combines angels and demons in a long painting of nearly two hours, where everything is essential, nothing is superfluous everything is thought out.”

– Olivier Frégaville-Gratian d’Amore, L'œil d’Olivier, 6 June 2021
original review