theYard.Residency.23
theYard.Residency.23
Didn’t you promise (me) peace?
The artistic residency program theYard.Residency is an important platform for Centre of Performing Arts MITOS, through which it can share its interest in art, methodologies, collaborations and the local community. The actions take place throughout the year based in Vinegar Factory, which functions as an open stage, a safe environment for creation, meeting and exchange.
The 13th edition of theYard.Residency has as its theme “Didn’t you promise (me) peace?”, which is an excerpt from a poetic text by the Ukrainian artist Elis Prostotak. The question for us remains open, perhaps referring to a forgotten promise to a child or a generation – to a felled tree, a love disappointment, an unfulfilled national hope. For the year 2023 we wish for more inclusive actions and narratives and we are working towards an open calendar to record each one of them.
The theYard.Residency.23 hosts creators and groups living and active in Cyprus with artistic, social or activist action and sensitivity. The participations, while based on performance, have inter-artistic and interdisciplinary characteristics and most are oriented towards the expression of Queerness. This year’s program proposes new productions with original texts, parallel actions and is enhanced with workshops concerning digital skills, but also workshops aimed at the community (adults and teenagers) around the issues of gender and sexuality. Finally, it develops pilot collaborations with other agencies inside and outside Cyprus.
Centre of Performing Arts MITOS in search of new practices and behaviors organized for the community of theYard.Residency.23 a kick off meeting (January 2023) and Performing Arts Workshops (February 2023) with: Arianna Markoulides (Finding my performance practice and body presence), Maria A. Ioannou (Creative Writing Workshop), Ellada Evangelou (Dramaturgy) and Eleana Alexandrou (Feedback Techniques). Special thanks to actor Nectarios Theodorou and animator Danae Laou for their participation in the Selection Team of theYard.Residency.23.
MITOS dedicates theYard’s 13th edition to the memory of designer, director and writer Achim Wieland – a steadfast creator, friend and collaborator, who passed away suddenly in October 2022. Achim participated in theYard with the productions Woyzeck (2013) and Egoland (2016 and 2017).
Digital tools in the Performing Arts
[workshop]
11.02 | 09:00 – 17:00
Center of Social Innovation and Centre of Performing Arts MITOS
information 99985232
MITOS and CSI invites young professionals or trainees in the field of performing arts to a multi-level workshop familiarizing them with the use of digital techniques in performing arts and new trends as they emerged especially in the last 2-3 years of the pandemic. The workshop is held in collaboration with the European program Erasmus+ DigitACT (digitactproject.eu)
Elena Agathokleous and Vaggelis Gettos
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Letters to Achim
for the spirit of Achim Wieland
10.03 | 20:00
πληροφορίες information 97879793
During the ceremony known as Aya Despacho that comes from the Andes, the participants burn prayers for their beloved deceased so as to help their soul in their journey to the other dimension.In our conceptualized edition we will write letters to our Achim and read them out loud with our hearts and an olive tree as witnesses.The tree will be later given as an offering to Mother Earth. Let’s create a rainbow of love to connect earthly life with eternal spirit.
Concept: Marios Ioannou/SRSLY_yours. Texts: All of you. Scenery: the nature that created olive trees.
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Loulles
[ theatre]
01, 02.04 | 20:30 Vinegar Factory
06.04 | 20:30 Dancehouse Lefkosia
Diomedes Koufteros and Campos Culture and Arts
information 96529346
What do a 1995 TV show, a Eurovision song, an article on “AIDS” and testimonies of gay men have in common? Devised theatre, experimental storyboarding, hiding and revealing. A theatrical action in a draft form, an enriched staged reading, an open rehearsal about the moment otherness becomes conscious. Based on archival material, interviews and personal memories from the public discussion on homosexuality in Cyprus of the ‘80s and ‘90s. The performance in Nicosia will be held in the frame of artistic exchange and mobility of MITOS and Dancehouse Lefkosia.
Direction: Diomedes Koufteros. Actor: Nectarios Theodorou. Scenography: Eleni Ioannou. Video: Charalambos Varelias.
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Beyond the rainbow: a workshop on sexuality and gender
[workshop]
08.04 | 16:00 – 19:00
Marilena Kyriakou, Yiannis Charilaou
information 99898292
During this workshop we are exploring topics related to sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression. Join us on this fun and interactive journey as we discuss these important topics through our daily interactions and experiences. This workshop is for teenagers from 12-15 years of age and is provided free of charge. Contact us for more information and to book your spot. Please note that a consent form from the guardians is required.
Facilitators
Marilena Kyriacou: performer, drama practitioner, youth trainer, activist
Yiannis Charilaou: translator, musician, activist, founding member of the Queer Collective CY and Coordinator of its Communications team (since 2022)
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Gender & Sexuality: white, black or grey?
[workshop]
23.04 | 17:00 – 19:00
information 99488333
This interactive seminar aims to contribute to the development of knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and skills regarding the prevention and confrontation of homophobia and transphobia. Participants will have the opportunity to understand and clarify terms such as: biological sex, social sex, gender expression, gender identity, transgenderism, gender duality and sexual orientation, gender – based violence etc. It is a seminar that hopes to empower citizens in their efforts to protect and include all genders and sexual orientations.
Facilitator
Constantinos Papageorgiou: psychotherapist, adults educator.
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Daily Life in the Buffer Zone
[parallel event]
[documentary theatre]
06,07.05 | 20:00
Valentina Michael
information 99527499
How do you continue life in the buffer zone on the green line in Nicosia? There is a community of residents whose presence and daily life in the area is vivid and indistinguishable through time, not only in the past but also in the present. We will hear their voices and their stories creatively and artistically rendered by them in a documentary theatre performance. The material for the creation of the performance came about during experiential workshops in the Green Line area of Nicosia in April 2023. This scientific activity takes place in the context of cultural exchange with the Department of Theatre Studies, in
Fine Arts of the University of Peloponnese.
Workshop guide, Artistic curation: Valentina Michael.
Group of participants of drama workshops ” Daily life in the buffer zone”.
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The things we lost
[interactive performance – open mic]
20.05, 23.09 | 20:00
Marilena Kyriakou, Yiannis Charilaou
information 99901901
The stage is yours once again. This time we’re exploring our experiences during our formative years of childhood and adolescence. The contradiction between the careless years promised by the societal norms and the reality most of the LGBTQIA+ people experience. Along with you, we are creating a safe space where we are sharing our stories, our hopes, our survival, and healing processess. We welcome any type of verbal or non-verbal performance. Hate speech and discriminatory language will not be tolerated during this event. Supported by Queer Collective CY.
Performers, Facilitators: Marilena Kyriakou, Yiannis Charilaou.
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The river beneath the river
[performance]
02, 03, 04.06 | 20:30
George Rallis
information 99005691
‘The river beneath the river’ is the fight for the creation of an identity within the queer experience. With an intersectional approach to existence, intellect has to focus on a multiplicity of questions that flirt with ontology and the process of becoming. Simultaneously, it exists within a sexually fueled power-play with philosophy, God and the creation of both. This performance is a sensory overload that includes knowledge, original music and your voyeurism. The questions: How do I know me? What bones did I bury? How can I unite with the meaning I am? I don’t like wolves, but they like me. The performance is in English. Trigger Warning: might be overstimulating for those with sensory processing sensitivity
Performers: George Rallis, Sophia Constantinou. Direction: George Rallis. Dramaturgy Consultant: Annie Khoury. Choreography: Marie Dzaghighian Ioannou. Costume designer: Soraya Oronti. Intro song: #FLUID – Lava. Outro song: Frozen Winds – The spirit of the Womb. Sound production: HISDarkElements (Extase Urbaine – tracks by Extase Urbaine and UVGLOV). Light Design: Vasilis Petinaris.
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Bud
[performance]
10.06 | 20:30
Κοrallia Stergides
information 99226742, 97879793
‘Bud’ is a multidisciplinary project that meditates on the politics of care, celebration and complexities of “coming of age”. It aims to expand and abstract the essence of the expression in a quest of its redefinition. In order to construct a multi-tonal voice that grounds ecofeminism, heritage, myth, all in a relatable transitional body. We host ourselves in the many bodies of a bud, beginning from its transcendence in the discovery and acceptance of our nascent years experiences toward the ecosystem of being a fully grown species
The performance will be held in the frame of artistic exchange and mobility of MITOS and Dancehouse Lefkosia- On Bodies Festival 2023.
Creation: Korallia Stergides. All the collaborators will be announced in a later stage.
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Facing & Kissing
[parallel event]
[performance art]
09.07 | 19:00, 19:30
Αnthi Kyriakou
information 97867292
‘Facing’ & ‘Kissing’ are two Performance Art happenings. Each happening is 15 minutes long and occurs one after the other or a total of two times each. During ‘Facing’, sequential facial expressions are performed in front of a camera in close-up and shown on projection in the same space. In the same manner, ‘Kissing’ is a sequential kiss performed on a clear PVC sheet, hanged from the ceiling and shown on projection within the premises of Vinegar Factory.
Direction, Curation, Artist: Anthi Kyriacou. Sound Design: Alexandra Kyriacou. Texts: Antonia Kyriacou.
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Participation Mystique
[installation – performance]
13,14.10 | 20:00
Eva Papavasiliou
information 99728591
An assemblage of sound, movement, projected image and ceramic vessels create the installation and performance Participation Mystique. Different mediums create a circular landscape, activated by the performers working with sensations translated into sound and movement. Moving bodies appear as portals to enter a different state, diving deeper into the sensory realm. In this live encounter for performers and audience, rhythm gets slower and imagination unfurls.
Direction: Eva Papavasiliou. Performers: Eleana Alexandrou, Belinda Papavasiliou, Elena Savvidou. Live Sound Performance: Elena Savvidou. Artistic Guidance for ceramic objects: Vassos Demetriou. Dramaturg: Eleana Alexandrou. Artistic Advisor: Marios Pavlou. Technical Support: Sahad Gholipour.
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Backflip.Wave.Splash.
[performance – live concert]
24,25,26.11 | 20:00
Marios Pavlou
information 94449408
A performance juxtaposing, reconstructing and mixing electronic sounds with lyrics inspired by the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead, creating narratives on the often unsettling experience of the physical within the social body. Images and songs that unravel from a stream of consciousness informed by gender fluidity and the rediscovery of a body, in relation to it’s dreams and their materiality. The voice becomes the mediator of these thoughts and emotions; to share experiences of desire, identification and sexuality within performance, moving image, writing, and music.
Concept, Performance, Artworks, Lyrics: Cievil Momo. Αrt Direction, Stage Design: Ria Alexandrou. Performance, Music Production, Sound Design: Κalaqs. Light Design: Sahand Gholipour. Dramaturgy Advisor: Αlexis Vasiliou. Choreography, Μοvement Αdvisor: Belinda Papavassiliou.
Team of theYard.Residency.23
Elena Agathokleous: Artistic Curator, Production Director
Constantina Peter: Coordination, Host
Lara Paci: Intern
Martinos Thalassetis: Technician of Vinegar Factory
ReCompulsive Behaviors: Graphics
Despina Kannaourou: Logo