14/09/2026
Photographed by Julian Mommert at the Leigh Fermor House in Kardamyli, on residency with thebenakimuseum
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He’s grateful for his journey so far. It’s a career that has peaked at different intervals, carrying him from legend status in Greece to worldwide appeal. The past 12 years have been especially significant, with Papaioannou picking up a bevy of international co-productions, including Since She (2018), the first time an artist has directed the Tanztheater Wuppertal since its founder, Bausch, passed away in 2009.
“I became super young again. It’s like those years gave me things that I’d already accepted I would live without.”
In knitting together the visual and the choreographic sides of his practice, Dimitris Papaioannou has spent much of the past five years making drawings — fast, but meditational. Theatre forces him to communicate and collaborate with others, easing him away from his naturally solitary nature. When he’s alone, all he needs is a pen and paper.
The Patrick & Joan Leigh Fermor House in Kardamyli, Mani, is cared for by the Benaki Museum, which hosted Dimitris there for a week-long residency in April 2026.
From “Staging Desires”, Dimitris Papaioannou in conversation with Joe Bobowicz Joe Bobowicz for 10 Magazine, Autumn Winter 2026. In print from 18 September 2026.
[read the full interview in previous post]
