A short interview with Dimitris Papaioannou on Istanbul, Pina Bausch and "Seit sie"

Dimitris Papaioannou- Portrait (Photo: Julian Mommert)

At the end of November, when I was at Megaron Hall in Athens to attend the final performances of Dimitris Papaioannou’s The Great Tamer, I was introduced, in the foyer, to a lady by my Greek friend: Vicky Marangopoulou, the founder and former artistic director of the Kalamata Dance Festival, Greece's most famous and well-established dance festival. When my friend told her that I came all the way from Istanbul just to watch this piece, Ms. Marangopoulou said with her sparkling eyes: “Years ago, the director of your festival, Dikmen [She refers to Dikmen Gürün, who was the director of the Istanbul Theater Festival between years 1993-2012] asked me to recommend a Greek company, and I told her Papaioannou's Medea.” In other words, before Papaioannou became famous with the Opening and Closing ceremonies of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, and long before he became a sought-after and praised figure worldwide in the last three years, Ms. Marangopoulou was the one to whom the Istanbul audience should be grateful for their introduction to and admiration of Papaioannou as a director and performer in 2000 with his Medea that is still considered one of his masterpieces. So, why is the Istanbul audience who knew Papaioannou for years, deprived of his latest works, for example The Great Tamer, that toured in 38 cities of 23 countries in the last 2.5 years.

My first question to Papaioannou is this: Why don't you come to Istanbul anymore?
"Istanbul is a city where I performed in front of Pina Bausch, where I met her for the first time. It is special for me. Of course I would like to come to Istanbul again with my works. 2.5 years ago at the premiere of The Great Tamer in Athens the director of Istanbul Theatre Festival [He refers to Leman Yılmaz, who is the director of the festival since 2012] came and she wanted the piece but she said that she couldn’t invite it. It seems that you became very conservative and you began not to invite shows with nudity. We have been to Russia three times; with Primal Matter once and with The Great Tamer two times first to Moscow and then to St. Petersburg [as part of Theatre Olympics]. Maybe the curators in Russia are much more courageous.”

What is the first piece you watched by Pina Bausch?
“Café Müller. It changed my life. I saw it live. My dance teacher showed me some extracts and took me to Café Müller.”

What is your favorite piece by Pina Bausch?
 “1980.”

Seit Sie (Photo: Julian Mommert)

Seit Sie (Photo: Julian Mommert)

Seit Sie (Photo: Julian Mommert)

Alan Lucien Øyen, who was commissioned to create the second new work after you for Bausch’s company, said in an interview that he knew Bausch’s name but never watched a piece of hers until he received this offer. On the other hand you've known Bausch's works for a long time; you've watched many of them, you're always saying that you admire her and that you're influenced by her art. In this respect, has it been difficult for you to create a piece with her company?
“When I said yes to the Olympic Games in Athens, the first thing that I asked to myself was “Are you going to be accepting the glorious classical tradition of Greece, that has been exploited through the years and have been used for national identity, and all that, or are you going to go against that?” and very quickly I said to myself “of course you are going to accept it. This is no instance to try to be smart.” If you are really smart you just accept the masterpieces. If they have been exploited touristically, it’s not your business. So I’m very peaceful with myself. 
The same thing I asked with Pina. “Are you going to try to be different?” No, you are going to just be honest and if you are playing with her style or if you are not playing with her style, let it manifest, don’t try to be smart. 
It was not difficult for me. What was difficult for me was practically to make the show, nothing else was difficult. Emotionally I tried to be clear, I have great love for Pina. The nightmare part of the procedure was the limitation of time. Because all other difficulties - because I had a lot of other difficulties - they were kind of inevitable; a different space, a different production machine, artists that for the first time have somebody else who tells them what to do. All these obstacles ok, but the time was the most important one.”

Are you satisfied with Seit sie?
“I was very happy that I did it. Performed amazingly by this wonderful company. Of course it is an unfinished work; since the premiere it evolved a lot. I’m happy with the approach and with the encounter, but it was very stressful for me to create something in such a brief amount of time. For example, in recent years I have used almost no music in my works or ironically when I used it, but in Seit sie I failed completely. I could not make it without music because I had a very short time. So I tried to create layers of music, Western and Eastern. Still, that is a little bit on a decorative side, I couldn’t go very deep in, because my idea was to interweave the musics of the world on top of each other. But I could not use the cacophonie there. 
Also, Seit sie happened one year after the premier of The Great Tamer. For me this is too early in order to do something very different. I usually do one new piece every two years. I had a lot of ideas from The Great Tamer that merged into Seit sie.”

So, you demand time to create your works?
“I need time. If I have to create something that does not have a lot of music, that has some kind of refinement, I need time.”

Dimitris Papaioannou- Portrait (Photo: Julian Mommert)