20 Years of DAGIPOLI DANCE Co: The power of diversity on stage – A first glimpse behind the rehearsals

“The company’s work, in its entirety, is discreetly indiscreet. It is a constant subversion of normality by disability, and of disability by normality and physical ability.”

The DAGIPOLI DANCE Co, the unique artistic ensemble in Greece composed of people with physical disabilities, celebrates twenty years of continuous creation and contribution to the field of contemporary dance. To mark this important anniversary, the company presents a special performance, conceived and directed by choreographer, dancer, and founder Giorgos Christakis, at the Greek National Opera’s Alternative Stage at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center on September 20 and 21, 2025, with free admission.

The anniversary performance reflects not only the company’s artistic journey but also its deeper philosophy: that art knows no boundaries and that diversity is a source of strength and inspiration. Since its founding in Athens in 2004, DAGIPOLI DANCE Co, with inclusion and integration at its core, has been exploring the “cohabitation” of bodies with different movement vocabularies, dismantling the boundaries between disability and normality. Its stage language is based on coexistence and equal creative relationships, through constantly shifting morphological forms that subvert stereotypes and roles.

Choreographer, dancer in a wheelchair, and founder of DAGIPOLI DANCE Co, Giorgos Christakis, through his work, highlights the harmonious collaboration of bodies with different motor functions. His choreographies illuminate the beauty of human diversity and the power of inclusion, honoring difference as an organic and integral element of stage practice.

“All these years, our goal has been to explore the ways and spaces of ‘cohabitation’ and encounters between bodies with different functional features and mobility. The perspective of the ‘bodily landscape,’ through the web of encounters between bodies with varied movement vocabularies and the construction of simple or complex morphological forms that constantly alternate, gives the sense that impairments merely exist—since neither the dancer nor the spectator can erase or deny them. They are discreetly present throughout the work, yet often vanish and reappear, overturning roles and the anthropometric scale of the dancers. The company’s work, in its entirety, is discreetly indiscreet. It is a constant reversal of normality by disability, and of disability by normality and physical ability. Because at some point the time comes to redefine not only what art, dance, or theater means to you, but to redefine your very life, your self, your thoughts, your emotions, your relationship with your body. ‘We must not allow the monster to devour us, but find ways to tame it….’ Guided by the philosophy of integration, inclusion, and equal relationships in the creative field, which DAGIPOLI DANCE Co has served all these years, we want to safeguard freedom of expression and fight stereotypes, discrimination, and exclusion,” notes Giorgos Christakis.

About DAGIPOLI DANCE Co

DAGIPOLI DANCE Co is a mixed contemporary dance company founded by Giorgos Christakis in 2004. Its core consists of disabled dancers, performers, and other artists. It became widely known for its sustained activity in Greece and abroad, collaborating with distinguished and acclaimed partners in dance, music, and theater who have accompanied it throughout this daring journey. The company has earned recognition and respect and established itself through equal partnerships, leaving a strong mark on the contemporary landscape of art and disability.

Its journey includes major milestones around the world: from the United States (The Kennedy Center, Washington) to Russia (Moscow National Theater), to emblematic Greek venues (Odeon of Herodes Atticus, Athens Concert Hall), across Europe (Piccolo Teatro di Milano, UK, Edinburgh, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Spain, Poland, Romania), and as far as China.

In numbers, DAGIPOLI DANCE Co celebrates twenty years, hundreds of performances, presentations, and educational workshops in Greece and abroad, as well as numerous collaborations with leading names in art and culture.

Music and text open a distinctive dialogue with movement and the body, aligning with the new movement vocabulary that emerges through the creative interplay of bodies with different functional characteristics.