“Hounds of Madness”: A Site-Specific Dance Performance at the Archaeological Museum of Thebes

Hounds of Madness draws inspiration from the Chorus of Euripides’ Bacchae, exploring the notions of collectivity, ritual, and ecstasy. Through movement, voice, and music, this choreographic work highlights the autonomous artistic essence of the Chorus as a collective formed by a group of women who support one another and connect with both tenderness and sharpness. It is an invitation to a game of transformations and assertions, defying the fear rooted in our bodies. What unites us, what propels us, and what liberates us in a world increasingly driven by terror?

Drawing material from the earliest surviving fictional record of the self-determination of the female body, Hounds of Madness makes visible a group of women with and without sensory and mobility disabilities. A group that in contemporary Greece rarely finds the space to exist -both in society and on stage- much like the women of Thebes who fled to Mount Cithaeron in defiance of patriarchal mandates in Euripides’ work.

A site-specific performance that bridges historical traces with contemporary readings of the role of women as subjects of resistance and emancipation in the self-determination of their bodies. A transcendent dance in a post-Bacchic universe.

The production is presented within the framework of the Ministry of Culture’s 2025 program “All of Greece, One Culture.”

Credits

Concept: Maria Koliopoulou, Vasia Baketea
Choreography: Maria Koliopoulou
Performance: Katerina Gevetzi, Christina Karagianni, Ino Riga, Dimi Papathanasiou, Ismini Sljiper
Artistic Collaboration: Mariza Vinieratou
Original Music Composition: Giannis Isidorou

Dramaturgy Consultant: Betina Panagiotara
Vocal Dramaturgy/Preparation: Anna Pagalou
Costume Design: Vasia Baketea
Lighting Design: Thomas Oikonomakos
Accessibility Consultant for blind and visually impaired audiences: Smaragda Vagia
Production Assistant: Ioanna Kyriaki Adamopoulou
Communications: Evangelia Skrobola
Video: Aspa Siokou
Photography: Maria Koliopoulou

Production: Prosxima Contemporary Dance Company AMKE

Presented within the framework of the Ministry of Culture’s 2025 program “All of Greece, One Culture.”

Duration: 50 minutes