«Ὡς χαρίεν ἔστ’ ἄνθρωπος, ὅταν ἄνθρωπος ᾖ»
(How beautiful is the human when he is truly human)
Throughout their residency, choreographers and dancers Danae & Dionysos will create the work “Δράκος – Hymn of Decay” (Drakos).
This five-dancer performance aspires to reveal the human being and everything that surrounds them in their most truthful form: where everything is born from what has been lived and from what never had the chance to be completed.
Key to the work is the relationship between dance and garment: through a collaboration with a Greek artisanal brand, Ancient Kallos, the choreographers relate to their cultural heritage, mythology and traditional Greek embroidery techniques, embodying the connection between memory, time and contemporary creation.
Danae & Dionysios
Danae & Dionysios are choreographers and dancers from Greece and the Philippines, and the artistic directors of the dance company Small Axe AMKE. They have been collaborating since 2015. Their choreographic journey includes commissioned works for Skånes Dansteater in Sweden, Scapino Ballet Rotterdamin the Netherlands, and Staatstheater Braunschweig in Germany. Their company has created six productions to date. As performers, they have collaborated with companies such as Akram Khan Company, ZfinMalta Ensemble, Hellenic Dance Company, and Unterwegstheater, among others. Their most recent production, MoJo, created with a special focus on teenage audiences, premiered in Athens in June 2025 and begins its international touring during the 2025–2026 season. UNCIA has received seven awards (including competitions such as Rotterdam International Duet Choreography Competition and the Choreography Competition Hannover) and has toured in 11 countries with more than 80 performances. ATMA has toured across Europe, Asia, and Central–Latin America with over 20 performances. Free At Last was created as a production of Theater Rotterdam and premiered in 2019. It was later taken into the repertoire of Scapino Ballet Rotterdam and presented in more than 30 theaters across the Netherlands. Free At Last: Rerooted was presented at the Athens & Epidaurus Festival in 2021. Valley of the Hummingbirds was commissioned by Staatstheater Braunschweig and premiered in February 2021, receiving highly positive critical acclaim. Fárιsa received two awards at Masdanza and has been presented more than 25 times. Together with Napi, the girl and the bubble, which was supported by Orsolina28, it was funded by the Greek Ministry of Culture for touring in regional Greece, aiming to strengthen the relationship between non-urban communities and contemporary dance. In wind or dust was commissioned by Skånes Dansteater and premiered in March 2024. It subsequently toured for two seasons in the Skåne region. In 2025, with new funding from the Greek Ministry of Culture, Danae and Dionysios toured Jamaica, Mexico and Tanzania, with the aim of sharing Greek contemporary dance with less privileged communities outside Europe. Since its founding in 2022, Small Axe AMKE has received support from the Greek Ministry of Culture on three occasions. Alongside their creative work, they teach in undergraduate and postgraduate dance programs such as Codarts in the Netherlands, Free Bodies in Spain, and PERA School of Performing Arts, among others, and they regularly offer workshops internationally.