DYCP Vanio Papadelli
About Vanio
I'm an interdisciplinary performance artist and educator. With movement at the core of my practice, I interact with other media including text, video, everyday objects and natural materials to create intimate, multi-layered, poetic and surreal environments as spaces of connection, reminiscence and change.
My work is based on collaborative and interdisciplinary processes and has travelled in Greece, the UK, Italy, Poland, Germany, Egypt and Lebanon. I have dealt especially with mother-daughter relationships, female friendships, experiences of giving birth and mothering. Feminism, eco-somatics, ritual and phenomenology are major fields of inspiration turning my work into a palimpsest of real, remembered, felt and visually layered spaces of encounter.
Performance projects
Laughing Gas - solo
Laughing Gas is an autoethnographic performance research project by Vanio Papadelli that reflects on the complex realities of the use of language and physical handling in maternity care settings. It advocates for treating childbirth as a life-affirming rite of passage against the often highly medicalised, invasive, patronising and sexist approaches to the birthing person or mother.
Presented as a site-responsive solo performance installation at Oxytocin Collective Care festival (Middlesex University, May 2023), Laughing Gas combined movement, text as audio, objects and audience interaction.
Other outputs of Laughing Gas include two conference papers, workshops with women on their birth experience and a visual essay (upcoming publication).
Laughing Gas - mixed media photo and video experiments
Images by Katie Edwards
Testimonials from the performance:
' Vanio presented a visually arresting and engaging participatory performance of Laughing Gas at Oxytocin Collective Care 2023. Her work poetically asks us to stop, listen and pay attention to the flaws of the birthing system and the consequences falling on birthing people. ' SLQS, Producer at Oxytocin Collective Care 2023 for Procreate Project.
Feedback from women participants in workshops exploring their birthing experience:
"...Sharing her own experience as a mother and utilizing various techniques from her artistic practice, Vanio’s sessions contained moments of revelation for me, both on a personal and artistic level. The care and attention she brought to every indication and her precision and clarity in formulating every request provided me with confidence and ease and helped me dig into unknown places. The choices she made in the procession of each of the three sessions and the links she created with the natural world and the arts were very inspiring. I am grateful to have had the chance to work with Vanio on this topic, and look forward to connecting with her more deeply in the future."
"What a unique gift! We shared stories, we listened to each other, we danced and laughed and moved together... AND I was given a chance to go back in time and really delve deep into the beginning of it all: the birth of my child and my birth as a mother."
Laughing Gas promo video - Oxytocin 2023
CANDID - duet
CANDID is made of Tania Batzoglou and Vanio Papadelli. In 2013 they gave a promise - to present every year an artistic project based on how their relationship evolves over time. CANDID has become a performance ritual that celebrates long lasting friendships and has been presented as live performance, installation, film and multimodal writing.
CANDID is a collaborative project born out of common experiences that generated shared references but also potential seeds of competition. It unfolds as a ‘truth or dare’ game - dangerous, revealing and rewarding - that weaves the stories of two women who candidly deconstruct and reinvent themselves through movement, words, touch and metaphor.
CANDID is a collage not only of our friendship but also a palimpsest of other women. The real, the mythical and the imaginary are reflected and merged, unveiling and blending memories and stories - both personal and collective.
Images by Yiannis Katsaris
CANDID 2013-today:
LONDON: GREENHOUSE CAFE performance installation
TWOFOLD platform, BIRKBECK University (London)
ImpFest (London)
THE LION AND THE UNICORN THEATRE
(GOlive-GOlab platform)London Buddhist Arts Centre
ANTIPA Gallery (London)
EILISSOS (Athens)
Blue Elephant Theatre (London)
CANDID (contemplative film by Yue Wang)
Video by Yiannis Katsaris
'I found the closing scene extremely emotional and satisfying. The videos produced a beautiful visual canvas upon which the dialogue took an ethereal dimension' (audience member)
'...poetic...mesmerising...universal' (M.A., audience member)
'Your performance left me emotionally paralysed. I was thinking about it all night, it was so honest and so brave...and I am not even sure if brave is the right word for the way you exposed yourselves. It reminded the books of Elena Ferrante.' Emma Bennett (audience member)
'The rejection of theatrical conventions and the pair’s bold use of body language have a cathartic outcome and I ended up relating both to them and and to the discomfort their relationship caused them. Towards the end of the performance I enjoyed watching the pair spit accusations at one another, especially as this became physical, with the help of some melons and lemons. Where the narrative went astray, symbolism filled in the gaps and took centre stage.' Review by Marianna Meloni, Everything Theatre, 17 Dec 2016
The Air Changes the Colour of Things Here... - solo
2009-14: THE AIR CHANGES THE COLOUR OF THINGS HERE… dance-theatre solo
LONDON: LOST Theatre One Act Festival, LEWISHAM ART GALLERY, HACKNEY EMPIRE, SHUNT Vaults, Moving Moveable Feast, GO-LIVE
BEIRUT: ZOUKAK Theatre, Sidewalks
Photo Vasilis Giziakis
Photo Jason Wen
Photo Dafne Louzioti
Photo Chiara Contrino
'... Vanio Papadelli, making conversations with her lost mother, took the stones in her hand both metaphorically and physically and was certainly one of those gems. The Air Changes the Colour of Things Here, on 29 March, drew on memory, autobiography, and fiction. Papadelli spoke throughout, the depth of her voice commanding yet tentative, dominating yet vulnerable. Her voice and movements meshed into something somewhat brutal and ugly. Her fidgeting body curled up on a fur rug closely surrounded by her audience, sitting on the floor, set up the intimacy of the coming conversation... Just as the moonlight appeared outside the three arched windows, the lighting dimmed to reveal a Madonna-like figure, framed like an altarpiece by the architecture of the hall. A video projected onto her body as she sat on the windowsill of the central tall arched window seemed to resolve the emotional trauma of her journey.' (Rebecca JS Nice, Total Theatre, 21 April 2014)
'...An unusual and all encompassing piece of theatre ... Papadelli evidently has a secure grasp of the power of simplicity on stage, creating striking images with simply a rug and atmospheric writing. The movement is fluid and complemented by the sound of rain on a marble floor... I have to admire this dedicated, inventive and accomplished work' (Paul Vale)
Teaching - Community arts facilitation
I have 20 years of teaching experience as a lecturer and freelance teacher. My career in education started by offering cross-curricular drama and movement skills to primary school children in Athens and London (Artis, Caboodle). Since 2009, I have been working regularly across different HE institutions (Goldsmiths, Rose Bruford College, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance) as a module leader, lecturer and mentor and have also taught as a VL in other Universities and Conservatoires (Middlesex, LAMDA, Drama Studio). In 2022, I became a Fellow of Higher Education Academy (FHEA).
As a freelancer, I have (co-)facilitated various movement classes, workshops and community events with people from mixed backgrounds and abilities (Caxton Community Centre, DECODA Summer Dance Festival - Coventry, CON/Verge residency - Ponderosa, Germany, Chisenhale Dance Space, Tripspace, London Buddhist Arts Centre, Eilissos Theatre & Present Body - Athens), Creating Ground, Chisenhale Dance, Bromley Greek Language school.
Testimonials
'Thank you for holding a safe and explorative space for my mind, body and soul over the past 3 years...your classes have a been a breath of fresh air... Thank you for supporting, inspiring and pushing me - I am forever grateful' Jasmin, student Rose Bruford College
'Thank you so much for this year! You have given us an incredible space to learn in and we are so grateful for everything you have brought to us' Anja, student Rose Bruford College
It has been a pleasure to work with Vanio on this workshop! She is overflowing with creative ideas and her curiosity and passion on mental health issues is infectious . She combines professionalism,warmth and enthusiasm as well as a deeply humane empathetic approach that was moving for both me as her co-facilitator and the attendees. She also combines an expertise in embodied movement with awareness on complex mental health issues such as boundary setting within a parent-child relationship. She created a very welcoming atmosphere and attendees felt safe to explore and experiment with their own boundaries
Dr Tzelika Zoumbouli (co-facilitator of workshop for parents, Bromley Greek Language school)
Vanio is a warm, insightful, and generous facilitator. She brings deep integrity and care to her work, underpinned by thorough research and considered planning. In our collaboration, I saw how she skillfully wove movement and mindfulness with enquiry and creativity, creating a supportive and respectful environment where women felt both safe and inspired to share. Her approach is grounded yet imaginative, and she holds space with a gentle authority that encourages trust. Vanio is also deeply curious and open, and our conversations about art, embodiment, and cultural identity have been rich and generative.
Rakhee Jasani, (co-facilitator Write Moves, intergenerational project for women)
