Teaching • training• coaching
I have over 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 | Bromley Greek Language school). I have also taught yoga in studios (Ground Yoga/Hourglass Coffee, The Well Garden).
In 2013, I was invited by Zoukak Theatre (Beirut) to do a residency at their Festival Sidewalks (sponsored by the British Council) and gave a workshop, talk & performance. In 2015, I co-organised the 2015 ECITE (European Contact Improvisation Teachers Exchange) in PAF, France and was responsible for the research strand of the festival.
Freelance teaching - Community arts
I've always been interested in expanding and making my work more accessible across different communities of people.
As part of a Fellowship in Accessible Performance Practice (Rose Bruford College), I worked as a movement tutor and director for the D/deaf and disabled young artists of the Ensemble 2018 Train: Training Programme, GRAEAE. I was then invited to work as a movement director in the production Romeo and Juliet (Orange Tree Theatre, 2019, dir. Nathan Crossan-Smith) that toured secondary schools.
In September 2024, I completed the "Dance and Health: Advancing your Practice CPD programme" designed by Emily Jenkins (Move Dance Feel) in partnership with Kate Rogan, Helen Kindred and Sian Hopkins of Middlesex University Dance Department. This programme offered me invaluable skills for working with dance and movement in health and community settings.
In July 2025, I completed my Postgraduate Diploma in the Therapeutic Arts from the Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education (IATE). An incredible internal journey through the therapeutic application of different artforms - Art, Clay, Drama, Poetry, Sandplay, Music, Movement and Bodywork, Puppetry. It has been a thorough foundation for working with the arts collaboratively to address mental health issues and has equipped me to work in a trauma-informed and sensitive way based on empathy, listening, grounding and attunement.
I'm keen to apply all this knowledge in further work with different community groups. By integrating activities of movement combined with drama, poetry and the arts, I'm able to accommodate different sensory and learning needs and preferences.
My community-engaged combined arts classes and workshops seek to build a strong sense of belonging, community, confidence and wellbeing.
Some of the benefits include:
Create, connect and grow together – Making something side by side with others builds joy, confidence, and a real sense of belonging. The energy and motivation from this experience ripple into many other parts of life.
See yourself in new ways – Through movement and art, you can discover fresh perspectives and uplifting feelings about who you are, opening space for meaningful personal change.
Find comfort in your body – My sessions invite you to connect with your body as a friend and partner, helping ease attention away from stress, pain, or worry.
Tap into hidden creativity – By stepping out of excess thinking, you’ll uncover new layers of imagination and playful self-expression you might not have known were there.
Strengthen a sense of
Image by Alice Underwood
In May 2025, I co-facilitated the workshop Tracing Stories: Body Image Words with Esther Sabetpour Ramnath combining movement, free writing, and photography. We explored themes of identity and memory, tracing and documenting personal narratives in different orders and combinations.
The workshop included:
Embodied storytelling – participants mapped stories written in the body through attention to breath and the senses and explored them through movement.
Self-portraiture & visual triptychs – through photography participants documented meaningful body parts, incorporating fabrics for texture and depth.
Intuitive movement – Movement led by the body's impulses and feelings.
Collaborative image-making – participants captured their experiences and let narratives emerge using mobile photography and guided videography in a safe and playful way.
Reflection & connection – they worked in pairs and participated in creative exchanges in a relaxed and welcoming space.
Testimonials
Vanio and Esther crafted a deeply embodied space for creative inquiry. Held with skill, depth and playfulness, it wove somatic work and authentic expression into an intimate journey of witnessing and being witnessed in our rawest truth. I attended with my 16-year-old daughter, who was truly transformed by the experience and the places she was able to access within herself during the workshop. (Ashka Zasada, yoga teacher/dancer)
Thank you so much for such an amazing workshop on Saturday. I've never attended a movement nor photography workshop before and, not only was it incredibly useful for my skills development, it was also three hours of total joy! (Leon Clowes, transdisciplinary artist)
Esther and Vanio immediately came across as knowledgeable, nurturing, creative and professional...They created a safe, fun and introspective space where I could let my body move without feeling judged, discovering and observing and feeling how the movement and my thoughts intertwined with each other. When the workshop ended, I left feeling lighter and softer in my body and soul. (Ieva Ansaberga, painter)
TRACING STORIES - BODY IMAGE WORDS
SELECTED PAST COMMUNITY PROJECTS AND WORKSHOPS
CREATING BOUNDARIES:
how to say ‘yes’ and ‘no’ to our children.
Interactive workshop / discussion with Dr Tzelika Zoumpouli & Vanio Papadelli
Bromley Greek Language School, May 2025
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)
During the pandemic, I co-designed and co-facilitated with qigong & yoga teacher and creative guide Rakhee Jasani Write Moves , an intergenerational course for women combining yoga, movement, and writing
The project was supported by the Mayor of London’s Culture Seeds, Poplar Union, 2020-2021).
More about the project here
WRITE MOVES
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)
Higher Education teaching
TEACHING AREAS OF EXPERTISE & RESEARCH INTERESTS
Movement (somatic movement, Contact Improvisation, experiential anatomy, Laban/Bartenieff fundamentals, yoga, release-based dance, expressive movement, improvisation).
Physical Theatre (Eastern European ensemble theatre; European dance theatre).
Dance and theatre training.
Body-based and interdisciplinary methodologies of performance making.
History and Theory of 20th and 21st Century European and American performance practice.
Critical perspectives: Phenomenology, ecology, feminism, postmodernism.
Embodied and interdisciplinary approaches to writing.
Tools for practice as research (PaR) methodologies and critical reflective writing.
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).
In designing and planning, I follow a ‘learning-centred approach’ that caters for students’ individual needs and levels of experience. In class, I seek to create focused and inclusive environments where students can discover the richness of their expressive range and overall potential with confidence, pleasure and ease. My classes have a laboratory atmosphere where I propose material and invite adjustments, variations and provocations so that everyone can feel that they are learning together. Trying things out, making mistakes, solving challenges. As a mentor, I am an attentive listener and support students to find out what they are deeply passionate about and fulfil it though methodical steps and by asking the right questions.
I've had the honour to study and train with some wonderful teachers and pioneers in their field. Among those who have influenced my practice are Song of the Goat Theatre (Poland), Farm in the Cave (Czech Republic), Studio Matejka (Poland), Meg Stuart (UK), Nancy Stark Smith (UK/Spain), Charlie Morrissey (UK/Malta), Kirstie Simson (UK), Simonetta Alessandri (UK), Miranda Tufnell (UK) and Naomi Annand (UK).
My movement teaching fuses elements from Eastern European Laboratory theatre and dance-theatre; yoga; somatic movement; postmodern dance; Laban/Bartenieff; Contact Improvisation; and experimental theatre and writing. I have a deep interest in the senses, especially touch as a tool for training, fostering ensemble connection and composing. Cultivating somatic awareness enables students to become curious about how their body works and how it can transform in order to access more heightened levels of expression. Combining experiential anatomy, poetic visualisation, contact, rhythm and impulse-based work, my classes focus on breath-infused receptiveness, playful risk-taking and fine tuning with the self, the partner, and the environment.
~ Finding softness within strength
~ Practising availability
~ Fine tuning awareness
~ Embracing contradiction
~ Cultivating care and curiosity about the inner world of our body and the environment we live in.
Interdisciplinary and multimodal performance, research and writing are additional areas of expertise and artistic research interest.
At TL, in particular, I have a designed a module for the MA/MFA Creative Practice and a 3-week intensive for the MA Choreography that invites language to be experienced as an embodied and choreographic process. By translating textures, temperatures, and states of the sensing/moving body into language, the students learn how to navigate and experiment with different registers of language in their artistic practice more confidently and boldly.
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, BA ETA 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, BA ETA student Rose Bruford College
'Thank you so much for this module and especially your generosity in sharing all the resources. Thank you also for your tutorials - they were probably the best I've ever had!' Jana, MFA Creative Practice student TL
'Writing the Body is extremely well designed, and the content felt both coherent and tailored to our group - in terms of the exercises or experiences we passed through together in class. The assessment task was held in a way that allowed space for many possible responses - a kind of beautiful, demanding openness. I saw my classmates inspired by the content and pushed to engage with it in sophisticated ways' MA Creative Practice student TL
