about
lia tsolaki was born in athens, greece. she completed the first year of the theatre dance course at the london studio centre and she graduated from the higher professional dance school “niki kontaxaki” in athens. granted with a fulbright scholarship, she studied at trisha brown dance company nyc, while she attended workshops at movement research and dance space.
a choreographer herself, she has collaborated with the greek art theatre “karolos koun”, the athens festival and the national theatre of greece, with the directors g. lazanis, d. chronopoulos, d. degaitis, th. grampsas, d. lignadis. she has also created the choreography of boris godunov opera for the metropolitan opera of new york. for ten years she was the permanent choreographer for peter stein’s works. she has created the choreography of the play “electra” staged in epidaurus, new york and seoul, the opera “mackbeth” staged at salzburg festival and the rome opera house, as well as the opera “the nose” staged at the zurich opera house, the rome opera house and the finnish national opera. in june 2013 she created the choreography of the opera “don carlos” for salzburg festival, while in march 2014 she choreographed the opera “aida” at the stanislavsky music theatre in moscow, both directed by peter stein.
lia tsolaki's first solo choreographic production was “PARKing” in 2012. "PARKing" studied changing human behaviours through the cycle of the seasons. It was staged at michael cacoyannis foundation in athens and was performed again in may 2013 at vyrsodepseio theatre in the frame of the arc for dance festival in athens. her second production "aROUND" is a new perspective on the discourse around the cyclical moving both action and thought into a new thematic context: that of the game. "aROUND" was staged at onassis cultural centre, in athens, in the frame of the 2nd young choreographers festival in february 2015. lia tsolaki's third production is "SUNDAY". "SUNDAY" is a collaboration with the musician and composer robyn schulkowsky. the two artists started a research in october 2014 on the day sunday, involving dancers and musicians and they will go on with their research for the next two years. "SUNDAY"'s first block of rehearsals and "a work in progress" unofficial presentation was a production of goethe institute athens. lia tsolaki's fourth production is "FLUX". the choreographer sets out to further explore the double meaning that arises from taking up roles, gender roles and beyond that. "FLUX" was staged and produced at the athens and epidaurus festival in july 2016 and was revived in hannover, kunstfestspiele herrenhausen, in may 2017.
lia tsolaki teaches contemporary dance at drama and dance schools. she has collaborated with the athens drama school “y. theodosiades” (2007-2012), with the greek art theatre “karolos koun” as a chorus trainer in the productions “half a century of aristophanes” and “the assembly-women” (epidaurus) as well as the school dan.c.ce - dance cultural centre in athens.
the last years lia has deepened her knowledge in her yoga practice and teaches group, personal and online yoga classes. she also conducts yoga retreats.