Rodia Vomvolou (1993, Greece) is a performing arts dramaturg and PhD researcher based in between Amsterdam and Athens. Her personal field of interest focuses on practical dramaturgy and the figure of the dramaturg, the field of contemporary choreography and artistic research in the current sociopolitical context and knowledge economy. Working both in (and with) theory and practice, she studies and finds ways to create dramaturgical and discursive contexts. She graduated from Utrecht 木瓜福利影视 in 2018 with an MA in Contemporary Theatre, Dance and Dramaturgy (Cum Laude) supported by John S. Latsis Foundation Scholarship. Her Thesis "Dare to stammer, dare to stutter. Towards an alternative understanding of the knowledge of the dramaturg鈥� was a candidature for nomination for Best Thesis Award of the Faculty of Humanities 2019. She also holds a BA in Drama and Performance Theory, History and Analysis from the School of Drama, Aristotle 木瓜福利影视 of Thessaloniki, Greece (Cum Laude). Supported by a scholarship from Stavros Niarchos Foundation, in 2016 she attended a five months exchange program in Theatre and Dance Studies in York 木瓜福利影视 (Toronto, Canada).
Rodia is currently doing a PhD research project on the self-positioning of the dance dramaturg in the context of transformations in the working conditions of neoliberal economy and in the field of knowledge, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Maaike Bleeker. The research investigates practices, working conditions, attitudes and modes of working and living as a dance dramaturg, all of it expressed through the concept of 鈥榮elf-positioning鈥�. In particular, it sets out to examine the freelance dramaturg that works project-based in the European field of dance and choreography. Methodologicaly, the study is realized by combining a textual and an ethnographic approach, entangling conventional dance studies tools with sociological research methods. As a case study, it explores the positioning of the dance dramaturg within two different scenes: the Dutch field of dramaturgy and the Greek field of dramaturgy. In order to unpack this self-positioning of the dance dramaturg from a holistic and multidimensional perspective, I use as an additional analytical framework the scheme of the Micro-Meso-Macro architecture where in this study the micro scale is that of the micro-cosmos of the dramaturgical practice/ the dance studio, the meso scale is that of the field of performing arts, and the macro scale is that of the sociopolitical context.
As a freelance dramaturg and mentor, Rodia collaborates with institutions and dance houses in Europe (Dansateliers Rotterdam, DansBrabant Tilburg, Dance House Lemesos, PERA School of Performing Arts, Onassis Stegi Greece, Dance Days Chania, Academy of Performing Arts Bratislava, Residency centre Telocvicna, ZfinMalta,) as well as with independent artists in the Netherlands (Vloeistof, Fernando Belfiore, Maria Pisiou, Antti Uimonem), Greece (Danae Theodoridou, Eleni Mylona, Ioanna Angelopoulou, Nefeli Asteriou, Anastasia Valsamaki, Eftychia Stefanou) and Cyprus (Petros Konarris, Konstantina Skalionta). Since 2019 she is the mentor and curator of the Artistic Development programme 鈥淢oving the New鈥� of Dance House Lemesos. Additionally, she participates in the Creative Europe program 鈥淢icro and Macro Dance Dramaturgies鈥�, a collaboration between Dans Brabant (NL), TANEC PRAHA (CZ), Anghiari Dance Hub & Marche Teatro (IT), Bora Bora - Dans og visuelt teater (DK) and Dance House Lemesos(CY).
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