<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; "><a href="http://empac.rpi.edu/events/2012/fall/primal-matter">http://empac.rpi.edu/events/2012/fall/primal-matter</a></span></div><div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; ">PERFORMANCE</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; ">Dimitris Papaioannou: <i>Primal Matter</i></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; ">Saturday, December 8, 2012, 8 PM</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; ">EMPAC Studio 2 </div></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; ">Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; ">FREE - limited seating</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; "><img id="d3b1c889-107e-4316-8c7c-2c105894f275" height="155" width="320" apple-width="yes" apple-height="yes" src="cid:0A7A53A5-5330-41EF-9F2D-58B2BA99B560@nycap.rr.com"></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 14px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; ">As Greece experiences a severe economic and social crisis, and Europe and the United States undergo detrimental shrinking of national arts funding, Dimitris Papaioannou embarks on an artistic and personal challenge: a project using the least possible means—an experiment investigating personal and national identity.<br><br><i>Primal Matter</i> is an optical illusion created by two isolated bodies on stage, which are used as the starting point in this exploratory journey of balancing our physical existence (body) with our second nature (soul), at a time when the issue of paramount concern is, ultimately, what is indispensable—what constitutes the essence.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; "><i>Primal Matter</i> was originally commissioned by the Athens Festival, Greece, and was further developed during an EMPAC artist-in-residence program.</div><div><br></div></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><b>Dimitris Papaioannou</b>’s groundbreaking creative direction of the Athens 2004 opening ceremony—hailed a “triumph” by <i>Time Magazine</i> and <i>The Times of London</i>—is widely considered a high-water mark of large-scale spectacle.<br> <br>Born in Athens, Greece, in 1964, Papaioannou is co-founder of the award-winning Edafos Dance Theatre (1986–2002), where he conceived, directed, and choreographed all of the company's productions. In 2005, he was awarded the Golden Cross of the Order of Honour for outstanding artistic achievement by the president of the Hellenic Republic.<br> <br>Papaioannou spent spring 2010 as a Fulbright scholar, mentored by Laurie Anderson at The Kitchen in New York City.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal Helvetica; "><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; ">+ Dimitris Papaioannou: <a href="http://www.dimitrispapaioannou.com/en/">http://www.dimitrispapaioannou.com/en/</a></div><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; ">+ video from the show (contains nudity): <a href="http://vimeo.com/47444213">http://vimeo.com/47444213</a></div></div></div></div><div><br></div><div><b>This event is free and open to the public. Seating is extremely limited.</b><br><br></div><div><i>Evelyn’s Café will open at 7 PM with a full menu of meals, snacks, and beverages as well as a selection of wines. Service continues after the performance. Parking is available in the Rensselaer parking lot on College Avenue.</i></div><div><br></div><div><div>More information can be found on the EMPAC website: <a href="http://empac.rpi.edu/">empac.rpi.edu</a>. Questions? Call the EMPAC Box Office: 518.276.3921.</div><div><br></div></div><div><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; ">---</div><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; "><br></div><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; "><div><div>The Curtis R. Priem Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC)<br>Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute<br>110 8th Street<br>Troy, NY, 12180</div></div></div></div><div></div><div></div></body></html>