My personal development as an artist and individual has been affected by the evolution of ideas about identity and globalization. As a Greek choreographer, I am always interested in examining a wide range of issues such as individuality, oppression, and restrictions in our social framework, the pain of—personal or forced—exile, and the current political and cultural crisis. A common element of all these issues is the following question: Who and what determines the term identity?
Until some decades ago, it seemed quite obvious that identity was defined by the concept of nation-states. In this case, identity could be characterized as national, and it was usually perceived as the common share of a series of values among people of a certain territorial space. Language, history, culture, religion, and common experiences were and still are regarded as the basic elements of people’s identity. Despite the fact that globalization nowadays seems to question the conventional definition of space and the concept of identity, people, in periods of crisis, tend to move “backwards” to find their original roots. This kind of “movement,” as a symptom of radicalization, sometimes can be interpreted as a collective submergence into the common past.
After many years of working with different people all over the world, I have experienced “movement” not only as a physical term but also as a geographical and political term. On the one hand, traveling from Europe to Asia and from America to North Africa and the Middle East, I have come to a strong realization that identity is not necessarily determined within the strict framework of space and place. Move-ability and e-motion do not know borders. On the other hand, no matter where we travel, our identity travels along with us, within our bodies. It is a “topos” (Greek word for land), a place we keep going back to, an archive we draw from and upon, which needs to be researched to keep us moving forward.
The physicality of the body and human emotions are the strong bonds that connect all different nations, identities, and cultures. The definition of new, commonly shared values among artists generates a new kind of identity. The pain of the body, the excitement of creativity, the need for inspiration, and the importance of exploring new places (existing or non-existing) are the same throughout the world of an artist. These elements tend to construct a new kind of identity—one that moves away from conventional concepts. This identity is not exclusive, as most identities seem to be, but it is open and sometimes even abstract, in the sense that it can potentially include all people.
Each nation has different characteristics in its movements—the way of walking, dancing, and standing. Yet this kind of identity can be easily affected through interaction with others. In a world moving extremely fast, are we aware of our identity? Is our identity traveling with us? How do we find who we really are?
Only inside movement may we finally find who we really are…