Andonis Foniadakis
Andonis Foniadakis is from the small city of Ierapetra in the south of Crete, Greece. He began his early dance training with Niki Papadaki at a local dance school, and from 1990-1992 continued his studies at the State Dance School of Athens. Prior to his graduation he received the prestigious Maria Callas Scholarship which allowed him to train at Rudra Bejart Lausanne, Switzerland from 1992-1994.
As a dancer Andonis has performed with Béjart Ballet Lausanne (1994-1996) under the direction of Maurice Bejart; Lyon Opera Ballet (1996-2002) under the direction of Yorgos Loukos; Saburo Teshigawara / Karas Company (2004) under the direction of Saburo Teshigawara; and his own dance Company, Apotosoma. He has also performed works by choreographers such as Maguy Marin, Jiri Kylian, William Forsythe, Dominique Boivin, Nacho Duato, Mats Ek, Maurice Bejart, Ohad Naharin, Frederic Flamand, Bill T Jones, Herve Robbe, Tero Saarinen, Lionel Hoche, Joachim Schlomer, John Jasperse and Saburo Teshigawara.
As a freelance choreographer Andonis has created works for Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, Geneva Ballet, Lyon Opera Ballet, Bern Ballet, Ballet du Rhin, MaggioDanza, National Dance Company of Wales, Dansgroep Amsterdam, Cia Sociedade Masculina-Brazil, Bale da Cidade of Sao Paulo Brazil, Helsinki Dance Company Finland, National Ballet of Greece, National Theatre Northern Greece, Benjamin Millepied Dance Company USA, Washington Ballet, Bejart Ballet Lausanne, Ballet Junior Geneva, Hellenic Dance Company, CNSMD Lyon and Copenhagen International Dance Festival. He has also been commissioned to choreograph two operas: Opera National du Rhin’s Les boreades of Rameau and Grame’s Il canto de la pelle of Claudio Ambrosini.
In 2012 he received the Danza and Danza Award for Best Choreography 2012 in Italy for the creation of Les Noces with MaggioDanza.
He has also worked as movement coordinator for the highly anticipated film Noah by Darren Aronofsky which will premiere in 2014.
In addition to creating and performing, Andonis regularly teaches seminars centred on his own dance technique for institutions such as the State Dance School of Greece, DAN.C.CE Studios and Baile de Barrio in Athens, Suzanne Dellal Center in Tel Aviv, DOCK11 in Berlin, CND and CNSMD in Lyon, Dansgroep Amsterdam, Henny Jurriens Studio Amsterdam and Kuopio Dance Festival.
Adonis’s dance company Apotosoma started in 2003 in Lyon France. His works have been performed in France, Greece, Italy, Finland, Luxembourg, England and USA.
In 2014, Andonis created a new work for Sydney Dance Company as part of the season Louder Than Words.