Andonis Foniadakis
Andonis Foniadakis grew up in the city of Ierapetra, in the south of the island of Crete, Greece. He began his dance training with Niki Papadaki at the local dance school in his hometown. From 1990 to 1992, he studied at the Athens State School of Dance, after which he was awarded the prestigious Maria Callas Scholarship to continue his studies at the Rudra Béjart School-Workshop in Lausanne, Switzerland, until 1994.
As a dancer, Andonis collaborated with several companies: Béjart Ballet Lausanne (1994–1996) under the direction of Maurice Béjart, the Ballet de l’Opéra de Lyon (1996–2002) under the direction of Yorgos Loukos, and Karas Co. (2004) under the direction of Saburo Teshigawara.
During his years with these companies, he performed numerous choreographic works, including those by Maguy Marin, Jiří Kylián, William Forsythe, Dominique Boivin, Nacho Duato, Mats Ek, Maurice Béjart, Ohad Naharin, Frédéric Flamand, Bill T. Jones, Hervé Robbe, Tero Saarinen, Lionel Hoche, Joachim Schlömer, John Jasperse, Saburo Teshigawara, and others.
As an independent choreographer, he has collaborated with many companies, including: Sydney Dance Company; CCN Ballet de Lorraine; Martha Graham Dance Company; Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet; Ballet of the Grand Théâtre de Genève; Ballet de l’Opéra de Lyon; Ballet Jazz de Montréal; Bern Ballett; Ballet du Rhin; Maggio Danza; National Dance Company of Wales; Dansgroep Amsterdam; Cia Sociedade Masculina (Brazil); Balé da Cidade de São Paulo (Brazil); Helsinki Dance Company (Finland); National Ballet of Greece; National Theatre of Northern Greece; Benjamin Millepied Dance Company (USA); Washington Ballet; Béjart Ballet Lausanne; Ballet Junior Genève; Hellenic Dance Company; CNSMD Lyon; and Copenhagen International Dance.
In 2003, Andonis Foniadakis founded his own dance company, Apotosoma, in Lyon, France. Since then, he has presented his creations in France, Greece, Italy, Finland, Luxembourg, Germany, England, and the United States.
In 2012, he received the Danza & Danza Award for Best Choreographer in Italy for his creation Les Noces for Maggio Danza.
In 2014, he collaborated with filmmaker Darren Aronofsky as a movement coordinator on the film NOAH. In 2018, he won the Award for Best Choreography from the Union of Music and Theatre Critics in Greece for his full-length work Galaxy. Between 2016 and 2018, he served as Artistic Director of the National Ballet of Greece.
In addition to creating and performing, Andonis Foniadakis teaches through seminars based on his dance technique. He has taught, among others, at the Athens State School of Dance; DAN.C.CE Studios and Baile de Barrio in Athens; DOCK11 in Berlin; CND and CNSMD in Lyon; Dansgroep Amsterdam; Henny Jurriens Studio in Amsterdam; Kuopio Dance Festival; CCN Ballet de Lorraine; Martha Graham Dance Studios; and Broadway Dance Center.