Christodoulos Panayiotou
Dying on Stage
Performance-lecture
In Dying on Stage, a lecture-performance consisting of YouTube clips, Cypriot artist Christodoulos Panayiotou (CY, 1978, basé à Limassol et Paris) reflects on the spectacle of death. From taboos and tragedies to accidents and idealisations, drawing equally on the metaphysics of tragedy and the triviality of game-shows, the piece presents the outlines of an impossible representation.
Trained in dance, Panayiotou’s inspirations include the 1992 premiere of the ballet La Bayadère, staged by Rudolf Noureev shortly before his death. Dying on Stage assembles extracts from films, operas, concerts and variety shows. From Pasolini to Amy Winehouse via Dalida, this wide-ranging lecture articulates “phantom” images such as these in an extended monologue, punctuated with a segment of a dance performance by Jean Capeille. A love letter to the idea of the spectacle, the performance deconstructs aesthetic hierarchies and unites its audience members around their sole destiny.
