Dionysia Bouzioti

I am an award-winning practice-based researcher, theatre/film director and choreographer.

In 2010 I graduated (BA) with First-Class Honours from the Department of Theatre Studies at the National and Kapodestrian University of Athens. My main interest was located in philosophical and psychological approaches in the field of performance analysis. Starting from semiotics, I embarked on the theory of phenomenology to translate into Greek Garner’s Bodied Spaces: Phenomenology and Performance in Contemporary Drama.

In 2013 I obtained my MA degree with distinction from the same Department. My MA thesis Medical Phenomenology in Drama: An Introduction to the Interpretation of the Absent and the Suffering Body was based on Drew Leder's work The Absent Body and employed medical phenomenology to analyse psychosomatic manifestations of pain in contemporary European and American drama. My paper entitled Phenomenology of Pain and the Suffering Body in Ancient Greek Tragedy: Five Works (2017, 1: 69-84) has received much attention as the first to introduce a phenomenological analysis of the tragic body and cultivated the ground for my PhD research.

My doctoral thesis Embodying Greek Tragedy: Phenomenological Explorations of the Suffering Body in Theory and Practice was awarded the University Research Scholarship (2017-2022) at the School of Performance and Cultural Industries, University of Leeds. In 2018, my practice research was funded by CePRA and in 2019 it received the AHC Research Dissemination Award. Drawing on the theory of Husserl, Merleau-Ponty and Leder, the thesis bridges theory with practice to establish a phenomenological model in PaR, especially in the context of theatre directing and psychophysical performer training.

The final practical piece of my doctoral research shifted online due to the pandemic and was readapted into the dance film Medea Inside (2021). The piece is the first feature film to be directed remotely, particularly during a global crisis. As such, it received enthusiastic reviews, as well as nominations and awards from festival organisations and Higher Education institutions in Europe, the United Kingdom and the USA (Milan Gold Awards; London's Falcon Film Festival; Budapest Film Festival; WSXA Amsterdam International Festival; Showcase Extravaganza 2022; Out of Chaos Competition supported by BADA and the Center for Hellenic Studies at Harvard University). In addition, the film is donated to the APGRD archive of the University of Oxford.

I am currently working on three publications, one of which is concerned with the research findings from activities used during performer training that proved beneficial for the research subjects’ physical and mental health. The second publication clarifies the methodology of phenomenological-empirical research by proposing a model for interview and questionnaire design in the field of practice-based research (PaR) and arts-based research (ABR) as there is a lack of corresponding models in the specific fields. The third article examines Tele-Directing and Self-Filming as Self-Taught Opportunities in Director Training. My last three performances, namely, Prometheus Immobile (2018), Bacchae in Absentia (2019) and Medea Inside (2021) are considered Practice-as-research (PaR) outputs.

As an LHRI Research Fellow, I will be investigating further tele-directing and the ways its application can benefit underdeveloped, economically deprived, vulnerable, or geographically remote communities.

Qualifications

• PhD
• AFHEA
• MA
• BA

Research Interests

• Dance, Theatre and Performance
• Phenomenology
• Medical Phenomenology
• Psychology
• Pain, trauma and suffering
• Performer Training
• Theatre and Film Directing
• Remote Directing (Tele-directing) and Applied Theatre
• Greek Tragedy

Awards

University Research Scholarship (2017-2021)

CePRA, University of Leeds (2018)

AHC Research Dissemination Award, University of Leeds (2019)

Publications

Bouzioti, D. 2022. Embodying Greek Tragedy: Phenomenological Explorations of the Suffering Body in Theory and Practice. E-Thesis. University of Leeds.

Bouzioti, D. 2018. Vasilis Andreopoulos; Social and Political Reflections of the period 1960-1970. 2018. Theatre and Democracy. Conference Proceedings. University of Athens Press. 2, pp. 215- 228

Bouzioti, D. 2017. Phenomenology of Pain and the Suffering Body in Greek Tragedy. World Theatre: Praxis, Dramaturgy,Theory. Conference Proceedings. University of Athens Press. 1, pp. 69-84

Professional Memberships

Higher Education Academy (Advance HE)

Dance HE

TaPRA (Theatre and Performance Research Association)

I.T.I. (Hellenic Centre of the International Theatre Institute)

Research Groups

Performance Philosophy Network

Performer Training, Preparation and Pedagogy Research Group, University of Leeds

Bodies and Performance Research Group, University of Leeds