OLIA TORNARITOU
Martha Graham Technique

1st Weekend – 2 hours/day
12:30 – 14:30

The Martha Graham technique is the first technique of contemporary dance ever created and was all based on a new moving material using it to express human feelings like passion, anger, sorrow, ekstasis. She developed it after many years of experiment on basic human movements like the breathing where she developed contraction when you exhale and release where you inhale. On this two basic movements she created a whole class with floor exercises, centre exercises and travelling across the floor exercises helping the dancers move three dimensional. Her movements are sharp, angled, strong, direct to the audience but always working it internally. The study and practice of the Martha Graham Technique helps you to strengthen the muscular structure of the body and make it shaped, disciplined and trusted.

Olia Tornaritou was born in Cyprus and she is an honors graduate of "Anna Petrova" professional dance school in Athens, Greece. She continued her studies at the Martha Graham School of contemporary dance in N.York where she graduated from the trainnee program.During her stay in N.York she performed with Valia's Alexandratou ANALYSIS DANCE COMPANY and in 1999 she was selected to perform in the revival of PANORAMA with the MARTHA GRAHAM DANCE COMPANY in their winter season at joyce theatre,N.Y.
Moving back to Greece she started teaching the Martha Graham technique at Raymond and Isadora Duncan dance centre, at iek AKMI and iek AXIA,at studio METSIS, at the dance school of Limassol municipality, in July 2014 she participated in DANCE DAYS 4 at Chania Crete, and she organized many workshops in Cyprus collaborating with some of the biggest private dance schools. Since June 2012 she is teaching at studio DAN.C.CE in Athens.
In 2002 and 2012 she was invited from the Ministry of Culture to be the examiner of contemporary dance at the final exams of the private professional dance schools.
Since September 2000 she is a faculty member of the NATIONAL SCHOOL OF DANCE in Athens Greece, teaching the Martha Graham technique at the pre-professional and professional department of the school. She is also a rehearsal director of the HELLENIC DANCE COMPANY(company of the National School)in productions taking place in Greece(Megaron mousikis, Athens festival)and abroad (Paris, Brussels, N.York).