Lia Haraki is an interdisciplinary artist whose work spans performance, devised theatre, choreography, song, spoken word, and a form she terms "repetitive poetry." Haraki’s views the living experience as an ongoing creative process (living-creating-becoming) and her work is deeply engaged with themes related to transformation, identity, community and value. The body and voice are central to Haraki’s work and her embodied practices serve as transformative mediums to mentor, guide and support creatives in their creative process of making and individuals in their creative process of becoming aligned with their authenticity.
Lia’s performances have been presented in European festivals like the Athens festival, Bozar Brussels, Tanec Praha and other and were two times shortlisted at the Aerowaves EU network. Her solo ‘Tune In’ was presented at the Venice Biennale (Special mention for the Cyprus and Lithuanian Pavilion, 2014). Her project ‘The Performance Shop Concept’ was selected as one of 25 best dance practices in what makes dance relevant by EDN (2016).
Lia has been a lecturer at the University of Nicosia (2007-2023) and her practices were taught there and internationally in places like Impuls Tanz Vienna, Kalamata festival and the Venice Biennale (Italian Pavilion).
She was the initiator of Dance House Lemesos (2005) and head of its board (2007-2024). She has won choreography awards (Cyprus choreography platform 2003,2005), and won the creator of the year award (Madame Figaro awards voted by the public, 2007 and 2019).
In 2025 a retrospective book on her work has been published (publisher PELMA NGO) with texts from academics, journalists, collaborators and audience members.
So grateful for experiencing life through a human body.
L.H.
“In her 20-year-long career, Lia has reinvented herself often and created a diversity of practices that she both integrated into her own choreographic toolkit and shared with the professional community in workshops and recently also with her audiences in different interactive presentation formats. But in all these transformations Lia went through, two elements remain at the core from beginning to end: giving voice to the multitude of personalities within herself and within society and practicing the body as a musical instrument...
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Lia Haraki, born in 1975 in Limassol, holds a Bachelor of Arts in Dance Theatre Studies from the Laban Centre in London. Over the past two decades, she has crafted over fifty works for stages and alternative spaces both locally and internationally, with presentations in numerous European cities and festivals, including Julidans Amsterdam, the Athens Festival, Royal Festival Hall London, Bozar Brussels, Unesco Paris, The Place London, Tanec Praha, Kleines Haus Dresden, Korzo The Hague, and Euro-scene Leipzig. Lia was one of the artists representing Cyprus at the 2013 Venice Biennale for Visual Arts with the solo performance Tune In, curated by Raimundas Malasauskas (Special mention for the Cyprus and Lithuanian Pavilion). Notably, Haraki has received the choreography award at the Cyprus Dance Platform twice (2003, 2005) and was shortlisted twice by the Aerowaves network (for 'Evergreen' in 2004 and 'Pretendance' in 2009).
Central to Haraki's creative practice is her exploration of the moving and sounding qualities of the human body, a vehicle through which she addresses its sociopolitical positioning. By challenging normative constructs associated with the body, she employs self-sarcasm and satire as starting points, devising performative strategies to dismantle socially constructed narratives and expose their illusory nature. Her works often scrutinise and challenge sociopolitical norms and heteronormative constructs, while celebrating vulnerability and empathy as essential human strengths.
Her artistic endeavors encompass a diverse array of formats, ranging from staged performances and site-specific pieces to intimate one-on-one experiences, sound installations, stand-up shows, musical collaborations, and performances within unconventional spaces such as shops.
Noteworthy among her projects is The Performance Shop Concept, a pioneering exploration of performance's integration into daily life and its intrinsic value as an art form. This project, which examines the essence and worth of performance and immaterial art, was recognized as one of the 25 best practices in Europe by the European Dance House Network (EDN) in 2016. Marina Abramovic, the renowned performance artist, commended the project during a conversation with Haraki in Athens in 2016, describing it as "a very fresh and good idea."
Haraki has also made significant contributions to theatre productions as a choreographer at the National Theatre of Cyprus (THOC). Her collaboration on The Persians by Aeschylus, directed by Aris Biniaris with Kariofilia Karambeti in the leading role of Atossa, received acclaim during its tour of Greece and Cyprus, including performances at ancient theatres like Epidaurus and the Herodion.
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In 2003, Haraki founded the non-profit association Pelma.Lia Haraki, together with twenty-one collaborators and audience members. Pelma serves as a production framework for Lia's artistic endeavors and as a creative frame for hosting, producing, and presenting the works of other artists. The association has supported numerous projects such as European Programmes, commissions, curated projects and residency programmes, Pelma is also the creative frame for an extraordinary artistic team. This structure, primarily supported by the cultural services of the Ministry of Education and Culture in Cyprus, fosters creative exchanges with long-term collaborators such as Alexis Vassiliou (performing artist), Arianna Marcoulides (performing artist), Christos Hadjichristou (music and sound designer), Evie Haraki Mahera (mentor), Guy Cools (dance dramaturge), Eleana Alexandrou (performing artist), Marios Ioannou (performing artist), Yiangos Hadjiyiannis (technical manager) and Yiannis Christofides (composer).
Participation in EU programs has been a significant aspect of Haraki's career, including roles as a guest artist in 'Emotional Bodies and Cities' (2013), an artist in 'Act Your Age' (2013), and a partner in 'The Underwater Heart of the Mediterranean' (2015-16), which featured the first-ever underwater dance performance. Notably, she coordinated and mentored the Performance Laboratory of 40 young artists in the 'Open Up' four-year-long cultural project (2020-2023), co-funded by the Creative Europe programme, aiming to promote underrepresented artists, designers, craftspeople, and performers in partner cities.
In 2024 PELMA NGO changed its legal entity to a non profit company with the official name Projects Embracing Love Motivated Art.
Read more about the PELMA projects here
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In 2007, Lia contributed to the creation of the dance program at the University of Nicosia and served as a part-time lecturer until 2023 (and as a full-time lecturer from 2009-2013). At the university, Lia taught courses in Choreography, Advanced Composition, Compositional practices, and Improvisation. She also taught at the Theatre studies programs of Intercollege and Satiriko Theatre in Nicosia Kinesiology for acting.
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Haraki's commitment to nurturing artistic practices is evident in her development of methods related to the creative process, which she offers as workshops and courses in universities, festivals, and dance houses internationally, over the past two decades.
Her methods include Performing Biography: A Stand-Up Solo Performance Practice, IntuNition Physical Practice, Repetitive Poetry Practice, the Performance Shop Concept Coaching, The Onion: Coaching: Un-layering the creative practice.
Furthermore, Lia considers the creative process a process of both making something or becoming anyone, meaning that the body itself is a creative tool with which humans navigate through life. With this in mind, she offers mentoring programmes for the creative process of making, supporting creatives in developing and articulating their creative universe, and mentoring programmes on the process of becoming anyone, supporting individuals align with the empowered and authentic version of themselves
You can learn more about her workshops, courses and mentoring programmes in the relevant sections in the menu of this website
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Lia's TEDx talks, including 'Whatever You Perform is Right' at TEDx Limassol and 'The Necessity of Performance' at TEDx Patras, have informed and inspired audiences to embrace performance as a ritual accessible to all.
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In 2005, Haraki spearheaded the creation of Dance House Lemesos, a hub supporting professional contemporary dance in Cyprus and fostering collaborations with European dance organizations and artists. This is a milestone for the development of the contemporary dance scene in Cyprus as the space supported the artistic growth of many artists.
As the representative for the Aerowaves network from 2004 to 2016, Haraki curated 'Aerowaves Nights' at Dance House Lemesos (2008 and 2010) and programmed the 6th Open House International Dance Festival of Dance House Lemesos with the theme SEXPECTATIONS, featuring international artists such as Ivo Dimchev, Hodworks, and Tabea Martin.
From 2019 to 2021, Haraki and her collaborators served as resident artists at Polis Theatre OPAP in collaboration with NiMAC, invited by curator Yiannis Toumazis to present her own works and design programmes presenting and curating the work of other artists showcasing works in artistic and other residency programs such as Bridges (ten artists) and the Castle of Anti-Escape (six artists)
Furthermore, she was head of the teams that curated The Performance Shop Concept (2014, 2015, 2018), featuring the work of many artists.
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Lia is a very proud single mother of two.
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“Haraki’s commitment to performance and the biographical becomes a vital aspect of contextualising performance art in Cyprus, mainly as she embodies the true essence of the personal that becomes political through an entry into feminist thought as she attests how her life and lived theory can be situated as an experience for the next generation of performers on the island.
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