The art of dance, in the case of Aerites, is not only about “morphology”, type of “movement” or “means of expression”. The group focuses on experimenting and producing performances based on theoretical, dramaturgic and movement research.

That is why, the group collaborates with artists and theoreticians from various art fields, in order to create a movement vocabulary that belongs to the contemporary realities, comments the present, and speaks for the needs and the challenges of the contemporary citizens of this world.

The aim of Aerites Dance Company is to create artistic actions as a result of the synergy between dance, performing arts, poetry, theatrical practice and new technology.

The company has toured its works extensively including presentations in: Fondazione Feltrinelli (Milano); Fondazione Nazionale della Danza (Reggio Emilia); Ancient Stadium of Epidaurus; Theater im Pfalzbau (Ludwigshafen); Kurtheater Baden; Le Toboggan (Lyon); Grec Festival (Barcelona); KLAP maison pour la danse (Marseille); Ramallah Contemporary Dance Festival (Palestine); ARC for Dance Festival (Athens); Zucker Theater Spektakel (Zurich); Dublin Dance Festival; Hellerau (Dresden); Chateauvallon (Toulon); Sibiu International Theatre Festival (Romania); Interplay Festival (Turin); GUIdance Festival (Guimaraes); CND (Paris); Euroscene (Leipzig); Biennale de la danse (Lyon); European Dance Festival (Limassol); Salmon Festival (Barcelona); Modul Dance Festival (Dresden); Modul Dance Conference (Düsseldorf); Les Hivernales (Avignon); Kalamata Dance Festival; Dimitria Festival (Thessaloniki); Albania Dance Meeting (Durrës ); Aerowaves Spring Forward (Ljubljana); Mouson (Frankfurt); Resolution | The Place (London); City to City Cabaret (Zagreb); 8th Athens International Dance Festival (Technopolis); 4th Contemporary Dance Platform (Athens Concert Hall); 14th Biennial of Young Artists (Macedonian Opera & Ballet); Ohrid Summer Festival; Contemporary Dance Festival (Cairo); Alexandria Opera House; Onassis Cultural Center (Athens), etc.

Patricia Apergi was born in Athens. She completed her education in the branches of dance, theatre and choreography at the Kapodistrian University in Athens (philosophical school), the Niki Kotaxaki dance school, the Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis and the Middlesex University in London.

Ιn April 2006 she found the Aerites dance company, with which she has choreographed the pieces: The House of Trouble (2023), U(R)TOPIAS (2021), Hero (2020), Polittes (Citizens Defeated) (2018), Cementary (2017), TANZheimer (2014), Planites (2013), Era poVera (2012), The Manifest of the Other (2010), d.opa! (dopamines of post-Athenians) (2009), Ferry Tales (2009), Apolost (2008) and Anorexia Socialis (2007).

She has toured the pieces with Aerites dance company in various dance festivals and venues around the world.

She has choreographed theatrical plays and operas in collaboration with distinguished Greek and foreign artists.

She was selected as modul-dance artist of the European network EDΝ for the period 2013–2014, and as an associate artist at Maison de la danse (Lyon) for the period 2016–2017.

In 2017, she was invited as a guest choreographer to the dance company EgriBiancoDanza (Turin), where she choreographed the piece Prometheus and the Rebels of Today.

In 2018, she choreographed the installation Τhe Primary Fact of visual artist Hikaru Fujii in the context of the 5th Fast Forward Festival of the Onassis Cultural Centre in Athens and the piece Polittes (citizens defeated, revisited) at the Ancient Stadium of Epidaurus with 90 students of dance and theatre from all over the world, in the context of Athens and Epidaurus festival.

In 2019 she was invited as guest choreographer to the Aterballetto company in Reggio Emilia, Italy, where she created a piece for 30 dance students in the frame of Agora project.

In 2021 she choreographed the piece National Adulthood for the Greek National Ballet and in 2022 the piece Newtopia with Bodhi dance company (Salzburg, Austria).

She was part of the Board of Directors at the Athens and Epidaurus Festival for the years 2020-2022.

She is a co-writer of the book History of Theatre and Theatrical Education (Greek Ministry of Education, Educational Centers for Adults, 2007).

She is Director of Cultural Events and teaches dance and theatre at the Leonteios School in Athens. She has been teaching choreography at the professional dance school Anna Petrova - Maro Marmarinou for the years 2016-2020. She also has taught improvisation and choreography workshops at the Dance Cultural Centre in the context of ARC for Dance Festival, and the dance program for 65+ at the Onassis Cultural Centre (2013-2020).

She has given lectures on choreography in various universities in Greece and abroad.

In 2021 she creates the 1st Academy of Choreography in Greece, in collaboration with 2023 Elevsis European Capital of Culture, in the frame of the wider artistic vision of Aerites, titled U(R)TOPIAS.

The lack of possibilities for the academic training of choreographers in Greece, was the trigger for the need to fill this gap, creating a type of Academy that would provide knowledge and creative experience on this art form. With this in mind, the main goal of the U(R)TOPIAS Academy of Choreography action is to start a collaboration with early- career professional choreographers, who are interested in cultivating their skills in the field of composition and choreography. Each choreographer will be invited to come up with a personal ideal, and present it as a work of art. The aim is to showcase the emblematic sites of Elefsina through the site-specific work of choreographers, creating a new map of the city of Elefsina. Through their participation in the academy, they will be able to develop their synthetic skills and shape their own creative approaches, under the guidance of distinguished creators and art professionals, art historians, theorists, as well as producers.

The European Capital of Culture can be a great opportunity to rethink Europe as a utopia. What happens if we treat Europe as a region “without place” (from the Greek: ου=not + τόπος=place)? That is, as a place where there is no discrimination or inequality. This turn can be crucial for Europe and could once again create a common utopia for European citizens. The academy is here to reopen the dialogue about this utopia.

The Academy’s name is inspired by the word “Utopia,” which is defined as the ideal place to live. The term was coined from ancient Greek, where “οὐ” stands for “not” and “τόπος” stands for place. Joined, the two words compose “utopia,” i.e., the place that doesn’t exist. The Academy of Choreography is here to redefine this place, with the main goal of establishing today’s utopia, through the knowledge of the past. Utopia transforms to U(R)TOPIAS, self-defining its existence through the Anglo-Saxon prefix “ur,” which means ancient, primitive, original and lending this name to the entire project. As a new manifesto, U(R)TOPIAS is presented in Elefsina, a city with a rich history and heritage, introducing the art of choreography to the public.