Gabriella's Rock

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Don't hate the rock, love mud instead.

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The unidentifiable murder in 1991 of Gabriella Usakova, the infamous prostitute of Exarchia, inspires an outdoor performance at Strefi Hill:  "Gabriella's rock" comes from June 1st to June 17th and takes us into the mind of a hypothetical killer.  Trying to construct a convincing statement to save himself from accusations, the killer confuses the memory of the despicable act with a fantasy of himself fighting against a rock.

 

Strefi hill, an old clay quarry in the center of Athens, becomes the backdrop for a performance on the matter of life and the ability of people to work with and transform the fluidity of urban life. 

 

"Gabriella's rock" is a performance inspired by Gabriella's "open door" to everyone and everything, and the way she built her life on the uncertain ground of Athens in the 20th century. The show takes place on "Anexartisia (Independence)" pedestrian street and the opposite claystone rock, where an escape to nature from the city is a matter of a few steps.  Escape from what really?

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Performers: Eirini Alexiou, Leonard Batis, Giorgos Sachinis, The Self

Director: Giorgos Sachinis
Choreographer: Eirini Alexiou
Writer: Panagiota Pantazi
Stage/dress designer: Anna Magoulioti
Dress maker of Eirini Alexiou: Frosso Sedona
Music supervision - live music: Leonard Batis
Production manager: Nadia Siokou
Video producer: Giorgos Guunesos
Photographer: Irina Vosgerau
Assistant choreographer: Dimitra Papourtzi

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Gabriella's rock performance is sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Sport

 

UrbanDig_Ushakova is inspired by Gavriella's approach to time and her proverbial phrase of "above all, I'm not in a hurry." Approaching the green hill of Strefi as an islet of "escaping" the city of Athens, it explores and creates cracks in the regularity of time as we perceive it daily in the city. Beyond the show, the program includes the following events:

- "Ascent Trials": Thematic research visits to Strefi Hill for all
- "Where we are going, gentlemen": a table game with performance elements as a tool for collective decision making
- Participation in the Valletta Cultural Capital of Europe 2018
- Participation in Athens, World Capital of Book 2018

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