Apostolos Domtzidis was born in 1978 in Kordelio, Thessaloniki. He is a grandson of refugees from Eastern Thrace. He watched traditional shadow theater of Karagiozis for the first time through state television. He studied at the TEI of Informatics in Thessaloniki and during his studies he met Christos Syrmakezis and Anna Arvanitis, who both of them were students of the Karagiozis player Michalis Hatzakis. From them he took his first lessons in shadow theater.
In 2005 he was appointed as a teacher in Secondary Education and has been involved in shadow theater through cultural programs in the classroom. In 2013, the professional Shadow Theater group "The Tales of Karagiozis" was born, with himself as the master puppeteer and Irini Katsilidou and Natasa Michailidou as stage assistants. He attended annual seminars for writing and narrating folktales by Dimitris Avouris.
Apostolos Domtzidis was awarded in April 2014 with the Movement Skills Award at the 5th Greek Shadow Theater Competition held in Patras. He published the books "The three pieces of advice" (2016) and "The three fools" (2019) which contain the original shadow theater performances that he writes and presents, inspired by folk tales.
The Shadow Theater gives performances all over Greece, participating in International Festivals and events, from Orestiada to Kastellorizo and from Ioannina to Monemvasia. Apostolos Domtzidis also gives lectures to various organizations on shadow theater, delivers seminars for teachers and implements annual summer courses for Karagiozis at the Avouri Theater in Zakynthos. Since 2016, he has been collaborating with "The young archaeologists of Thrace" for the design and implementation of the educational programs approved by the IEP for school classes, entitled "The tales of Karagiozis" and "The life of shadows".
In 2017 he created a permanent exhibition in Vamvakou, Laconia, at the School of the Poetry and Folktale Academy, for Karagiozis, as well as a performance area in the "Village of Folkales". From 2018, his daughters, Valentina and Efthymia, are included in the Group as official assistants.
His short story entitled "The visit" is distinguished in the literary competition "1 sentence + 821 words for 1821" organized by the National History Museum, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the Revolution of 1821 and is included in a collective edition (2019).
In 2019 the Shadow Theater group "The Tales of Karagiozis" participated in the 10th Sculpture Symposium in Elliniko, Ioannina. Next year we placed at the Museum of Contemporary Art "Theodoros Papagiannis" a 3-meter metal figure of Karagiozis designed by Apostolos Domtzidis (2020).
In September 2020, his one-act play "Manolis Ganios, the lucky one" won the first prize in the 3rd Panhellenic One-act Playwriting Competition for the women of Asia Minor.
In January 2021, his short story about the shadow theater "The shadows of Ionia" is distinguished with praise in the 39th competition of the Panhellenic Writers' Union.
He has published articles on the web and in newspapers, while during the lockdown period (March-April 2020) he published on his internet channel 50 daily video episodes, "Karagiozilikia", satirizing the situation.
Apostolos Domtzidis is a permanent collaborator of the Center for Byzantine, Modern Greek and Cypriot Studies of the University of Granada for the Archive of the Greek Shadow Theater. He is also a founding member of the folktale team 'Paramythothrakes' and the Poetry and Folktale Academy. His ambition is to bring Karagiozis to modern day, with the help of all the arts, respecting and highlighting the tradition of the Greek shadow theater.
In 2005 he was appointed as a teacher in Secondary Education and has been involved in shadow theater through cultural programs in the classroom. In 2013, the professional Shadow Theater group "The Tales of Karagiozis" was born, with himself as the master puppeteer and Irini Katsilidou and Natasa Michailidou as stage assistants. He attended annual seminars for writing and narrating folktales by Dimitris Avouris.
Apostolos Domtzidis was awarded in April 2014 with the Movement Skills Award at the 5th Greek Shadow Theater Competition held in Patras. He published the books "The three pieces of advice" (2016) and "The three fools" (2019) which contain the original shadow theater performances that he writes and presents, inspired by folk tales.
The Shadow Theater gives performances all over Greece, participating in International Festivals and events, from Orestiada to Kastellorizo and from Ioannina to Monemvasia. Apostolos Domtzidis also gives lectures to various organizations on shadow theater, delivers seminars for teachers and implements annual summer courses for Karagiozis at the Avouri Theater in Zakynthos. Since 2016, he has been collaborating with "The young archaeologists of Thrace" for the design and implementation of the educational programs approved by the IEP for school classes, entitled "The tales of Karagiozis" and "The life of shadows".
In 2017 he created a permanent exhibition in Vamvakou, Laconia, at the School of the Poetry and Folktale Academy, for Karagiozis, as well as a performance area in the "Village of Folkales". From 2018, his daughters, Valentina and Efthymia, are included in the Group as official assistants.
His short story entitled "The visit" is distinguished in the literary competition "1 sentence + 821 words for 1821" organized by the National History Museum, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the Revolution of 1821 and is included in a collective edition (2019).
In 2019 the Shadow Theater group "The Tales of Karagiozis" participated in the 10th Sculpture Symposium in Elliniko, Ioannina. Next year we placed at the Museum of Contemporary Art "Theodoros Papagiannis" a 3-meter metal figure of Karagiozis designed by Apostolos Domtzidis (2020).
In September 2020, his one-act play "Manolis Ganios, the lucky one" won the first prize in the 3rd Panhellenic One-act Playwriting Competition for the women of Asia Minor.
In January 2021, his short story about the shadow theater "The shadows of Ionia" is distinguished with praise in the 39th competition of the Panhellenic Writers' Union.
He has published articles on the web and in newspapers, while during the lockdown period (March-April 2020) he published on his internet channel 50 daily video episodes, "Karagiozilikia", satirizing the situation.
Apostolos Domtzidis is a permanent collaborator of the Center for Byzantine, Modern Greek and Cypriot Studies of the University of Granada for the Archive of the Greek Shadow Theater. He is also a founding member of the folktale team 'Paramythothrakes' and the Poetry and Folktale Academy. His ambition is to bring Karagiozis to modern day, with the help of all the arts, respecting and highlighting the tradition of the Greek shadow theater.
Natasa Michailidou is an archaeologist and tour guide, with postgraduate studies in museology and experience in the design and implementation of educational programs on cultural issues. She writes and narrates folktales inspired by the monuments and archeological sites of Thrace. She is a research associate at the Research Center "Athena" / ILSP Xanthi Branch, in the context of cultural technology projects. In collaboration with the Foundation of Thracian Art and Tradition, she presents to Primary Education schools the educational program for the shadow theater entitled "The tales of Karagiozis". She is the co-founder of the Poetry and Folktale Academy and the folktale group "Paramythothrakes". She is a stage assistant in the shadow theater group "The Tales of Karagiozis". Her articles have been published in conferences, scientific journals as well as in regional newspapers. |