I was an athlete of synchronized swimming for about 8 years and I won some national championships as a duet and team member. I never fulfilled my dream to become a member of the national team, that was my great expectation. I stopped when I was almost 23 years old. I tried different things, I was a coach, cheerleader and some irrelevant jobs just to make a living. On the 1st day of January 2005 my mother passed away. It was a sudden event and totally broke me. After her death I decided to make my dreams come true. Among several family problems and no support from anywhere I made it. I graduated from a professional dance academy in Athens which gave me a push but that was not enough. I travelled to Europe, and New York and tried to take what I could from any dance knowledge. The more knowledge I received the more I felt I knew nothing at all. In 2010 the German national team of synchronized swimming hired me as a choreographer in the Olympic duet and then for all the age groups and routines. From 2007-2009 I was choreographer and dance teacher for the Greek national team (a chance which gave me the sense of justice for all the years as an athlete). After many years in this sport I was sure that I couldn't fit in. I am neither purely an athlete, nor purely a dancer. My mentality and my soul was quite different for both. So I began to build a new system, Contemporary Synchro Art with the project "When the Earth meets up the Water" in September 2011. I began with experienced synchronized swimmers, then with contemporary dancers, common people, kids. All successful. Parallel to that work I make art through contemporary dance projects. So here I am. I changed country, I start all over again. I want to try different ways and to explore paths that I've never explored in the past. I want to learn more and then to give it to others.
View the embedded image gallery online at:
http://maria-papathanasiou.com/index.php/coach#sigFreeId8cac8de02d
http://maria-papathanasiou.com/index.php/coach#sigFreeId8cac8de02d