Maria (Mantia) Papathanasiou is a Montréal-based contemporary dancer, choreographer, and coach who has called Québec home since 2015. As the founder of Contemporary Synchro Art (CsA), established in 2011, she merges the fluidity of contemporary dance with the principles of artistic swimming, creating a unique and evocative art form. Her work has been showcased across Europe, where she has also led internationally acclaimed workshops.
Since 2020, Maria has delved deeply into EauMotion, a poetic exploration of aquatic aesthetics, with the support of CALQ, CAC, and the Borough of Saint-Laurent. This journey has now evolved into tesserA, a creative experiment blending contemporary dance with aquatic performance, where the transformative power of water becomes both medium and muse.
In addition to her creative pursuits, Maria is an artistic coach specializing in artistic swimming, gymnastics, and her own innovative techniques that bridge the worlds of sports and the arts. Her methods integrate elements of ballet, contemporary dance, and advanced stretching practices, fostering both technical precision and creative expression.
Maria has received 4 grants for her projects eauMotion and tesserA in 2020 and 2023 from CALQ, CAC and the borough of St. Laurent. She is a member of RQD Regroupement Quebecois de la Dance and a member of Synchro Canada.
I am not here to fit into a discipline—I am here to stretch it, soak it, flip it inside out. My work is not born from a single lineage but from the collisions between them: dance and water, form and instinct, sport and poetry. I am a choreographer, performer, and coach with a lifelong practice that dives deep into the raw, sensorial language of the body—especially when it meets water.
Raised in a loud world where noise often drowned meaning, I learned to carve space through movement. Not to be heard, but to listen—deeply, bodily. I didn’t come from ease or access. I came from contradiction, intensity, and a hunger for something else—something freer, more intentional. That hunger became my compass.
In 2011, I founded Contemporary Synchro Art (CsA)—a hybrid practice that emerged from years of navigating between the discipline of dance and the physical poetry of water. CsA is not just a technique—it’s a way of being. It lives where control meets surrender, where structure dissolves into sensation. Drawing from contemporary dance, artistic swimming, and a fierce devotion to body-mind awareness, CsA invites movement that is fluid, alert, and emotionally awake. It doesn’t seek to impress. It seeks to connect.
My career has taken me from Greece to Germany, Turkey, and now Montréal—not in search of recognition, but in pursuit of deeper questions. I’ve coached national teams, choreographed international routines, and taught workshops across Europe and Canada. But the core of my practice has always been about resistance: resisting numbness, resisting systems that prioritize form over feeling, resisting the urge to simplify what is complex.
I don’t work to fit in a category. I work to open space—for sensation, for memory, for transformation. My recent explorations—like EauMotion and tesserA—center slowness, trust, and collective embodiment, often in collaboration with dancers, circus artists, and somatic practitioners. These works unfold in water, on land, and in the liminal spaces in between. They don’t end with a bow. They ripple.
Water is my element. Not just because it shaped my training, but because it taught me how to listen—how to hold, release, adapt, and rise. In water, there is no pretending. I return to it not for nostalgia, but for truth.
My art is for those who never quite belonged. For those who question more than they answer. For those who are tired of polishing themselves for approval. I believe in messy processes, in embodied knowledge, in training that breaks you open before it builds you back up. I believe movement can be a form of rebellion, of remembering, of coming home.
November 2021 – Present: Artistic Coach, Club Gymslic Saint-Laurent Inc.
September 2020 – 2022: EauMotion– Research and creation project exploring aquatic aesthetics, supported by CALQ, CAC, and the Borough of Saint-Laurent.
2020 – Present: tesserA– An evolving creative experiment blending contemporary dance with aquatic movement, exploring the transformative potential of water.
January 2018 – Present: StillMess– Documentary short film, screened at Athens Video Dance Film Festival and Danca de Almada, Portugal.
March 2016 – Present:StillMess– Collaboration with harpist Coralie Gauthier; Residency at Montréal Arts Interculturels (MAI).
2011 – Present: Founder and Artistic Director of Contemporary Synchro Art (CsA)– Developing and presenting interdisciplinary dance works integrating aquatic movement and contemporary dance across Europe and Canada.
2007 – 2009: National Team of Greece– Choreographer and Dance T eacher for the National Team of Greece.
October 2016 – February 2020: Coach and choreographer at Montreal Synchro Club.
October 2016 - February 2020: Intensive Choreographic Workshops at École de Ballet de Montréal.
August 2012: Choreographer for Choreographic Workshop in Italy– Directed and choreographed for the event.
June 2012: Cosmote Event – Olympic Games Guerilla, presented in Athens.
May 2011: The Temptation of Innocence– Duet presented at the 10th Athens Dance Festival, Greece.
Nov 2011 – July 2015: Dance piece “Seven plus aut minor Duo-BetWeeN” with Ametakinit(R)o Dance Team, performed at multiple international festivals in Athens, Greece, Northern Ireland, and Belgium.
Coaching
Since 2012: Artistic Swimming Coaching– Offering an innovative approach that combines stretching techniques from various sports, ballet, and contemporary dance, tailored to each individual’s needs.
January 2018 – June 2023: Creative body movement classes for CPE Foyer d’enfant Hellenique, and Vanier College, St. Laurent.
October 2016 – February 2020: Coach and choreographer at Montreal Synchro Club.
August 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023: Intensive Choreographic Workshops at École de Ballet de Montréal.
Education
2019: National Lifeguard Diploma, Qc – Certified for professional water safety.
October 2007 – October 2010: Three-year diploma in Ballet and Contemporary Dance, Niki Kontaxaki Professional Dance Academy, Athens.
2017: Level 2 Coach of Artistic Swimming, certified by Synchro Canada.
Ongoing: Dance workshops in Limon, Graham, Release, Flying Low, and Contemporary Ballet techniques with renowned instructors such as T ed Stoffer, ozef Frucek, Linda Kapetanea, and David Zambrano.
Dancer
February 2020 – April 2020: Des maux en hiver by Nina & Co.
June 2018 – June 2019: New creation by choreographer Martin Messier, Montréal, QC.
September 2017 & 2018: StillMess– Solo project screened at Athens Video Dance Film Festival and Quinzena de Almada, Portugal.
July 2014: BetWeeN– Solo performed at Akropoditi International Festival and Dance Days International Festival, Greece.
November 2011 – September 2012: 7-2– International performances with Ametakinit(R)o Dance Team.
Residencies & Awards
2015: 45-hour Residency at Montréal Arts Interculturels (MAI) for StillMess Project.
2014: One-month Residency at Akropoditi, Syros, Greece.
2011: Scholarship and Residency at Martha Graham Dance School, New York.
