Amnesiac
memory for the future
YELP danceco

YELP danceco

Amnesiac
memory for the future

June 10-14, 2026 | 9:00 PM

FIAT

What should we perhaps remember, what should we forget
in order to be able to imagine a different future?

In the creation Amnesiac: Memory for the Future, we look back in order to move forward. Back to the late '70s, to the inception of punk. Sifting through the ghosts of punk, this excavation seeks forgotten potentials we might still need today, outgrowing nostalgia. Our point of reference is one of the most influential bands of the original wave of British punk: The Clash, "the political conscience of punk." They formed in 1976, the year punk ignited in England, 50 years ago. They continued for about a decade, a period during which Britain headed toward Thatcherism and established neoliberalism. It was an era marked by inflation, unemployment, tendencies toward extremism and nationalism, increase in public and domestic violence, an era that resonates with our contemporary reality.

'We are anti-fascist, we are anti-violence, we are anti-racist and we're pro-creative.'

The Clash, NME music newspaper, 1976

The Clash went beyond the rage, nihilism, and discontent of other punk bands, writing songs about specific, real-world issues such as unemployment ("Career Opportunities"), institutional racism ("White Riot"), and police violence ("The Guns of Brixton"). Through their music, lyrics, and stance they incited action and critical thought, transforming the punk narrative from the impasse of "No Future" to the teeming with possibility "The Future is Unwritten."

This open potential is activated, inserting punk into the central mechanism of the performance Amnesiac: Memory for the Future. By adopting a temporary amnesia toward contemporary conceptualizations of the future as stagnant, cancelled, exhausted, or threatening, the performance creates and reclaims a space for reinventing the Imaginary. A collective dance, where social and political potential simmers; a dance that entangles and negotiates with live music and live video. Movements, intensities, leaps. Negotiations. Encounters. Open bodies. Temporary forms and sounds. Insisting on the transformative power of art. An effort to strip away the present, alongside the ghosts of the past, in order to allow a potential future to manifest. A movement done over and over again. You try again; you do not repeat. You begin, each time, anew. A reinvention. What memory will this moment leave, I wonder, for the future?"

CREDITS

Concept/Choreography: Mariela Nestora
Co-creation: Christina Karagianni, Maria Manoukian, Petrina Giannakou, Dimitra Vlachou

Performance: Erato Tzavara, Mariela Nestora, Antigone Avdi, Christina Karagianni, Maria Manoukian, Petrina Giannakou, Dimitra Vlachou

Live music / original composition: Thalia Ioannidou
Video design / live video: Erato Tzavara
Set design: Christina Katsari
Lighting design: Maria Athanasopoulou
Costumes: YELP danceco
Dramaturgy collaboration: Mårten Spångberg, Georgina Kakoudaki
Production/ choreographer's assistant: Myrto Karavousanou
Photos: Maria Athanasopoulou, Maria Cheilopoulou
Poster design: Maria Elena Myrka
Press: Evangelia Skrobola

With many thanks to Frédéric Pouillaude, Myrto Katsiki and Antigone Avdi.

The production was financially supported by The Ministry of Culture.

YELP danceco. /Mariela Nestora

Mariela Nestora is an Athens-based choreographer and researcher whose practice is defined by a multi-disciplinary approach to performance. As the founder of YELP danceco. and an independent maker, her work spans stage, site-specific and public space projects and interventions. Supported by institutions like the Onassis Cultural Center and the Athens & Epidaurus Festival, Nestora navigates the dance field as a choreographer and co-curator, constantly evolving the boundaries of the local dance community.

At the heart of her practice is a deep commitment to collectivity and shared intelligence. She has been a founding member in artist-led initiatives, including the Collective Choreography Project (CCP) and from stage to page, a platform dedicated to the Greek dance scene. Her experience is rooted in the energy of collective movements, having been an active member of collectives and assemblies such as Green Park, Kolektiva Omonoia, and the Embros Theatre occupation.Her work views choreography as a speculative space for new modes of coexistence, influenced by Post-Humanism and her diverse academic background ranging from Biology and Human Molecular Genetics to the Feldenkrais method. Nestora's "molecular choreography" methodology emerges from this rich history of gathering which is her main concern. Her particular intersection allows her to treat movement as both a scientific and social inquiry.

With YELP danceco., she has toured in Europe, from London and Berlin to Brussels and Bucharest. Her collaborative reach extends into theater as a movement director for the Greek National Theatre and international festivals, bridging the gap between theory and praxis. Through teaching and institutional collaborations, she continues to cultivate an ecosystem where dance serves as a tool for collective emancipation and social rehearsal.