An architect who ran away to join the circus.

Elli is an international circus artist of Greek origin, currently based between the Netherlands and Greece. Coming from a background of competitive rhythmic gymnastics, being an athlete showed her the beauty that comes from discipline and hard training but the competitiveness of the sport field pushed her to follow her passion for art and design. Elli studied architecture in Scotland where she obtained her MA Degree in 2015. Contemporary circus came into her life by coincidence and made her realise that architecture for her might be everything around us, including ourselves and our bodies, but moving and performing is her voice and way of exploring and experiencing the world. She started practising hand balancing and contortion while working as an architect and rhythmic gymnastics coach after she completed her coaching diploma of the British Gymnastics Foundation in 2015. She joined the Codarts Circus Arts BA degree, specialising in aerial hoop, contortion and hand balance. Through circus arts she learned how to use her body to explore her questions, research through physical training and share her experiences and ideas with the public through performative practices. Always looking with an architect’s eye, but basing her creation on movement and physicality.

Since graduating from Codarts in 2019 she has been performing her shows and teaching around Europe and online, during the pandemic she developed the ideas for the two shows she is currently performing while constantly developing. “Lost within myselves” which premiered in Les Rencontres de Danse Aérienne 2022 Festival in France in the form of a 7 minute act and will develop to a full show under her creative collaboration with aerial choreographer, Fred Deb. Her other project; “Restricted”, had its pilot run with the support of Kuenstlerstadt Kalbe in Germany, September 2022. Resulting in its first performances that happened in BRUCCA Festival 2022 after a two week residency. From September 2023 and for the coming years, Elli will be the associate artist of La Volière in Saint Nazaire, France, where both shows will be developed further.