The overall objective of the research experiment was to delve into the ways in which the two-dimensional aspects of Medieval Byzantine poetry can be transformed into a performance that gives life to the dramatic verses by employing the power of “the presence of the body” (Lepecki, 2004, pp. 1-9) in a site-specific composition. 

 

Taking this idea further, the performative acts of the poem, which move the soul of the faithful in church, take volume, flesh, and blood, as well as visual existence in another mode: that of choreographed performance. Therefore, the reception of the poetics of textual transcendence of Cassia’s hymn invites the audience – through the coding system of contemporary performance, which embodies the text and physical actions – to reinterpret and reflect on the hymn. 

Reference: Savrami, K. (2021) Cassia’s “Woman of Many Sins”: From the two-dimensional to the three-dimensional interpretation of Byzantine poetry.