Dimitris Papaioannou started out as a painter and comics artist, but now he does it all—director, choreographer, performer, costumer, and set and lighting designer.

Last year he premiered Since She at Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, the first choreographer invited to do so since Bausch’s death.

THE GREAT TAMER—his mysterious evening-length performance work in its U.S. premiere this week at Royce Hall—is a dreamlike journey through time and the underworld, with references to Rembrandt’s Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp, Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus, Michelangelo’s David, the myths of Orpheus and Eurydice, and Kubrick’s use of “The Blue Danube.”

Performers for the Los Angeles and Ann Arbor dates include Pavlina Andriopoulou, Costas Chrysafidis, Dimitris Kitsos, Ioannis Michos, Evangelia Randou, Kalliopi Simou, Drossos Skotis, Christos Strinopoulos, Yorgos Tsiantoulas, and Alex Vangelis.

DIMITRIS PAPAIOANNOU—THE GREAT TAMER

Friday, January 11, at 8 pm.

Royce Hall, UCLA

10745 Dickson Court, Los Angeles.

Friday and Saturday, January 18 and 19, at 8 pm.

Power Center, University of Michigan

121 Fletcher Street, Ann Arbor.

The Great Tamer. All photographs by Julian Mommert.