Athos Danellis comes from Creta. At a very young age he learned and loved the art and craft of Shadow Theatre as an apprentice to old masters. He studied journalism in England and has collaborated with the Hellenic Radio and Press. He has worked as a broadcaster for a number of tv shows about the Greek and international Shadow Theatre, while he has participated in theatre, movie and tv productions. With the “Athens Shadow Theater Company” he took part in several festivals in Greece and abroad (U.S.A., England, France, Germany, Italy a.o.).
In 1997 he was the key collaborator in Nikos Mamagakis “Shadow Opera”, directed by Yannis Smaragdis, which was presented at the Athens Concert Hall.
In 1998, he founded the “Greek Shadow Theatre Archives” for the preservation and promotion of the Greek Karagiozis history and repertoire.
As one of the last remaining Karagiozis puppeteers, he has performed, since 1989, rarely staged plays from the traditional repertoire of the Greek Shadow Theatre, alongside his original plays, keeping this great popular art alive. He teaches the art of Shadow Theatre (history and theory, style and imitation, the part of music in a performance, construction and painting of shadow puppets and settings) in workshops in Greece and abroad, he writes articles and studies, while working as a publication and a broadcasting editor.
From 2007 to 2010 he collaborated with the National Theatre of Greece, presenting traditional Shadow Theatre performances.
In 2009, 2010 and 2011 he worked with Dionisis Savvopoulos in performances staged at Pallas Theatre and the Athens Concert Hall.
