Your Interview Eliza Alexand­ropou­lou

Introduce yourself (name, company, position, country) and tell us how you got into lighting design (including education/qualifications).

My name is Eliza Alexandropoulou.

I first got involved in stage lighting while studying Set and Costume Design at the Fine Arts’ School of Drama of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The stage lighting design course taught by Eleftheria Deko and my first steps into the theatre industry as her assistant made me fall in love with this magical profession.

At the same time, the light art collective BEFORELIGHT we founded back then with some fellow students and my involvement in artistic, often large-scale installations, offered me the opportunity to experiment with many different light sources, learn their different qualities and build my personal style through this practical engagement with light.

The last 17 years I have been working as a freelance stage lighting designer based in Athens. I have designed the lighting for numerous theatre plays and dance performances in Greece and abroad. I have received several honorary awards for my work.

Tell us about your work – is there a specific type of project you like to work on or an area you specialise in and why?

I really enjoy working on dance projects. I think there’s more freedom and opportunity for experimentation for lighting design. It’s easier to take risks. (a thing I like a lot!)

What project are you most proud of and why?

Each project has its own challenges and difficulties and it feels great every time I manage to overcome these. I’m proud of projects for which my first thoughts and ideas manage to be interpreted through light, to evolve, to become images, rhythm, and finally an intriguing experience for the spectator.

Some of these performances would be… Relic, Titans and Elenit (a grotesque ‘trilogy’ directed by Euripides Laskaridis), Larsen C and Mellowing (dance performances choreographed by Christos Papadopoulos), Inland (opera by Angelos Triantafyllou directed by Nikos Karathanos), Liver (music play directed by Christos Passalis and Angeliki Papoulia)

What is the biggest challenge that you have overcome in your career?

To maintain a work-life balance (still working on it)

How does light inspire you?

Well, since light is nature, philosophy, science, healing energy, poetry, electricity, colour… I guess it inspires and motivates me in many different ways. Does it not do the same to all of us, concisely or unconsciously?

What is your message for other Women In Lighting?

Stay true to yourself, focus on what excites you most, believe in the power of light!