Lenio Kaklea is a dancer, choreographer, director, and artist born in Athens and based in Paris.
She trained at the National Conservatory of Contemporary Dance in Athens, where she studied classical ballet alongside American modern techniques and repertories, including those of Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, and José Limón. In 2005, she was awarded the Pratsika Foundation Prize and relocated to France, joining the CNDC in Angers under the direction of Emmanuelle Huynh. After her graduation, she collaborated with prominent figures of the European dance scene, including Alexandra Bachzetsis, Boris Charmatz, Claudia Triozzi, François Chaignaud, and Cecilia Bengolea. In 2011, she completed the SPEAP program at Sciences Po Paris, a master in experimentation in arts and politics led by the philosopher Bruno Latour.
Since 2009, Kaklea’s artistic practice has encompassed choreography, text, and video, informed by feminist and postcolonial thought. Her work investigates the production of subjectivity and reveals the intimate spaces in which identity is formed.
Her work have been presented across Europe and the United States at institutions and festivals including the Centre Pompidou, the National Theatre of Chaillot, MOCA – Museum of contemporary art in Los Angeles, Sadler’s Wells, Kunstenfestivaldesarts, Festival d’Automne, the Serpentine, Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection, Palazzo Grassi – Pinault Collection, New York Live Arts, ImPulsTanz International Dance Festival, Montpellier Dance Festival, Athens and Epidaurus Festival, the National Greek Opera, and Les presses du réel. Her performances are included in public and private collections such as the MNAM – Musée national d’Art moderne, CNAP – National Centre for Visual Arts, and KADIST Foundation.
Alongside her personal choreographic projects, Kaklea collaborates widely. In 2013, the American choreographer Lucinda Childs created a solo for her on a music composition by Ryoji Ikeda. In 2022, she collaborated with the Italian fashion house Bottega Veneta, performing at Punta della Dogana in costumes designed by Matthieu Blazy.
Recent years have seen Kaklea receive major commissions. In 2019, she was awarded the Dance Prize from the Hermès Italia Foundation and the Triennale di Milano, creating the autobiographical solo Ballad. In 2021, she choreographed Age of Crime, a piece for nine performers, for the bicentenary of the Greek Revolution at the Athens and Epidaurus Festival, as well as Sonatas and Interludes, John Cage’s seminal work for prepared piano, performed with pianist Orlando Bass.
In 2024, Kaklea received the 25th Pernod Ricard Award and created the film An Alphabet for the Camera. That same year, she premiered Chemical Joy, a stage work for five dancers of the BODHI PROJECT Ensemble, a Salzburg-based contemporary dance company founded by former Merce Cunningham Company member Susan Quinn. In 2025, she choreographed Craft is our Language, a campaign celebrating the 50th anniversary of Bottega Veneta’s iconic leather weave, Intrecciato. The campaign features artists from film, music, literature, and sport, including Julianne Moore, Dario Argento, Troy Kotsur, Tyler, the Creator, Zadie Smith, and Lorenzo Musetti.
