Horohronos is a multidisciplinary arts and dance education space in Votanikos, Athens. Founded in 2015 by Haris Mantafounis and Eleni Tzarou, the studio occupies a transformed former woodworking shop on Orfeos Street. Today it hosts the Higher Professional Dance School “Horohronos”, along with open classes in classical and contemporary dance, floor acrobatics, and tango. The space also functions as a cultural hub, presenting dance and theatre performances, workshops, and artistic events, while offering studios for rehearsals, filming, and seminars. It has become a lively center for movement, training, and creative exchange within the Athens arts community.
Presence in
Acting
Athens
Discover presence and its embodiment as an essential tool for authentic expression, and learn how to bring this fully into your own performance.
About the workshop
An immersive two-day workshop led by Yorgos Karamalegos, founder of Physical Lab, dedicated to cultivating presence and authenticity in performance. This work is a journey toward uncovering one’s most authentic self and embodying a free, uninhibited artistic spirit.
Through embodiment practices and deconditioning, participants explore presence while releasing ingrained acting habits. Actors are guided to shed societal and cultural conditioning, opening the door to a state of performance in which body, mind, emotion, voice, language, and instinct flow together in harmony.
The aim is simple yet profound: performance rooted in truth, and presence arising from one’s deepest essence.
A Homecoming
This workshop marks a meaningful return for Physical Lab to Athens after many years away, and it feels less like coming back and more like stepping into a city whose artistic energy has been steadily growing. The thriving community of performers, makers, and thinkers here inspires us, and we’re excited to become part of that living conversation again. Rather than a single event, we see this as the beginning of an ongoing presence — a place where artists can meet regularly, exchange practices, and take creative risks together. We hope to establish Athens as a new home base where research, training, and collaboration can evolve over time. Just as importantly, we want to open the doors to new people: those curious about the work, those returning to it, and those discovering it for the first time. Each gathering is an invitation to enter the process, no matter where you are in your journey. Our return is therefore not only a continuation, but a beginning shaped by the community we hope to grow alongside.
The Studio
Images and studio description are © Horohronos Studio, Athens.
Grants & Funding
Many Lab participants have secured partial or full funding through arts grants, and we are happy to provide any documentation needed to support your application. Standard materials commonly required for grant submissions can be found on our Lab Pricing & Funding page. Please contact us should you need anything further.
We encourage you to apply even if funding has not yet been confirmed.
Preparing
for a Lab
For our short courses, participants are asked to prepare and learn a single piece of text. This helps you fully engage with our Lab methodology and explore how text can be embodied and emotionally expressed. You’re welcome to work solo or with a partner, in any language you’re most comfortable with.
If you’re unsure of what to choose, please feel free to browse our library of suggested text. For full details and guidance, please visit: Preparing for a Lab.
Yorgos Karamalegos
Founder & Artistic Director
Yorgos guides performers and professionals toward deep physical and mental awareness, emphasizing presence as a path to personal and professional freedom. His body-focused approach aims to use deconditioning as a tool to uncover authenticity.
Apply
Now
Cancellation Policy
We have a cancellation policy of three weeks prior to the start of the Lab for short workshops. After this, we cannot offer refunds unless another participant can be found to take the place.
WHAT OUR LABBERS ARE SAYING
“Absolute. Radical. Transformation.”
Tamalynne
Grant
“Reconnecting with my essence via Yorgos’s guidance is a tool I’m not only excited to bring into my artistry, but also into my life as a whole. It’s truly been a priceless discovery.”
Jimena
Larraguivel
“[Yorgos] held the space so gently and I felt so safe and contained even though we were exploring work that could make one feel vulnerable and exposed. I felt such a shift exploring text after the very physical dancing with the masks on—it was very liberating going from that almost delirious state into the text because I was completely connected to the emotional story and not even thinking about lines. It was a very powerful experience.”
Michelle
Scott Hill
“Anyone who met me in the following days saw a more aware and determined look on my face both professionally and personally. I recommend it to everyone.”
Clara
Mori
“Working with Yorgos for 10 days in Crete, preparing for a TV part was an amazing experience! Even in moments of self-doubt and fatigue, when you face your own wall, he was always there fully present with me, both with great care and rigour! I have been working with Yorgos for about 8 years, and he always gives me strength and tools to keep going forward.”
Cyril
Gueï
“I didn’t realise how forcefully that lock was going to burst open and how the work that we’re doing is just so important — not just for you as an actor, as an artist, but as a person!”
Noor
Hamdi
“Working with Yorgos feels deeply aligned with my own approach to acting and being an artist. [He] creates a space that’s both expansive and grounded—where I feel safe to explore, take risks, and build a personal toolkit that reflects who I am. He doesn’t offer a one-size-fits-all method; instead, he encourages each of his mentees to find and refine what works uniquely for them. That level of support and freedom is truly empowering.”
Katharina
Gerlich
“Yorgos has such an understanding and knowledge of how to take care of ourselves on a personal level when we’re doing this kind of work and living this kind of life.”
Helen
Percival
I have found my joy in acting again. I remembered why I wanted to do it in the first place. I feel more present, warm and embodied in my own body, less self-conscious […] A weight was lifted from me through this workshop, a lot of pressure I have put onto myself and onto the craft. […] Also, I learned, that I can pour all my personal experiences into my performances, without revisiting traumatic events of the past, but rather use acting as an outlet for my emotions to come through and release. And through that reach catharsis.”
Victoria
Lozar
“What began as pleasure has now turned into tasting, and it actually feels like a muscle I can train and a practical tool for my work. The next step will be to explore how tasting could enhance my rehearsal process and, eventually, my performance, even though I can’t yet imagine how I’ll have enough capacity for it.”
Ylva
Maj
“Yorgos’ work is in perfect continuity with what Crete awakens in me: a deeper anchoring in the body, access to buried emotions, the courage to take risks, and the pursuit of a sincerity that can only enrich the creative process. More than an artistic approach, it is a true journey into the depths of the soul — one that seeks to serve art in its most authentic form.”
Roda
Fawaz
“The Lab has been a great and safe place to research, try things out, not know, fail and get out of my comfort zone. After each session, I feel empowered to keep working on my acting and on myself for the days, months and years to come.”
Boris
de la Higuera
Upcoming Labs
London
Fitness & Embodiment 1-Day Workout
A 2-hour Fitness & Embodiment workshop in London blending strength training with embodied movement, breathwork, and meditation. Inspired by the Fitness & Embodiment Retreat in Crete, it offers a powerful introduction to integrating body awareness with effective training. The session concludes with reflection and Q&A, leaving participants feeling energised, grounded, and more connected to their bodies.
Atlanta
Protected: Presence in Acting | Atlanta
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Crete
Fitness & Embodiment Retreat | June 2026
Return to the core principles of Fitness and Embodiment with Alex & Yorgos for our first-ever June retreat. This special edition returns to the roots of the programme, focusing on connection, presence, and personal growth. Through fitness workshops and embodiment practices, participants deepen awareness and explore more intentional ways of relating to themselves and others. Each day blends movement, reflection, and shared experience in a supportive environment. Meals and accommodation are included, with time for excursions to the beach and nearby local hotspots.