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
“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
“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
“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
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
“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
“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
“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
Upcoming Labs
Crete
Fitness & Embodiment Retreat | June 2026
Return to the core principles of Fitness and Embodiment with Alex & Yorgos for our first-ever June retreat. Expanding the horizons of their work, June will be a return to the roots of the programme, focusing purely on connection and personal growth.
Crete
Fitness & Embodiment Retreat | Sept 2026
Our September 2026 retreat will honor the standing tradition with Alex, Yorgos, & Dr. Lena returning as instructors. Through movement, education, and community, you'll gain practical tools to lead a more balanced, energized, and present life—long after the retreat ends.
Crete
Physical Lab Retreat | Crete
The Physical Lab Retreat is our flagship annual event for actors — a six-day immersive experience on the beautiful island of Crete where performers from around the world come together to deepen their craft and advance their artistic mastery.