GREECE TO UNITED STATES
Inclusive Performing Arts, neurology

Annita Kapousizi (Fulbright Artist, 2016–2017) was affiliated with Carolina's Healthcare System Neurosciences Institute and At A Site Theater in Asheville, North Carolina, as well as the American Center for the Alexander Technique in New York. Her Fulbright research focused on developing an inclusive acting method for people with and without neuromuscular disorders, based on a neurological approach to acting.

Kapousizi describes her Fulbright experience as a catalyst for her professional development, providing her with the opportunity to work in highly relevant research and professional environments, learn from leading practitioners, and deepen her knowledge of inclusive performing arts. The experience also encouraged her to expand her research beyond her original focus and explore new connections between neuroscience and performance.

She subsequently pursued doctoral research in Theatre Studies at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, further developing the neurological approach to acting. In collaboration with the Medical School of Athens, her research explores the activation of the mirror neuron system in people with neuromuscular disorders, including its relationship to emotional and erotic responses.

Since receiving her Fulbright award, Kapousizi has achieved several of the goals she had set for herself at the beginning of her career. Among her most significant accomplishments are the creation of two inclusive theater schools in Athens, Ison–Dance Theater and ARTimeleia, and the publication of The Inclusive Acting Method through the Neurological Approach to Acting: Working with People with Neuromuscular Disorders by ION Publication House—the first published inclusive acting method in Greece.

Her work has also brought her into the international disability and arts community. She was invited to lecture at ABLE ASSEMBLY, an international conference on Disability and Arts organized by the Berklee Institute for Accessible Arts Education in Boston, as the only Greek participant.

For Kapousizi, the Fulbright Program represents a unique opportunity for both personal and professional growth. Her advice to younger scholars is simple: make the most of it.