A minute with Maria Kasapi Choreographer, co-owner of Urban Dance Studio

Where do you live?
I live in Nicosia with my brother, our cat and our dog.

What did you have for breakfast?
Most days, when I don’t have enough time, I just have a protein bar for breakfast. But when I do, my favourite breakfast is avocado toast with an egg.

Describe your perfect day
My perfect day is waking up in Jamaica, at Lime Cay Beach and staying there until the sun sets.

Best book ever read?
My favourite book is Make Your Bed by Admiral William H McRaven. This is because it explains how little things can change someone’s life or even their entire world.

Best childhood memory?
That is a difficult question, but I think I am going to pick the day I met my best friends back on the first day of elementary school. That’s when I felt that good times were waiting for me.

What is always in your fridge?
My fridge is empty most of the time; I only have fruits and eggs that my grandparents send to me.

What music are you listening to in the car at the moment?
During the last years, I’ve been listening to Dancehall and Afrobeats.

What’s your spirit animal?
My spirit animal is the cat. It symbolises independence, curiosity and courage and has the ability to sit back and act only at the last moment.

What are you most proud of?
I’m proud and thankful for having people full of love around me.

What movie scene has really stayed with you?
It’s not a movie but a series, Black Mirror. More specifically, the episode about the world being in danger from robotic bees. I’m not sure of the reason that scene has stuck me, but I think I’m afraid of the evolution of technology combined with the human being.

If you could pick anyone at all (alive or dead) to go out for the evening with, who would it be?
That’s an incredible question, but I am going to choose two; Marina Abramovic and Yoann Bourgeois. We would go to a Meze Tavern.

If you could time travel when/where would you go?
I would travel two years back, when my brother and I first set up the Juxtapose Performance Festival, at our childhood home.

What is your greatest fear?
To grow up without having made all of my dreams come true.

What would you say to your 18-year-old self?
Don’t be afraid, everything is going to be all right.

Name the one thing that would stop you dating someone
I have a lot of things, but I think one of my top three is lack of respect.

If the world is ending in 24 hours what would you do?
I’m going to spend all 24 hours with my family.