Syrtos

Harry Koutroumanis and Paul Calzada share about the 2025 Gnosis research trip through the Hellenic Performing Arts Foundation to Karpathos and Crete. Learn a bit about their work, and its connection to the Foundation's mission. For more information visit www.hellenicperformingarts.org or @hellenicperformingarts

Vasilios Aligiannis has an extensive and impressive resume within the Greek folk dance community. He is the founder and lead instructor of the Hellenic Lyceum Sydney. Below are excerpts from his remarkable CV. "My lifelong passion for Greek folk dance has led me on a remarkable journey of exploration and discovery throughout Greece. With over twenty five visits to this captivating country, I have...

Vasiliki Malamatos is the director of Epanastasi Dance Troupe at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Fort Worth, Texas; and the founder & director of Rizes HDF. Epanastasi is a young-adult competitive dance troupe that she started back in January of 2024 and is an official ministry of the St. Demetrios parish in Fort Worth, Texas. Epanastasi will be hosting Rizes HDF on January 25: a parish...

Eleni Koubi is a Greek fashion designer who founded her own brand in 2021. The philosophy behind the clothes is that the garment a person wears is not only meant to meet their physical needs and to highlight their beauty, but is an expression of their personality and cultural identity.  The brand is promoting sustainability through garments that are not mass produced but instead a few pieces are l...

Michelle is a member of the Greek American Folklore Society based in Astoria, Queens. Michelle was born in Los Angeles, grew up in Athens, with roots in Volos, then moved to San Diego at the age of eight. She proudly both Greek and Filipina but for the purposes of this podcast will focus on the Greek American experience. After moving to the US she found community in the St Spyridon Greek Orthodox...

Haralambos (Harry) Koutroumanis was born and raised in Tampa, FL, and moved to Charlotte, NC, in 2023 after graduating from the University of Florida in Gainesville with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Finance. His folk dance research primarily focuses on the island of Crete. Harry gained interest in Greek folk music and dance through the Cretan Sillogo of Clearwater in 2017, and also began da...

Charlie Kleto was born in Charlotte NC and is now living in Miami FL working as a physical therapist. He began dancing in Charlotte when he was in kindergarten and competed in his first HDF in 7th grade. Charlie began directing in 2011 and took his first group to compete at HDF 2012. While directing for Holy Trinity in Charlotte, he was also competing with Thrylos in the advanced senior category....

Jersey born and SoFla raised, Chloe started folk dancing at the age of 15 with the Kamaria Dance Troupe at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Ft. Lauderdale, FL under the direction of Stephanie Balaskas and later, Emmy Louvaris, and competed at her first HDF Competition in 2007 in Clearwater, Fl. She continued on to direct her first festival group during her undergraduate years at Florida Stat...

Michael is a native of Knoxville, TN, a self-taught luthier and a lover of Crete. Join us as we chat about his experience and learn how he got to know and love Crete and its culture! You can find Michael on Instagram @mchambers_00 Episode music: The Anemos Music Project

We are thrilled to kick off season 7 of the Syrtos podcast with Charissa Gianos from Denver, CO! Thank you Charissa for your patience as we navigate a new recording set up for season 7! Don't miss the Kefi at Mile High Dance Workshop and Glendi, September 20-22, in Denver, CO! Also, be sure to listen to the entire episode to learn about some of the amazing CDs Charissa has recorded. Charissa Giano...

Niko, born and raised in the Kansas City area, his mom is an immigrant from Greece, and has always made Greek culture important to Niko and his sister. Niko plays Cretan lyra, and bouzouki. He works as a paramedic and firefighter. Episode music: The Anemos Music Project

The Metropolis of Boston Dance Group (MYDG) is a not-for-profit Greek folk dance group founded in 1989 by Niki Dimotaki-Sokolove under the auspices of His Eminence Metropolitan Methodios and is the only dance group in North America certified by the Dora Stratou Dance Theatre of Athens, Greece. The mission established by founder Niki Dimotaki-Sokolove and His Eminence was to instill the culture and...

Yia Mas is founded by Greek American Kristina Maria Headrick. After witnessing the effects of Greece's devastating financial crisis on friends and family, Kristina felt compelled to share more about the country's culture and support Greece by bringing Greek wellness products to America.  Yia Mas marries Kristina's Greek upbringing with her research on Greek philosophy, dance, design, and culture....

Kaeli McEnteer was born and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina and has been Greek dancing for 15 years. She has just begun directing, having just concluded her first year as director of the Raleigh adult dance troupe “Ischis”. She grew up heavily involved with her home parish of Holy Trinity where her passion for dance was unlocked. Over the years Kaeli has expanded her knowledge of traditional dan...

Andonis Platis is the adult director for Orpheus Hellenic Folklore Society based out of Chicago, IL. A seasoned cardiac medical device professional, he began his career as a perfusionist and researcher in the field of heart failure while also teaching for the community of Saint Demetrios in Tucson, AZ; his hometown. His “καταγωγή” is from the Axaia region near Aigio and Kalavryta. Since college, A...

Zaharoula Zogopoulos was born in New York City. She began her Greek folk dance studies while attending the St. Demetrios Day School of Astoria, NY where the love of Hellenic traditions was instilled in her from a young age. She began choreographing her highschool Greek Dance Team and performed with the Pan-Macedonian Association of New York. Parallel to her Greek folk dancing, she continued to tra...

Michael grew up in Salt Lake City, UT and from the age of 8 is where he discovered his love and passion for Greek Dancing. Fast forward over 20 years later, Michael still has that passion. Michael has participated in the GOYA dance groups, Dionysios College aged dance group, and the Minotavros Cretan dance groups in Salt Lake City. After his time in the youth groups was complete, he has since beca...

Nektarios S. Antoniou, is the new Principal Cantor of the Ascension Cathedral, Oakland, is a member of the American Academy of Composers, Authors and Publishers, writes & produces Music for PBS' "The Life of Loi". He is the Founding & Artistic Director of Schola Cantorum (which recorded the encyclopedic: “A Story of the City: Constantinople-Istanbul” with a Grammy Award winning and nominat...

Maria and Nikos sat down with Stacie and Stavros, competition and FIT chairs of the Hellenic Dance Festival to chat about HDF2024 and more! For more information please visit www.hellenicdancefestival.com and hdf_weekend on Instagram and Facebook. https://www.hellenicdancefestival.com

To learn more about the South Florida Greek Film Festival, including sponsorship information and how to submit a film, visit: https://hellenicculturalsocietyofsouthflorida.org Saturday October 14 Savor Cinema: 503 SE 6th Street, Ft Lauderdale 6:00pm red carpet 6:45pm movie 123 min Followed by reception sponsored by Souvlaki.gr ( http://souvlaki.gr/ ) Eftihia: The story of songwriter Eftyhia Papagi...

Ο Στέφανος Πελεκανής, ο νεαρός καλλιτέχνης της Παράδοσης που ξεχώρισε και αγαπήθηκε για τις ιδιαίτερες ερμηνείες του αλλά και το ξεχωριστό ηχόχρωμά του είναι ένας νεαρός ερμηνευτής της παραδοσιακής και εκκλησιαστικής μουσικής, φιλόλογος και μουσικός που τιμά την παράδοση και έχει ήδη συνεργαστεί με σπουδαία ονόματα στο χώρο της παραδοσιακής μουσικής κάνοντας περιοδείες σε ολόκληρη την Κύπρο και έχ...

Gabriella Papatzimas, born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, has always had a strong connection to her Greek heritage. Growing up in the Greek community at Holy Trinity in Phoenix, she embraced the language, culture, and traditions from an early age. As a first-generation Greek-American, Gabriella’s first language is Greek, and she takes immense pride in her roots. After completing her Bachelor’s de...

Katherine Papadimitriou Ladikos was born and raised and still lives in Atlanta, GA. At the age of 4, she and her brother Dimitri were dragged from Saturday Morning Cartoons to meet with a woman named Eleni that would teach them Greek Dancing inside the dining room of a restaurant. Who knew from both sides that one simple dance of Kastorianos would take a full day to master and turn into a lifetime...

Kostas Mitsis was born in 1975, in Munich/Germany and moved to Preveza/Greece in 1976, where traditional dance and music held a significant role in his everyday life. He studied Agriculture at the Aristotle’s University of Thessaloniki and Greek Dance and Songs at Lykeion ton Ellinidon of Athens and several other institutions. He speaks Greek, English and German. Kostas has devoted his career to t...

Meredith Panayotopoulos was introduced to and fell in love with all things Greek dancing and culture in college when she met her husband George. She spent 10+ years dancing, directing and co-general directing in San Jose, California. She was blessed to be invited with her dance group to Florina in the summer of 2015, where her love and passion for passing on the beautiful traditions of Greek dance...