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

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

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_00Episode 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

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 mi

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 marr

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 he

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,

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

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 Creta

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 encyclo

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.orgSaturday October 14Savor Cinema: 503 SE 6th Street, Ft Lauderdale6:00pm red carpet6:45pm movie 123 minFollowed by reception

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

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 f

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

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

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 t

Dimitri Carabas is a Composer currently living in Astoria, Queens. He attended The University of Nevada Las Vegas where he earned a Bachelors in Classical Music Composition. There, his writing focused on Post-Romantic and Minimalist styles. With a growing interest in merging Classical writing and El

We sat down with dance giants to record the first installment of our dance etiquette series. Unofficially we like to call this 'don't be a D on the dance floor'. It's an episode where we bring the voices of many to table to discuss dance etiquette and how the culture in the United States may have in

We sat down for a great conversation with Maria Koulouris Glanz and Christos Pantieras of Ethos Greek Folklore Association based out of Ottawa, Canada. They shared with us their journeys in Greek dance, and how Ethos is supporting the preservation of Hellenic Folklore today. You can learn more about

Rania Samartzis- born in NYC, moved to Athens, Greece until I was 8 yo, then moved to Port Richey, FL and currently living in Palm Harbor,FL. My mom is from Kastoria (Macedonia) and my dad is Athenian (his mom from Smyrna & his dad from Thiva). 
I started dancing when i was in school in Greece as pa

Joe Kaloyanides Graziosi, from the Boston area, has done extensive research on regional dance in Greece and among Greek communities in the U.S. Drawn to Greek music and dance from a young age Joe was an enthusiastic participant in the Greek church dance and New England area community music scene and