Aris Yortzidis has been involved with Greek folk dancing for over 37 years in various capacities--as a dancer, director, and judge. He began dancing in his home parish of St. George in Downey, CA in 1982 and also performed with various groups in southern California. In 1995 and until his departure from Southern California in 2000, Aris directed groups at St. George, Downey, CA; Sts. Constantine and Helen, Cardiff-by-the-Sea, CA; and St. Katherine, Redondo Beach, CA. In 1996, Aris received an scholarship from the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco Folk Dance Festival that provided him the opportunity to research the dances of Serres; the dances and traditions of his father’s village of Chrysochorafa (Gagauzika; where his father is from), Serres; the dances of the Vlachs of Serres; and the dances of Pontos in Serres, Katerini (where his mother is from), and Thessaloniki. He has continued his research and has obtained broad knowledge of the dances of Thrace, Macedonia, the islands, and other regions of Greece. He continues to present at seminars and serve as a consultant to performing groups. He has also served as a judge at several Greek folk dance events and competitions in the United States (Hellenic Dance Festival, Metropolis of Atlanta; America's Greek Dance Competition) and in South America (Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Buenos Aires and South America). Aris currently resides and works in the Washington, DC area and he is married to Anna Yortzidis, a native of Newport News, VA. Aris and Anna are also co-founders the Byzantio Greek Dance and Cultural Arts Program based in the Greater Metropolitan Washington, DC area (Web: byzantio.org | Instagram: @byzantiodc | Twitter: @ByzantioDC | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ByzantioDC).Anna Yortzidis has been Greek folk dancing since 1985, starting with the Hellenic Youth Dancers of Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church in her hometown of Newport News, Virginia. She represented her community in several events and competitions including the Metropolis of New Jersey Folk Dance Festival, Metropolis of San Francisco Folk Dance Festival, and Metropolis of Atlanta Hellenic Dance Festival. After dancing with the Hellenic Youth Dancers for nine years, Anna took over as program head and directed the five dance groups under the program before moving to Washington, DC in 2007. During her tenure with the Hellenic Youth Dancers, Anna conducted extensive research on various regions of Greece (Thrace, Pontos, Macedonia, Crete, and other islands) and greatly expanded the program’s dance repertoire. She also is an avid costume enthusiast and made significant investments to the Hellenic Youth Dancers costume library. Anna continues to perform with Enosis, the adult group of the program. After moving to Washington, DC, Anna co-founded the Byzantio Cultural Arts and Dance Program of the Greater Washington DC area in 2012 with her husband, Aris Yortzidis. The program consists of four groups and Anna performs and directs in the program. In addition to her extensive work as a director, Anna has also served as a judge at the Metropolis of Atlanta Hellenic Dance Festival, the Direct Archdiocese District Folk Dance Festival (Parathosi) in New York, and the Metropolis of San Francisco Folk Dance Festival.

** As a clarification to the episode, Clean Monday, is March 15, 2021**Yvonne Hunt has been teaching and researching Greek dances for more than 30 years, working with Father Homer Dimopoulos to establish the dance program at Seattle’s St. Demetrios Church in 1974. During that time the “Paniyiri” dance group was formed under her direction and represented the Seattle Greek community at many functions throughout the state and British Columbia. Yvonne also taught Greek dances in the University of Washington dance department in 1975-76 and 1978-79, as well as Greek and other Balkan dances at the Experimental College there from 1972 to 1979.Yvonne made her first research trip to Greece in 1975, returning there again in 1978 and finally moving there in 1979 for fourteen years. During seven of those years she was the assistant to the director, Simon Karas, at the Society for the Dissemination of National Music. While living in Greece, she taught for 6 years at the Hellenic American Union, 11 years at both the Athens Centre and the Tsiamoulis Elementary School, and for 3 years at the University of LaVerne (Athens campus), and at various dance groups and cultural societies. In addition to these many teaching positions she also conducted dance research throughout the country, from the southernmost islands to the northernmost prefectures. Yvonne is still a research associate at the Centre for Asia Minor Studies in Athens.Yvonne was invited to be the sole instructor at the first summer dance seminar in Greece (Sitia), which was organized by dancers from Norway and France in 1981. In the ensuing years she organized, directed and taught at summer seminars throughout the country, and has been conducting carnival seminars in the Serres region since 2001. She has also taught seminars throughout Europe, the US and Canada. Yvonne was on the organizing staff of the IOFA (ΔΟΛΤ) conferences in Larissa from 1987-1990, has been a guest lecturer at Dora Stratou Theatre on more than one occasion, and had the privilege of presenting her work in Flambouro, Serres, both at a seminar there and at the theatre premier opening in 1989.Since Yvonne’s return to the States in 1993, she has directed the dance program at Assumption Church in Seattle, has instructed the prize-winning college/adult group, Akrites, at St. Demetrios Church and has served as the resource person for the other dance directors there, and has directed several groups performing at FDF in Southern California and has judged the competitions there. Concurrently she taught classes both in Greek dance and the Modern Greek language at Seattle-area community colleges and several other venues. She continues to teach classes in dance, language and Greek culture today.Yvonne has presented papers and appeared on panels at many international conferences and symposia in Europe and America. Her publications include both English and Greek versions of the book, Traditional Dance in Greek Culture (Ο Παραδοσιακός Χορός στον Ελληνικό Πολιτισμό) (1996); articles in both Greek and international periodicals and journals; the CD, Zourna Masters of Flambouro (with Christos Govetas and Neal Sandler, 1998); as well as liner notes for several other CD recordings of Greek music. Her book, A Nest of Gold (Μια Φωλιά από Χρυσάφι) (2015), on the dances and traditional music and customs of the Serres region of Macedonia, has been published by the Kyklos Cultural Society of Thessaloniki.

Mike has been dancing Greek folk dances for over 35 years. His love and interest in Greek folk dancing have led him to participate in several dance conferences throughout the east coast and Canada, learning from the best, authentic Greek folk dance instructors in the world. As the Dance Director for the Boston Lykeion Ellinidon, he has performed throughout New England and the east coast with the troupe. Outside of Greek dancing, Mike teaches 8th grade English Language Arts and Social Studies at a middle school in Framingham, Massachusetts.For more information on the Boston Lykeion Ellinidon visit: https://www.bostonlykeion.org/Or www.facebook.com/greekdance

Nick Vosinas has been dancing and instructing with various groups throughout central New Jersey. He is the head GOYA dance instructor at St. Anna, Flemington (since 2013), Head GOYA dance instructor at St. George, Piscataway (since 2016), Artistic Director (since 2019) and Historian (since 2014) of the Hellenic Dancers of NJ. HDNJ contact info: hellenicdancersofnj.org@HDNJ1972 (Instagram)https://www.facebook.com/[email protected]

We're back, with Phil Voutsakis, speaking about his dance experiences, his favorite regions and traditions. This Philly native also weighs in on the best place to get a cheesesteak, and you may be surprised with his answer. Phil Voutsakis has been a Greek folk dancer for 20+ years and was a founding member of the St. George Zephyros Seniors folk dance group in 2003, a GOYA aged (7th - 12th Graders) group. Phil was brought back to instruct the group in 2016. Under Phil's instruction, the Zephyros Seniors have taken first at the Metropolis of New Jersey's Folk Dance Festival and at the regional Sights and Sounds competition for the past 3 years. Phil's passion for dance comes from an appreciation for it's integral part of the community and a reverence for traditions. Phil is also a dancer in the Pan-Macedonian Association of Philadelphia's Spirit of Macedonia dance group. His dance-related goals include the creation of a multi-aged dance group, as are commonplace in Greece, in order to keep people dancing as they get to different stages of their lives. His favorite dance is Neizamikos from Naoussa.

Maria, a native of the Chicago-land area, sat down with us to share a bit about dance in the 1970s, her experiences as an instructor and her love for dances from Kalymnos.