Photo Credit YS Photography
Traditional Hellenic dance is alive and well in 2023 if you were wondering. A record 3,000 participants gathered this January 13-16 in Downtown Atlanta for the 22nd annual Hellenic Dance Festival (HDF). The Metropolis of Atlanta-sponsored event hosted record numbers across its Metropolis and beyond, with 48 dance groups representing Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Colorado, Virginia, Illinois, Maryland, and Kansas. For the first time, HDF also welcomed groups from New York and Nebraska. The “kefi,” a word for joy that you simply “have to be there” to experience, was very much alive.
HDF is organized by a passionate executive committee and a 14-person festival implementation team. The event aims to bring together Greek and Orthodox families through dance, music, and fellowship to perpetuate rich Hellenic traditions of dance and music. The 2022 theme “ASCEND” was woven into spiritual workshops throughout the event. Attendees also participated in an HDF-wide service project. Through generous donations from individuals and parishes, they packed over 2023 health kits and toys for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
In addition to full days of competition on Saturday and Sunday, attendees participated in an opening ceremony on Friday evening, with remarks and an Agiasmos by His Eminence Metropolitan Alexios. On Sunday morning, the entire Metropolis family gathered to celebrate a Hierarchical Divine Liturgy with His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros. The weekend culminated on Sunday evening with a red carpet-themed awards ceremony, which was followed by socializing and dancing that lasted well into Monday morning. Live music for the Saturday and Sunday glendia were provided by folk musicians from across the U.S. and from Thessaloniki, Crete, and Ioannina, Greece.
A panel of dance and costume judges from across the U.S. and Greece joined to share their decades of Greek folk dance research and teaching. At Sunday’s awards banquet, medals were awarded for dance, choral performance, costumes, and folk expression in each of eight competitive categories. Platinum (first place) medal winners included: Primary Category: Ta Manoussakia, Annunciation, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Advanced Primary Category: Elliniki Psihi, Saints Constantine and Helen, Hampton Roads, Virginia, Junior Category: Asteria, Annunciation, Atlanta, Georgia, Advanced Junior Category: Oi Dopyoi, Annunciation, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Intermediate Category: Ellinopoula, Saints Constantine and Helen, Hampton Roads, Virginia, Advanced Intermediate Category: Alhimeia, Holy Trinity, Charlotte, North Carolina, Senior Category: Afieroma, St. Elizabeth, Gainesville, Florida., Advanced Senior Category: Enosis, Saints Constantine and Helen, Hampton Roads, Va. The annual Metropolitan Alexios Philotimo Award was given to the parish of St. John the Baptist in Omaha, Nebraska.
The 2024 Hellenic Dance Festival will be held in Orlando, Florida. Interested in learning more about HDF? Visit www.HellenicDanceFestival.com.
ABOUT HDF
The Hellenic Dance Festival is held annually on MLK Jr. weekend and began in 2000. Traveling to various cities throughout the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Atlanta, the Hellenic Dance Festival has grown into a large-scale. The need for our communities to perpetuate our culture, along with the philosophy of ancient Greece and the Olympic spirit of “a healthy mind in a healthy body” were instrumental in the vision of His Eminence Metropolitan Alexios to establish the initial Hellenic Dance Festival.