St. Haralambos Hellenic Dancers - Authentic Greek Performers

St. Haralambos Hellenic Dancers' History

Authentic Greek Costumes

The St. Haralambos Hellenic Dancers was founded in 1985 by Eleni Paxos. They began lessons in a small classroom where Eleni taught Greek School at

St. Haralambos for 5 years. There were 13 female dancers who made their first debut at the March 25th celebration Greek School program. Today there are approximately 80 active dancers amongst three groups. The senior group is considered the performing/traveling group. Over their 22 years in existence the group has traveled all over Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Florida & Canada attending workshops to enhance their dancing and entertaining many audiences with authentic Greek dancing. They have also made three trips to the homeland Greece, where they performed and attended workshops from the professional dance group of Greece - Dora Stratou Theater. The group has learned over 150 dances from various regions and islands of Greece. These include: Thrace, Peloponese, Pontian, Asia Minor, Epiros, Mykonos, Chios, Crete, Naxos, Kefalonia, Kithira, Rhodes, Ikaria and Lefkada to name a few. They also have 5 sets of authentic Greek costumes which include: Chiotika, Cretan, Ionian (Kefalonia), Peloponese & Thrace. The St. Haralambos Hellenic Dancers are a true representation of the youth at St. Haralambos Greek Orthodox Church, which exhibit pride in their heritage and who show love for one of the most authentic arts of Greece.

These are just of some of the costumes that were worn traditionally by the Greek people. We can even recognize a costume's village based on individual features such as the silhouette of a costume part, or the colors or the embroidery designs used. This is also true with respect to the various costumes worn by the Greeks of the islands. Some of the characteristics of Greek folk costumes can be traced back to elements in ancient Greece and are a beautiful part of a very rich cultural history.