IN THE BEST CIRCLES Greeks Dance

It has been said that, “Greeks dance in the best circles.” At the Oakland Greek Festival, everyone is Greek and the circles of dancers grow wider and wider as you join someone’s hand and follow along. After circling two or three times you will have mastered the steps and made some wonder.

Seven Ascension dance troupes present Greek folk dance performances throughout the three-day Festival at the Windmill Plaza. See page 13 for performance times.

Continued on page 20

The Ascension Cathedral dance troupes comprise over 100 dancers. The dancers range in age from three to 25 to 50+ years old.

The dances and costumes are representative of different regions of Greece.

The dance groups practice weekly throughout the year and have two main events to perform for. One is the annual Folk Dance and Choral Festival (FDF) where over 100 dance groups feature up to 3,000 dancers as they come together from throughout the U.S. to compete and share their Hellenic culture and Greek Orthodox faith.

At FDF the Ascension dance groups have consistently won medals and have proven to be a powerhouse dance community that all in attendance enjoy watching.

The second main event is our three-day festival where our following groups perform:

Greeks dance in the best circles…

Koinonia (Fellowship) – Our youngest dance group is just learning how to dance. These Kindergarten and 1st graders have not had a chance to compete yet but warm our hearts with their enthusiastic dancing. Come cheer them on this weekend. Opa!

Aionia (Eternity) – Our up-and-coming dance group, these 2nd through 4th graders love to dance and put on a good show. Their energy and kefi (spirit) will be sure to put a smile on your face. Come watch their crowd-pleasing performances this weekend!

Anagenisis (New Beginning) – Our promising 5th through 7th grade dance group has been working on their amazing performance and is sure to warm our hearts with their enthusiastic dancing. Come watch their powerful performances this weekend!

Learn how just 8 minutes twice a day is All You Need to Improve your Health.

Keeping you dancing through the years!

Paula has two decades of experience with BEMER and is a Leader in the field. Let’s talk about how BEMER can benefit you or a loved one.

Titanes (Titans) – Our 8th through 10th graders symbolizes incredible strength and stamina. They recently took home a first-place medal at our annual dance competition. Come watch this group perform and entertain us with one of its award-winning performances at the Windmill Plaza!

The Titanes Dancers won first place in their division at the 2023 Folk Dance & Choral Festival (FDF),held in Phoenix, AZ.

PHOTO COURTESY FDF

Analypsis (Ascension) – Our high school and first year college dancers, and proudly the namesake group of our Cathedral. This group truly loves to dance and is so excited to be performing at the Festival. Be sure to catch one of their energetic performances. Opa!

Enomeni (United) – Our young adult group truly loves to dance. These dancers never miss a beat and their kefi is contagious! Don’t miss their crowd-pleasing performances on Friday and Saturday night!

Ascension Dancers – Come and enjoy this performance with all of our dancers, ages kindergarten to young adults. They will join together and showcase dances from all over Greece! This is a show you won’t want to miss!