In 1991, the Hellas Dancers won the Golden Dancers Award for their Authenticity and Precision at the International Dance Festival held by Olympic Film Productions. In 2002, the group competed and won first place at the Hellenic Dance Festival (HDF) Competition hosted by the Greek Orthodox Diocese of Atlanta. In 2004, the group returned to the HDF competition and received another first place dancing award in Charlotte North Carolina. In 2002, the group won a first and fourth place award at the Folk Dance Festival (FDF) competition in Spokane Washington, hosted by the Metropolis of San Francisco. In 2004, we returned to the FDF competition and won a first and second place award in Ontario California. In February of 2006, the Hellas Dancers won first and second place awards at the HDF competition held in Greenville South Carolina! In 2007, the Hellas Dancers hosted the HDF competition and won first and second place. In 1996, the Hellas Dancers represented the United States of America in the Olympic Flame Ceremonies in Montgomery Alabama. The group auditioned, and was chosen to be the only one in United States that was allowed to perform when the Olympic Flame was lit at these Ceremonies. The group has been recognized by the Greek Orthodox Diocese of Atlanta, the Pan-Hellenic Federation of the State of Florida, The American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association (A.H.E.P.A.), The Pan-Cypriot Society of Florida, Epirus Society of Florida, The Macedonian Society of the United States, Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church of Clearwater, and the American Foundation for Greek Language and Culture (AFGLC) for its hard work, dedication, and contributions to our rich Greek Hellenic Culture. In November of 2000, Bishop Alexios of Atlanta recognized the group for organizing a performance in Florida by which all of the Greek Folk Dance Groups in Florida performed individually and together in a special program entitled Musical Mosaics of Greece. The groups were taught a suite of dances by the Hellas Dancers, and then they all performed together.
The Hellas Dancers have built an extensive costume wardrobe with over Fourteen sets of Greek Folk Dance Costumes from various regions of Greece. Each set has approximately fourteen men’s and fourteen women’s costumes from specific regions in Greece. These regions include Pontos, Crete, Samos, Salamis, Epirus, Peloponnesus, Macedonia (Gaida), Kalymnos, Karpathos, Cyprus, Thassos, Rhodes, Thrace (Metaxades), and Misti Cappadoccia. The group is not limited to performing dances from these regions, but will perform dances from other regions using the costumes from regions that are geographically close to the region being performed. Our costumes are primarily made by local seamstresses, with some of their pieces being purchased from Greece. Our costumes that represent Kalymnos, Karpathos and Salamis each received first place awards at the national Folk Dance Festival and/ or The Hellenic Folk Dance Festival in 2002 ,2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.
The Hellas Dancers believe in the concept of continual improvement through education, research, training and practice. When performing, the group believes in maintaining authenticity and professionalism. The Hellas Dancers have sponsored several national and regional conferences on Greek Folk Dancing. On numerous occasions, the Hellas Dancers have brought in professional dancers from the world renound Dora Stratou Theatre in Athens Greece, Folk Dance Festival Judges, Professional Greek Folk Dancers, and instructors from several lykions from Greece for instruction and research material. The group also attends national conferences and conventions regularly to continue building upon their repertoire. The Hellas Dancers also continually share this research with others by hosting conferences, teaching workshops, performing and teaching at national and regional conferences throughout the United States. In 2001 we taught workshops at the Pittsburgh Diocese Conference in Harrisburg. In 2004, the group taught workshops at the Pitsburgh Diocese Conference in Columbus. The groupwill Again teach at the 2007 Pitsburgh Diocese Conference in Harrisburg. , We give workshops, performances and exhibitions! Please feel free to contact us for information. We perform all over the nation! Again, Invite us to your next festival, event, progrm or celebration!
