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While the Metropolis of San Francisco’s Greek Orthodox Folk Dance & Choral Festival (FDF) offers plenty of kefi, it also presents the opportunity for parishes throughout the American West to highlight their unique communities.
This year, with the competition returning to Arizona, the focus is on the hometown team of Holy Trinity Cathedral in Phoenix, as well as their fellow Arizonans from Tucson and Scottsdale.
“We love having it here,” said Niko Panagiotakopoulos, dance program director for Holy Trinity. “Shortening that drive is always great, but more importantly, this year we can get our yiayiades here who can’t always make it.”
Being a member of the hometown team also helps first-time dancers feel more comfortable competing. Panagiotakopoulos shares that this year, Holy Trinity’s teams include several converts, dancing at FDF for the first time.
“As everyone knows, our Greek Orthodox faith is growing,” said Panagiotakopoulos, “and since it’s in our hometown, it’s so much easier to expand the range of who gets to come.”
Most years, the team traveling from furthest is the Aloha Youth Choir, hailing from Sts. Constantine and Helen Cathedral of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawai’i. Longtime choral director Stelios Schordilis says the annual competition is a rare opportunity for his singers to showcase their community–a corner of Greek America few get to see for themselves.
The choir has participated in the last 13 FDFs, and this year has teamed up with California participants to perform in the dance competition as well. For parishes located several hours from one another by plane, this creates a unique challenge; leading up to the competition, the dancers held makeshift practices over video calls.
“It’s not easy,” said Schordilis. “But we manage, thank God, and coming here absolutely helps us feel connected.”
This year, another team traveled from nearly as far to represent their community in the choral competition for the first time: the Byzantine Choir of Hellenic College/Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Seminary in Brookline, Massachusetts.
“We’re here to represent our school,” said singer Konstantinos Karai. “That was our purpose–to share what we love, which is music and the Orthodox tradition.”
Invited by His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos of San Francisco to perform at FDF, the choir consists of students from both the Metropolis of San Francisco and elsewhere.
“Holy Cross students come from every metropolis,” said singer Aaron Davis. “To represent that body made up of every metropolis is a real blessing and an honor.”
“We hope this is just the beginning,” Karai confirmed.
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