Apollo Dance Troupe
In 1974, Eva Kontos was asked
by George Georgacopoulos, then parish council president of
St. Athanasios Church to teach our parish’s youth Greek
dance so as to perform at our church’s and other Greek
festivals in the area. Dressed in blue skirts or trousers,
white shirts, red sashes and fishermen’s hats the group
was a hit! Her husband, Dr. Michael Kontos then joined her
in directing the group. Like Eva and Michael, many of the
parents of these dancers (such as Dora & Taki Stamatopoulos
and Irene & Iraklis Panagopoulos) were founders of St.
Athanasios and were of great assistance in helping develop
the dance troupe; from countless hours of sewing costumes,
to driving to performances, to announcing, to providing much
love and support. Thanks to the enthusiasm of the dancers,
the group continued to grow and flourish and adopted the name,
“The Apollo Dance Troupe.”
As the Troupe’s knowledge of various
Greek dances expanded, so did their wardrobe, with costumes
from islands such as Crete, Karpathos, and Cyprus, to mainland
regions like Epirus, Peloponnesus, and Thessaly, to name just
a few. The Troupe’s repertoire consists of over 165
dances that have been performed throughout the Midwest, and
as far away as N.Y.C. and Florida. Eva and Dr. Kontos have
always strived to keep both costume and dance authenticity,
which makes this troupe all the more special and unique.
In the past, with the exception of some
expenses, a large amount of money that the Troupe raised over
the years was donated back to their new church, in excess
of $45,000. The mural of St. Athanasios’ life just below
the choir loft in the church was completely donated by the
Troupe, as were several pews. The Troupe always keeps St.
Athanasios in the center of their hearts, dancing for their
church, and always saying a group prayer before a performance.
While most of the Troupe’s members
are also members of St. Athanasios Church, the Troupe is blessed
to have current members and alumni of other parishes. In fact,
the Troupe has grown over the years to include a Neophyte
(grades 1-5) and Intermediate (grades 5-8) group in addition
to the senior Apollo Dance Troupe. The senior Troupe’s
members vary in age from high school freshmen on up. Over
the years dancers have joined with siblings, cousins, or koumbari
or sometimes alone. Yet the Troupe always comes together as
one big family, through “thick and thin.”
Keeping in the tradition of family, at
the troupe’s 30th Anniversary celebration in October
2004, Eva and Dr. Kontos gave their children, Dr. Ellena Kontos
Vranas and Gregory Kontos, their blessings to continue the
mission of the troupe: to help maintain the ethnicity of our
Greek-American youth through song and dance. With the additional
directing aid of Evan Constantinides, George Vlahos and Foti
Georgopoulos the troupe looks forward to many more years of
wonderful dance!
Apollo Dance
Troupe
Practices every Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
Intermediate
Dance Troupe
Practices every Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
Neophyte Dance Troupe
Practices every second and fourth Friday at 8 p.m.
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