Greek Folk Dance News:
New Executive Leadership!
New Executive Leadership!
We would like to take the opportunity to express our excitement and appreciation of our new appointment as Executive Directors of the dance program. Although neither of us are strangers to the dance program, we feel very honored to be given the confidence of Fr. Jon and the community to lead the directors, dancers, and parents in such a meaningful ministry of the church. We hope to build on the strong foundation that has been so faithfully developed over the years and with the communities support, take it to new heights.
We would briefly like to share with the community the experience we offer which has so significantly influenced us over the years. As many of you know, Spiro is the son of James and Dena Stamos and has been both a dancer and director in Modesto for over 30 years. He started dancing in 1976 with a handful of kids which achieved unexpected success. Spiro grew from those early years to direct several dance groups, which included the Spartans, Enosi, and the Patriotes. During that same period of time, Spiro served not only as a Chairman on the FDF Management Team but also on the FDF Board of Trustees. As the son of Dena Stamos, Spiro had no choice but to live, breathe, and sleep Greek dancing.
Ava grew up in the active community of St. Nicholas in Northridge. Ava danced and directed in Northridge and St. Sophia. Ava began her early years directing and later managing the Northridge dance program. Throughout that period, while still fully engaged in Northridge, Ava served as both a Chairman on the FDF Management Team as well as the Managing Director of FDF in 1997. Ava followed her success as Managing Director by serving on the FDF Board of Trustees. In 1999, Ava was responsible for reorganizing the St. Sophia dance program as the Dance Program Director while also directing the oldest group, Keravnos. Her success was marked by increasing the participation from just a handful of dancers and parents to well over 100 dancers and parents.
Based on the positive experiences over the years we bring a vision of how we would like to see the program develop and flourish. The one thing we love about being back home in Modesto is the support and closeness of the community. We look forward to continuing to emphasize this important sense of community in every aspect of the program. We hope you will join us and celebrate the joy of fellowship through dance!
We would briefly like to share with the community the experience we offer which has so significantly influenced us over the years. As many of you know, Spiro is the son of James and Dena Stamos and has been both a dancer and director in Modesto for over 30 years. He started dancing in 1976 with a handful of kids which achieved unexpected success. Spiro grew from those early years to direct several dance groups, which included the Spartans, Enosi, and the Patriotes. During that same period of time, Spiro served not only as a Chairman on the FDF Management Team but also on the FDF Board of Trustees. As the son of Dena Stamos, Spiro had no choice but to live, breathe, and sleep Greek dancing.
Ava grew up in the active community of St. Nicholas in Northridge. Ava danced and directed in Northridge and St. Sophia. Ava began her early years directing and later managing the Northridge dance program. Throughout that period, while still fully engaged in Northridge, Ava served as both a Chairman on the FDF Management Team as well as the Managing Director of FDF in 1997. Ava followed her success as Managing Director by serving on the FDF Board of Trustees. In 1999, Ava was responsible for reorganizing the St. Sophia dance program as the Dance Program Director while also directing the oldest group, Keravnos. Her success was marked by increasing the participation from just a handful of dancers and parents to well over 100 dancers and parents.
Based on the positive experiences over the years we bring a vision of how we would like to see the program develop and flourish. The one thing we love about being back home in Modesto is the support and closeness of the community. We look forward to continuing to emphasize this important sense of community in every aspect of the program. We hope you will join us and celebrate the joy of fellowship through dance!