During August 1997, I was one of two honored recipients awarded the Directors scholarship to attend a two week dance seminar held in Greece. My co-recipient, Vasili Contos, his sister Aristi, and I journeyed together to the village of Agios Germanos, the site of the seminar. Agios Germanos is a very beautiful, peaceful and still authentic horio (village) which lies in the mountains along theAlbanian/Greek border, just outside of Florina, Macedonia. Not only were we taken by its picturesque view of the neighboring Prespa Lake, but also by its huge green trees and grassy hilltops which reminded me of the areas around my home in Seattle, Washington. The similarities ended with the scenery, and during the next two weeks I would experience Agios Germanos as home.

The dance classes consisted of five hours each day in a classroom or on the outside dirt grounds at the local village school. Instructors, each with their own specialty, taught dances from: Florina, Pontos, Alexandria, Thessaly, Thrace (Thracian Sarakatsanika and Asvestathes), Veria and Serres (Vlachika), Asia Minor, Kapadokia, Crete, Epirus and various islands. Through learning these various types of dances, the instructors guided us to master the steps, styling and variations that applied with each dance. Learning to correctly execute the dances was enhanced by learning about the instruments used in that region, and most importantly, the style of the villagers and the historical reasons why that styling was so important.

We were fortunate enough to attend a couple of celebrations (panagyria) at neighboring Macedonian villages, as well as attending a Baptism held in a church smaller than most American living rooms. One day we traveled to visit a village with authentic Sarakatsani huts, and spent all day with the villagers who still live there five months out of the year. Through these events, I found that Macedonian dances aren't the only practiced dances in the Florina region. I was surprised to see that along with Levendikos (the most popular dance), Hasapiko and Kori Eleni were among the favorites selected as well as various Pontic and Epirotiko dances. It was wonderful to see that these villagers who grew up in the Florina area and permanently lived there, knew and enjoyed dances from other regions in Greece as well. Once the panagyria were over, around 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning, it was always nice to go back home to Agios Germanos and look forward to the next day's activities.

Many nights we traveled outside of Agios Germanos to see a variety of traditional dance and style performed by villagers. When we weren't at a local panagyri, the nights were spent in the horio creating our own panagyria with local traditional bands in the village platia (square) or at the local Lefteri's Taverna. Many of these nights were spent dancing and singing until early hours in the morning with musicians from Macedonia, and on one occasion, our night was spent with a special guest Lyra player from Pontos. Other special guests that attended the seminar were two sisters from Asvestathes, Thrace, who came wearing costumes from their region to teach us their songs and dances. By the end of the seminar many villagers had dropped in to dance with us and to show us their "own" particular style. The opportunity to learn from the horiani (villagers) had more of an impact on me then just the classroom experience.

My experience at the seminar at Agios Germanos was much more than just learning dances from the regions in Greece. The greatest impression that I left this experience with, is the love and passion that other non-Greek attendees have for "our" culture and traditions, this same culture and traditions that unfortunately goes forgotten by many Greek natives and Greeks around the world who take it for granted. Out of 50 participants in Agios Germanos, only 4 were Greek. The others were from France, Belgium, England, or Germany, all of whom had come to Greece specifically to learn about Greek traditions and dances. Many of whom speak Greek almost fluently and have danced Greek dances for many years. These people had fallen in love with "our" culture and the country that many of us refer to as our homeland. In the end, I realized that the most important thing for me to do was to take what I learned and carry it to others in America so it can be passed on through the generations.