ATHAN KARRAS

ATHAN KARRAS' name is synonymous with Greek dance. After dancing with major dance companies and researching Greek dance as an exponent of his career, he has successfully produced and presented folklore programs and events in the U.S. and Canada. Mr. Karras is featured in many folk-dance manuals and is represented in the recently produced multi-cultural video by Human Kinetics. Currently, he is an instructor of Greek Dance and Culture at Loyola Marymount University, and is the U.S. coordinator for Mazoxi, an annual Greek dance conference held on the Island of Crete, which he helped organize with Kety Karekla Fragiadaki and Andreas Fragiadakis. In the early sixties, he founded the Intersection Folk Dance Center in Los Angeles, which subsequently became the landmark of folk cultures and a unique center for Greek music and dance.

          Mr. Karras has paved the way for performers in the U.S. and was instrumental in bringing the Parthenon Dancers of Greece to the U.S. and Canada for several tours. He has conducted tours to Greece taking groups to dance festivals along with visits to ancient sites. He has also produced and presented several major Greek Festivals at UC Berkeley, UCLA, and Loyola Marymount University and created ethnic folklore programs for the Southern California Heritage Society. He was also the founder and served as Director of Laografia International Greek Folklore Society.

          Mr. Karas has appeared on Broadway, television, and in motion pictures—starring in one of the first Greek-American films, Dark Odyssey, now available on DVD. He is the author of numerous articles on Greek dance and music that have appeared in several major ethnic and national publications. Currently, he has a regular column on dance in the monthly periodical The Hellenic Journal. He has successfully compiled several recordings and dance videos to further widen the scope of Greek folk music and dance appreciation.

          Mr. Karras is a member of the Dora Stratou Greek Dance Theatre and Foundation; a member of the Board of Directors for the AMAN Folk Ensemble; an Advisor and Director of the Folk Dance Programs for the California Traditional Musical Society "CTMS" which honored him with the Lifetime Achievement Award; a lifetime member of The Hellenic University Club of Southern California which also recognized him for his contributions to Greek Culture and Heritage for his production of Kapetan Mihalis by Nikos Kazantzakis; he was named Man of the Year at the Levendia Conference, a Greek Folk Festival in Tarpon Springs, Florida; and he received the 2001 Athenagoras I Humanitarian Award which is the highest award given by the Greek Orthodox Folk Dance Festival of the Western Diocese.

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