Opa!

In the Central West End, the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church community held their annual Greek festival over Labor Day weekend. Many people attended the festival.

As festival-goers ate baklava, spanakopita, tiropita, and moussaka, they watched the St. Nicholas Dance Troupe perform several different dances that were native to Greece. Some of these included Zorba the Greek and Hasaposerviko.

“Dancing is a lot of fun,” dancer Elaine Reichert said. “My favorite song to dance to is Zorba the Greek.”

The Dancing Troupe was divided into four different age groups. One of them was the Arianthe Dancers, consisting of children aged four to eight. Another group was the Garagouna Dancers, who are aged eight to 12. The Cariatides Dancers consisted of young adults ages 13 and up. The adult group was called The Souliotisses Dancers.

Georgia Johnson, the traditional Greek dancing instructor and director, has taught at St. Nicholas for 28 years.

“I became interested in teaching dance during elementary school because I had wonderful teachers,” Johnson said.

The dancing was not the only attraction at the St. Nicholas Greek Festival. There was plenty of ethnic food to eat and lots of trinkets to buy at the gift shop. A band performed Greek music, and church tours also were organized.

The festival is a great opportunity to celebrate our heritage,” Father Michael Arbanas said. “It’s important to show it with people in the St. Louis area and the world, but we keep in mind that it is a chance to share our faith as well. The love that people show to one another is important, and it shows that we show our love to the community.”