A special group of people in Sydney are seeking help, not from politicians to boost the negative image of Greece as it struggles through an economic crisis, but to a rather different kind of wise man – an infamous character called Zorba, who doled out self-help tips while facing the many adversities of life. Just as Socrates is still relevant 2400 years after his death, as is Zorba.
So believe the creators of Sydney’s upcoming Being Greek – Be Greek for a Day Festival 2012, at which an attempt will be made to set a Guinness World Record for the largest Zorba dance. The brainchild of hosts the Greek Orthodox Parish and Community of Kogarah and sponsored by Artemis Security, MP & K Accountants, Poulos Brothers Seafood, Word of Mouth Dentistry Kogarah and CCS Partners, the event promises to re-define the role of the Greek diaspora in promoting Greece on the global stage.
The initiative aims to sustain pride in Greek heritage and to gain international interest to support Greece through her current crisis by presenting her image as a positive and proud one. The attempt to set a new world record will take place on Sunday 28 October at Being Greek – Be Greek for a Day Festival 2012, to be held at Carss Bush Park in Sydney’s southern suburbs. Billy Billiris’ Fist Pump Entertainment is helping to make it happen. “We are very humbled to be able to be a part of a community festival of this calibre,” Billiris says.
Born of the need to assist the emergence of something new in the patrida this is potentially the event of the year for those who love Greece or want to get to know her better, a means by which people may be united by their common interest in Greece. Recognising that Greeks and Greeks abroad are ambassadors for our country, the organisers inspire us to use our stories, values and traditions to communicate a proud message about Greece, to speak (and dance) with one voice for a common cause – that of getting Greece back on her feet.
Fist Pump Entertainment Group Pty Ltd are the perfect partner for the Kogarah Parish, who are all about bringing a taste of Greece and Europe to Australia through producing events and entertainment. “We are all about inspiring and uniting the next generation of Greek Australians and European Australians to discover their cultures and get a taste of the European entertainment culture,” says Billiris. His company has also raised over $180,000 for charity through its many and diverse events ranging from underage events, charity balls and community festivals.
According to Billiris, Parish Priest the Very Rev. Sophronios Konidaris of Kogarah’s Greek Orthodox Church & Community recently called a meeting between himself, Anthony Bouteris, Nick Galanopoulos and the mysterious ‘James the Greek’ and spoke to them about how he wanted to inspire the next generations of Greek Australians about their heritage. Subsequently and in what appears to be a match made in heaven, under Father Sophronios’ leadership they all teamed up to make it happen. The result is the creation of a festival that is innovative, creative and perhaps above all, something which will show the world what being Greek is all about for Greek Australians.
“We really are trying to inspire and unite the Greek Australian community through this festival and trying to encourage the community to support each other and never forget their roots,” Billiris says proudly.
It is not the first time a record for a mass Zorba dance has been attempted and Sydney’s effort is expected to be submitted for inclusion in the Guinness Book of World Records. The first Guinness record in this “discipline” was recorded on the island of Rhodes on September 3, 2008 where 1,672 people joined the Syrtaki dance. Thessaly recently decided to adopt the creative idea, holding an event under the auspices of the District of Thessaly, the Municipality of Volos, the District units of Magnisia and Sporades, Larisa, Trikala, Karditsa and the Municipalities of Larisa, Trikala and Karditsa.
The current World Record was set in the town of Volos in Greece on 31 August, 2012 in an event in which an enormous crowd of 5,640 people aged from 14 to 89 filled the town square dancing the ‘dance of life’ to the music of Mikis Theodorakis’ Zorba the Greek. With Carss Bush Park having a capacity of more than 10,000 people at any one time, the sky would seem to be the limit for the attempt at the world record.
“So basically everybody call your cousins and Ante Re Na to Spasoume!” Billiris says. “We want to get every single Greek involved from Wagga Wagga to Brighton Le Sands to Batemans Bay! We want you all down there at Carss Park! We would love to see as many people as possible getting involved in the day!”
The dance was made famous in the 1964 movie Zorba the Greek when it was performed by actors Anthony Quinn and Alan Bates. Based on the novel of the same name, renowned Greek author Nikos Kazantzakis tells with clarity and passion a timeless, gripping story that challenges us to look inside ourselves for those hidden passions.
In fact, it is hard to imagine anyone reading this novel without some glimmer of a world either lost or buried and perhaps found or resurrected with courage and the willingness to learn to dance. In a tale of relentless spirit, joy and zeal for life, Zorba is a wanderer and a dancer, a man of the earth who understands life with all its ups and downs and who embraces the whole of life, what he calls “the full catastrophe!” A man of contradictions he sees beauty in tragedy and wealth in poverty and yet still remains a perfectly formed character, larger than life.
One of the most profound lessons in Zorba the Greek is resilience. No matter how many times Zorba is knocked down, he gets back in the fight making him the perfect inspiration at the Carss Park event. In creating the world’s largest Zorba, the event aims to build on Zorba’s legacy to promote one of the classical, enduring values of Hellenism that has stood the test of time – Greek dance. And it is no coincidence that the event is being staged on 28 October, a Greek national day better known as Oxi Day.
Oxi Day is a very significant day in the Hellenic Calendar. On this day in 1940, Metaxas called for unity from the Hellenic community in defiance of Mussolini’s ultimatum to allow the Italian military to occupy Greece or face certain war. “The stoic Hellenic response was ‘OXI!’ (‘NO!’) and Greece was immediately attacked from her northern borders. The Greeks, together with their Commonwealth allies, fought valiantly in the ensuing battle leading Winston Churchill to extol the calibre of the Greek resistance, ‘Hence we will not say that Greeks fight like heroes, but that heroes fight like Greeks’.
In a time in Greece’s history in which networking and positive energy are more important than ever before, the innovative event aspires to promote the special features and personality of Greece through the unique medium of dance and the fun element of trying to set a new Guinness World Record. Anyone interested in supporting the event can email the organisers at being.greek@gmail.com or join their Facebook Fan Page at www.facebook.com/greekfestivalsydney Head Event Producer Billy Billiris may be contacted on +61 02 9591 9084 or billy@fistpump.com.au