Towards the end of the launching of my book entitled The Children of Aphrodite: Cypriots in Australia, and while the children of the Dance School Pegasus took the stage to dance some Cypriot dances, under the direction of the active protagonist and teacher Mr. Sotiris Sotiriou, an anomaly took place that should concern us. In particular, as the ceremony was coming to an end and because at some point, former Premier Mr. John Brumby, AO raised from his seat to leave, because he had already been delayed at the next event to which he had been invited, his move was misunderstood by some attendees as the end of the ceremony and led many to get up from their chairs and enter discussions amongst them, thus showing disrespect to our children, who were demonstrating their commitment to the Greek tradition. As a teacher and as the person in charge of the whole organization, I feel the need to apologize publicly to the children who were dancing on stage, highlighting the Cypriot tradition, as well as from the friend Mr. Sotiriou.

These children of the Pegasus Dance School are the cultural “alarm clock” of the Hellenism in the Diaspora. At a time when more and more, associations and fraternities, leagues and ethno-local organizations of Hellenism are experiencing disintegration and leveling; at a time when most clubs and communities no longer have dance groups, the Pegasus School comes to remind us with its participation and presence, how important for the continuity of Hellenism is the tradition of Greek dances and music. I rightly call Pegasus a cultural “alarm clock”, because this school still insists on teaching Greek dances on an intergenerational level. Three generations participate in this Dance School: Sotiris the Elder, his son Eleftherios and Sotiris the younger. Three generations with continuity, with dedication to tradition, three generations of service of the Greek way of life and understanding of life. Because dance in the Greek tradition is exactly a way and understanding of life. The importance of the operation of the Pegasus Dance School takes on a greater dimension and importance if we consider that we should as an organized Hellenism understand the need to preserve the Greek tradition and cultural heritage for our children.

My experience of forty years of researching and documenting the historical development of our community organizations has shown me that in their path, community organizations have often founded, dismantled, and dissolved their dance groups, as well as youth organizations. At one instance they use to found them and some several months later used to dissolve them. The same disrespect, the same indifference to the continuity of Hellenism. Only a few clubs founded dance clubs and honored them with duration, devotion, and affection. Much more rarely dancing groups have emerged as integral parts of the community or the association itself.

What took place last Sunday with our disrespect for our children and their anxiety to show us that they stand as faithful guardians of the Greek tradition, must never be repeated and under no circumstances. I beg as a teacher from the children who have been victims of such a mode of behaviour either now or in the past the unwitting and certainly unintentional indifference of their elders, a public apology. We must invest our attention and devotion to children and their struggle for identity maintenance if we want to have continuity as Hellenism. I invite and plead with the children who felt insulted to forgive us. Children are of good nature. They quickly forget, easily forgive. Woe betides us, especially when some of us pretend to represent institutions of Hellenism.