There’s a new fad going around and it’s harking back to the old days.

Now more than ever, young Greek couples are making the effort to enrol themselves, and sometimes their whole bridal party too, for Greek dancing lessons before the big day.

The hope is they, along with the very happy parents, get the chance to dance a kalamatiano on the night and in a small way say thank you to their heritage.
It’s 9.30 pm on a Tuesday night, and in a small dance hall in the back of a Uniting Church in the Melbourne suburb of Preston, couple Richard Kozaris and Basma Astepho and five of their best friends are going through the steps of a fast zorba.

It’s their fourth and last lesson, and by the looks of it, the whole bridal party has the dance down pat. They’re able to do a kalamatiano with a couple of turns, and the zorba with a fast bit at the end.

It’s an impressive feat, since most of the bridal party isn’t Greek.

In fact, the non-Greeks are dancing a little bit better to the beat. That is thanks to teacher Sotiris Sotiriou.

The Pegasus Dance Academy founder has taught dance for over 30 years, and has definitely noticed a new trend in the last five years of young couples reconnecting with their heritage through dance.

It’s not a new phenomenon, he says, but in the last couple of years he’s seen a massive jump in demand.

“Last year alone I’d probably done about 30 couples,” he tells Neos Kosmos.

“I’d say that this sort of trend has started about maybe 10 years ago, and it used to be the occasional two or three in a year.

“But the last five years it seems like a lot more are deciding to learn a few dances for their wedding.”

It’s not a return to the big fat Greek wedding, but rather, a nod to the couple’s culture in a small gesture that gets lots of people involved in a fun way.
For Basma and Richard, it was all about keeping tradition alive.

“We’ve tried to stick to tradition as much as possible, with a bit of a modern twist,” Basma says about their wedding.

Greek dancing is just one part of the big day. Basma is actually Iraqi Australian, and will be leading the bridal party in some Arabic dances. Despite enrolling them in Greek dancing, the couple have stopped short at booking the bridal party in for another class.

Arabic dancing is a lot easier than this,” she argues.

“You can pick it up pretty quickly and you can just join the chain and continue on.

“It’s not about 12 steps in one dance, it’s pretty much four steps.”

A tall gamble for Richard, who looks a little concerned with taking on a completely new dance so close to the wedding.

In the last lesson, Sotiri is watching intently, clapping to the beat to keep the group on track. By now, he’s keen to see if they can do it by themselves and for the most part, he’s happy. The group has memorised all the moves now, and the only issue is just keeping to the beat.

“It’s been interesting,” Richard says, looking back at his friends after the lesson.

“If anything, it’s brought us closer together.”

“It’s been fun, it’s something that we laugh about,” Basma adds.

“You don’t get to do this all the time.”

The danger with these groups, Sotiri says, is taking on too much in such a short time. They underestimate the difficulty of the dances and take on too many in the hopes they can appease everyone’s tastes.

That’s why Richard and Basma are only taking on two dances, so they can do it on cue without any assistance.

They all know the biggest test will be seeing if they can dance in sync after a few drinks during the reception.

All this effort though is worth it, the couple believes.

“I think if we’re going to have a traditional wedding it’s important to do the dances justice and to know the moves,” Richard says.

Learning professionally also saved Richard from having to learn the dances from his all too willing mother.

“She insisted on teaching me, but I said no,” he says with a laugh.

He does admit, even though he learnt some dances as a boy at Greek school, it was hard to retain without practice.

That’s why a little bit of professional help went a long way and managed to get Richard back on track in just a couple of lessons.

Sotiri finds that the couples who come to him come at very different levels of dancing knowledge.

“They are very cautious when they call me at first,” he says.

“I don’t know if it’s the year or the bunch that went through, but some don’t know a simple sirto.”

The fact that many have forgotten these dances is what really pushes them to enrol. It’s not just making an impact on the big day, it’s about retaining their culture through something everyone can enjoy.

As Sotiri ferries along one couple to their big day, he doesn’t get a rest. The bookings keep on coming.

After Richard and Basma were married last week, Sotiri is already starting with a new couple, and has been making bookings for a couple who will get married next year and are getting in early.

It looks like the traditional Greek wedding is here to stay, even if it’s just a small token of appreciation through dance.

Next time you’re RSVPing to a wedding, you might want to bring a komboloi and some dancing shoes.