Thimios Gogidis of the Greek TV show Ταξιδεύοντας με τον Θύμιο (Travelling with Thimio) will visit Australia for the first time, to shoot a special segment on the Rallis School of Greek Dance in Sydney for Makedonia’s West Channel.
Since the TV show first started four years ago, Gogidis and his crew have travelled to several continents, including North and South America and Africa, as well as countries within Europe, to film a range of stories on the Greek diaspora.
“The show started as an idea to discover Hellenism across the globe and to see how well Greeks maintain their traditions despite the distance,” Gogidis told Neos Kosmos from his home in Thessaloniki.
“After many trips and visits to Greek communities around the world – knowing that Australia has the largest migrant population of Greeks – it has always been a dream of mine to visit, and I honestly feel very lucky to be travelling to this distant continent.”
Rallis Vatalidis’ school in Sydney stood out from the many Thimios Gogidis approached with the idea to shoot a story on Greek dance in Australia.
“After contacting several clubs, I singled out the Rallis School of Greek Dance because I realised through conversation with Rallis that he is someone with individual sensibilities and an excellent resume as a dance teacher.”
As a musician first and foremost, Gogidis’ stories tend to focus on music, dance and other aspects of performance that bring these Greek communities together.
“The first songs I ever heard were from my mother, singing and working in the fields. As a child, I would wear my school backpack not in the back, but in the front, like an accordion.”
At the age of 13, when his father finally bought him the accordion he longed for, he started to learn the songs of his Eastern Romelian heritage and has been playing them and adding his own twist ever since.
“Everyone who has tradition knows they carry a heavy legacy on their backs that is called roots. There are Greek roots every Greek carries that come from many centuries ago and we have an obligation to honour, maintain and transmit those regardless of how far we are, even in faraway Australia.
“As far as music and dance goes, these are traditions that are an expression of the soul,” he adds.
“A musician uses his instrument and a dancer moves with his body, and when these work together, the result is indescribable. Simply said, as long as we sing the songs of our forefathers, we speak our language and dance in the footsteps of centuries past; no-one can destroy us.”
On Saturday 15 November, West Channel will film a gala show in Sydney hosted by the Rallis School of Greek Dance. Tickets for the performance are available by calling 0405 165 424