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The sounds of all my surroundings were muted and all I was able to hear was the loud sound of my inner thoughts. I breathed heavily with a nervous smile on my face. "Everything will be just fine...as long as you don't trip and fall. Just keep that smile on your face and if you happen to mess up just act as if nothing happened", I advised myself. I felt the need for reassurance being that this was my first performance in such a public place. It was Greek night at Athens Square Park, where hundreds of people were gathered curiously, awaiting to see what's next. I heard the words I was dreading the whole day, "...and now welcome our next dance group, the Kolokotronei!". The dancing started and all I was able to see were hundreds of pairs of eyes watching my every move. The fear slowly faded away as we started to dance Stamna (a traditional Cypriot dance-The story told in this dance takes place in an old-time Cypriot village. It is about a young girl going to a fountain to get water and as she is there a guy comes to flirt with her and accidentally scares her, causing her to drop the vase of water she is holding, making it shatter into pieces). It was my turn to drop the vase and at that point exactly, every one of those pairs of eyes faded. They didn't matter anymore. What mattered was the music of the dance and the fact that I was dancing this for myself, not for the audience. The feeling I had was unexplainable which is exactly what makes it special to me. The place where my parents came from is what makes me who I am. The dancing reminds me of how I define my identity and how important it is to me. Everyone in that audience was just watching some kind of Greek dance, but to me it meant so much more. It is what makes me an individual. So, who am I? I'm a proud Greek-Cypriot American trying to keep my culture alive.


Culture Onstage
Astoria--- On August 10th, a culture night was held in Athens Square Park in Astoria, NY. It consisted of a variety of different cultures expressing themselves through performances, including a Greek dance group, the Kolokotronei, performing traditional Greek and Cypriot dances.
“Don’t be nervous and remember to smile”, said Mr. Demetri to his dance group right before they were prepared to approach the stage. The dancing soon began as hundreds of people gathered at the park curious and excited to see this distinctive performance. As the routine went on, the dance group performed a traditional Cypriot dance. In this specific dance, one of the girl dancers throws a vase onto the floor, breaking it as a result of her fright and shock when a boy tries to dance and flirt with her. This dance is representational of teenagers’ lives in villages of Cyprus from the past when relationships happened in secret.
Once that vase hit the pavement of the stage the crowd cheered, being that this was nothing they’ve ever seen before. Not only was this night intense in tradition and culture but it was also extremely powerful in sharing the Greek-Cypriot culture with the audience. “You can tell that the dancers’ hearts were in the dance”, said Stefani, an ecstatic member of the audience. “It was an amazing performance”, she added. The experimental culture night at Athens Square Park was a great success and will surely continue to be an annual event.