Watch our most recent ‘mini-HDForum’ on our YouTube page! FIT Director of Competition Stacie Peroulas and FIT Judging Coordinator Jordan Elrod lead a quick and concise overview of the 2025 HDF Weekend Manual as well as updates on the format for Research Submissions.

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Check out the recording (and recordings of other past forums) via the link below!

panelists from the anoixi weekend hdforum live event in charlotte. march 1, 2024. Stacie peroulas, rena karyofyllidou, anna yortzidis, stavros karagiorgis, sarantos kaperonis.

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The mission of the HDForum Series is to serve as an educational supplement to the Metropolis of Atlanta's Hellenic Dance Festival.

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HDForum plans and hosts events with the purpose of gathering Greek folk dance and music enthusiasts to exchange ideas and to examine and understand more deeply the historical roots of our culture and Orthodox faith.

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The HDForum Series creates live and virtual events to enrich the connections of the HDF community outside of the annual competition weekend.


***Click here to watch recordings of our past events on our YouTube Channel***

Our inaugural event was held in April 2020, during which over 60 participants from around the world attended a webinar and discussion titled "Stories of Greek Dance: Culture and Heritage," presented by Irene Loutzaki and Christos Papakostas at the University of Athens.

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Past HDForum Series Event Topics and Presenters

  • “Stories of Greek Dance: Culture and Heritage,” Presented by Irene Loutzaki and Christos Papakostas - April 2020 (Virtual)

  • “The Musical Traditions of Crete” (Presented by Nikos Giakoumakis and Bobby Garofalis) and “The Musical Traditions of Thrace” (Presented by Sarantos Kaperonis), followed by a Q&A with members of ENDASI (Dimitri Papadimitriou, Dimitrios Dallas, John Themelis) - June 2020 (Virtual)

  • “The Traditional Greek Costume from Past to Present: The Case of the “Karagkouna” Costume,” Presented by Apostolis Takis with Panel Discussion/Q&A - Apostolis Takis, Demetri Tashie, Eleni Apostolakos Hopes - February 2021 (Virtual)

  • Virtual Tour of the Victoria Karelia Collection of Traditional Costumes in Kalamata, Greece - February 2021 (Virtual)

  • All about the HDF Odyssey Program, Presented by the HDF Executive Committee - December 2022 (Virtual)

  • HDF Judging and Competition Panel Discussion with Q&A, Panel Members: Jordan Elrod, Sarantos Kaperonis, Stavros Karagiorgis, Angelos Nikolaidis, Stacie Peroulas, Aristoula Toli - April 2023 (Live)

  • “Greek Traditional Dance: Performance, Challenges, and Thoughts,” Presented by Dr. Christos Papakostas - December 2023 (Virtual)

  • “Running a Greek Dance Program” & “What is Research?”, Presenters and Panel Members: Sarantos Kaperonis, Stavros Karageorge, Rena Karyofyllidou, Stacie Peroulas, Anna Yortzidis - March 2024 (Live).

  • “Learning to Love the 2025 HDF Weekend Manual”, Presented by Stacie Peroulas and Jordan Elrod - October 2024 (Recorded).

Have an idea for a future HDForum Series Topic? We’d love to hear it!

Email us at competition@hellenicdancefestival.com with your suggestions.