(FLORINA)
Yiannis Konstantinou is a graduate of the Pedagogy Academy of the University of Florina, from which he holds a degree in Education. He also holds a Master’s degree in Language and History from the University of Philosophy of Yugoslavia, (Belgrade and Pristina). In addition, Yannis is a well-known teacher of Greek traditional dance, specialising in the culture and traditions of Macedonia.
His knowledge of Greek dance
began in his childhood, first with his father, Simos
Konstantinou, who was a lead dancer and master teacher of
Greek folkdances, and later, with his very early
participation in dance performing groups. From 1986
until 1990, he participated as a charter member in the
development and organisation of seminars of Greek
traditional dance organised for dance teachers and dancers
in the village of Agios Germanos in the Prespes
region. Since 1991, he has been the principal
organiser of these seminars, which currently educate
between 50 and 60 dance specialists from around the world
per year.
Since 1990, Yiannis has
conducted in-depth research of the dances, music, customs,
and traditions of social groups and ethnic minorities who
migrated to Macedonia - such as the Vlachs and refugees
from Thrace and Asia Minor, as well as those indigenous to
Macedonia. He also has been involved with comparative
research studies of social communities beyond the Greek
borders.
Since 1992, he has presented
many aspects of his research at conferences on traditional
dance and music, in Greece and in many other countries,
such as Australia, England, Scotland, Holland, Spain,
France, Russia and Canada. He also has collaborated with
other dance specialists of the Balkans in presenting the
dances, music and folklore of specific geographical areas
and various Balkan ethnic groups, i.e., Vlachs, Roma,
Sarakatsani, Arvanites, etc.. In 1994, in
collaboration with the “Center of Greek Tradition”, Yiannis
produced a long-playing album, “The Musical Tradition of
Florina” which included an historical and social commentary
of the area.
Yiannis is President and Artistic Director of the
“Lygistes” Cultural Association (with branches in
Athens and Florina), and a founding member of “The Academy
of Traditional Folklore Dance and Music” located in Athens,
Greece. He is also actively involved with the
“Association for the Preservation and Dissemination of
Traditional Dance and Music”. The members of this
organization teach and present the results of their
research to the primary schools, in order for children
living in urban areas to understand and appreciate the
fading traditional lifestyle of the outlying areas of the
country.
Yiannis is highly regarded
in Greece and abroad, not only because of his comprehensive
research and fieldwork, but because of his professional
dance and teaching skills, and his knowledge of both the
theoretical and practical aspects of this field. His
students are taught the most necessary information about
the various and complex cultural aspects of the many
regions of Greece, and receive instruction on teaching,
researching, and transcribing dance patterns
(‘simeographia’). Since 2001, he has been a
teacher for the student dance group of the Balkan Studies
department of the Aristotle University of
Thessalonika.
