Dancing with live music in the Gardens of Al-Zoum! 

with Laura Shannon and live music from Kostantis Kourmadias and Nikolas Angelopoulos, with special guest Katerina Papadopoulou (oud, lafta, vocal).

We will dance with live music on the first Saturday of every month until July, inviting different guests and friends.

Kostantis Kourmadias and Nikolas Angelopoulos are professional musicians renowned for their mastery of traditional musical styles. For 15 years, they have provided exquisite live music for many of my seminars in Greece, Europe and the UK. The instruments they play, saz, violin, and lafta, allow them to play modal music using microtones lost from our Western 12-note scale, frequencies which have been used for healing since ancient times.

 

We will dance simple traditional dances with live music, building a basic repertoire of Greek, Armenian and Bulgarian dances and offering one or two new ones each time. We feel simpler dances are easier to learn via Zoom. The simplest dances are also the oldest, with the greatest healing power. When we don't have to think about our movements, we can move more quickly to the advanced level of inner work which these ritual dances enable: kindling life energy, receiving the insights and wisdom of the dance, and sharing the blessings with others. We hope you will find this way of working to be rewarding and nourishing too.

 

It is an extraordinary privilege to welcome Katerina Papadopoulou as our special guest this month in the Gardens of Al-Zoum. Acclaimed as the finest traditional singer of her time, Katerina has dedicated her life to preserving and passing on vocal and instrumental music traditions. She will accompany her own singing on oud and/or lafta.

 Because this event falls within the period of Lent in both the Greek and the Western church, our dancing to live music this month will be more quiet and contemplative, with a focus on the inner process of regeneration and new life which belongs to the Easter mysteries and the awakening Spring. 

 

In this series of monthly live music events, we aim to build a basic repertoire of simple Greek, Armenian and Bulgarian traditional dances, offering a few new dances each time.

 

Dances will be most likely be drawn from the following: 

Hora la Galana, Syrtos Tourna, Offering Govand, Keesher Bar, Glava Li Ta Boli, Sta Tria Miliás, Sta Tria Ráhis, Ola ta Poulákia, Syrtos Sta Tria (Dance of the Nymphs), Issos Bratsera, Alatsata, Mairam Govand, Syrtós Lésvou, Syrtós Melís, Syrtós Kappadokías, Leilaloum, Karsilamás (Giorgitsa).

The dances are simple and the event is open to everyone. Dance notes and music source information will be provided to participants after the class.

 

Times

8-11 am PDT (West Coast of N. America)

11 am-2 pm EDT (East Coast of N. America) 

4-7 pm UK

17.00-20.00 Germany/Austria/Sweden/France

6-9 pm Greece

 

Registration

Please register in advance to get the link for this meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYkd-GtqTIjE9GdiLMv8bqOthFkV9NL7tvz 

Once Diane receives your request and your payment, she will approve and you will receive your personal link for the meeting. 

 

Cost for the session, on a sliding scale: 

£12-24 pounds sterling, €14-28 euros, $16-32 US dollars, $20-40 Canadian dollars.

 

Methods of Payment

1) With Paypal in 4 easy steps:

    a) Click on this direct link to Diane's account: paypal.me/dianeschreiner

    b) Choose the currency you wish to pay with and enter the total amount.

    c) Click on the pencil icon and include the reference ‘LS Apr 3’

    d) Please select 'friend or family' rather than 'goods or services’. If the 'goods or services’ box is selected, deselect it. 

 

2) If you reside in Canada send an Etransfer in CAD:

If you do not have a PayPal account and you are paying from Canada in CAD, you can send your payment with an etransfer to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

 

3) SEPA-Transfer in euros

If you do not have a PayPal Account and wish to pay in euros, you can pay by direct SEPA-Transfer. Important: when you send your transfer, send Diane an email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. confirming the amount you have transferred. 

Account holder: Laura Shannon

IBAN: BE27 9670 1233 9473

BIC: TRWIBEB1XXX

 

4) BACS in UK pounds sterling:

Important: when you send your transfer, send Diane an email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. confirming the amount you have transferred.

Account holder: Laura Shannon

Account Number: 00114697

Sort Code: 80-06-81

IBAN GB69BOFS80068100114697

BIC BOFSGB21290

 

Further information from Diane Schreiner: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Kostantis Kourmadias (violin, saz, vocal)

Kostantis specializes in traditional island music and the Greek music of Asia Minor, where his grandparents were born. He teaches Byzantine music at the Pallini Music High School in Athens and travels widely to accompany Laura in her seminars. He has released two CDs of Greek dance music (Taxidi and Limani) and a CD of his original compositions on traditional intruments (Lavra), available from this website.

 

Nikolas Angelopoulos (lafta and laouto) 

Nikolas plays with Christos Tsiamoulis, Kyriakos Gouventas, Kompania Kyratzides, ensemble Dorόs, and many other musicians, and is a rising star of the new generation of traditional Greek musicians. For over a decade he has accompanied Laura and Kostantis regularly in international concerts and seminars and plays on their CDs Lavra and Limani.