OPA!!!
With the phrase ' Dance for Greece', California resident and Philhellene, Dale Johns started a movement on Facebook to protest the very negative press Greece was getting on all levels in the last few months, by shouting to everyone to do what Greeks all over the world just love doing - DANCE!
' Please start your own party where ever you are !! JUNE 19TH 19.00 Lets get Dancing - DANCE FOR GREECE'
The response to Dale's initiative was impressive! Cities around the world, with the City of Rhodes at the forefront, have joined her call to Dance for Greece and show the rest of the world the real picture... that Greece is a safe country with a great love for life and is still the best tourist destination in the world!
Rhodes will be kicking things off with Maria Markou Velidaki's School of Dance. She and her dance school students will be dancing for Rhodes, for Greece. Four wonderful dances with students aged between 7-16 years old.. Along with the rest of us, they feel that there has been a great deal of injustice towards Greece and her people...
'We feel there has been great injustice of our beautiful country and truly lovely people and we want, as other cities and towns around the world are doing, to dance our famous Syrtaki and have people join in with us. It will be in front of the 'Elafakia' at the Evangelismos in Rhodes town the 19th of June 2010 at 7:oo pm.'
The response to Dale's initiative was impressive! Cities around the world, with the City of Rhodes at the forefront, have joined her call to Dance for Greece and show the rest of the world the real picture... that Greece is a safe country with a great love for life and is still the best tourist destination in the world!
Rhodes will be kicking things off with Maria Markou Velidaki's School of Dance. She and her dance school students will be dancing for Rhodes, for Greece. Four wonderful dances with students aged between 7-16 years old.. Along with the rest of us, they feel that there has been a great deal of injustice towards Greece and her people...
'We feel there has been great injustice of our beautiful country and truly lovely people and we want, as other cities and towns around the world are doing, to dance our famous Syrtaki and have people join in with us. It will be in front of the 'Elafakia' at the Evangelismos in Rhodes town the 19th of June 2010 at 7:oo pm.'
The Facebook group DANCE FOR GREECE - Χορός για την Ελλάδα now numbers nearly 1300 members!! Pretty impressive!
Lesley Demeda, one of the organisers, wrote on the wall a few days ago...
Lesley Demeda, one of the organisers, wrote on the wall a few days ago...
A very big "thank you" from me to all our members! We have just 3 days to go now. And this Saturday 19th at 19.00 we will DANCE FOR GREECE. It's been a pleasure to do this. And we have made some good friends too! You see what happens when you get together for a good reason. We want Greece, Greeks everywhere & people who love Greece to celebrate and have fun! This is our date people. Thank you so much.
Lesley and Dale, we thank you! We thank you for thinking of Greece! We thank you for taking the time to organise something which is to the benefit of the country we all love and which has been blackguarded so much by the world's press in the last few months.
People should not be put off by what they read. Unfortunately blood and violence make good press and sells! We know that the publicity that is generated by the protests at Greece's austerity measures make it difficult for people who are unfamiliar with the country to realise that they will not necessarily affect their visit. We have been contacted by many people who need reassurance that things will be ok, and it is extremely upsetting that they should be made to feel like that, but we can understand them and sympathise.
This uncertainty has resulted in something like over 30,000 cancellations for the summer, which for a small country like Greece, especially in the midst of an economic crisis, is particularly significant, and we think it just shouldn't have happened.
This uncertainty has resulted in something like over 30,000 cancellations for the summer, which for a small country like Greece, especially in the midst of an economic crisis, is particularly significant, and we think it just shouldn't have happened.
We just need to get that message around the world and initiatives like Dale's and Lesley's are especially valuable for doing just that! There are many others too.
Global Greek Yiorgos Klivos' Facebook event SAVE GREECE: Let's all travel this summer to Greece has attracted nearly 38,000 people, while our own Visit Greece This Summer page has nearly 1,000 members! Many people have joined the effort to promote Greece this year, each to the extent that they can, and each one of our Global Greeks of course are Greece's best Ambassadors-at-large! Every little bit helps!
So...wherever you are tonight, whatever you're doing, put on your dancing shoes, go to the nearest Greek restaurant or club, and like Zorba the Greek says, Did you say Dance? Come on my boy!!!!
Today, let's all Dance For Greece! OPA!!!
ΣΗΜΕΡΑ ΟΛΟΙ ΧΟΡΕΥΟΥΜΕ ΓΙΑ ΤΗΝ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ!!!!!! ΟΠΑ!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment
We welcome feedback from our readers, but please keep your comments polite and respectful. Anonymous comments will be evaluated and published only if considered appropriate.