Rena Karyofyllidou will be joining us from Thessaloniki, Greece and will be teaching dances of the native inhabitants of the prefecture of Thessaloniki. She has been a judge at the Hellenic Dance Festival (HDF) for many years.

Bio

Eirini (Rena) Karyofyllidou is a dance teacher and also dancer of traditional Greek dances. She was born in 1968 in the village Kavallari, near Thessaloniki. Her family is originated from Greek Macedonia and Eastern Thrace. She has taught Greek dances since 1985 and has participated and organized hundreds of dance events in Greece and abroad.

She learned dancing as a child from her family and the villagers. During her teenage years, she became a member of the local dance group and as a student she was active in many dance organizations in Thessaloniki. She finished her studies in Physical Education at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 1990 with a degree on traditional Greek dances.Since her youth, she has been studying and researching Greek traditional dance with responsibility, with passion, and with a commitment to authenticity. For 21 years, Rena was a member of the “G.K. Fotiadis” Greek folk dance group as a dancer in the beginning and later as a dance teacher. Rena is now dancing in “Kyklos” and teaches several dance groups in Thessaloniki area.

She has been invited to teach Greek traditional dances in numerous seminars all over Greece and also Germany, USA, Canada, Spain etc. She has traveled to many countries promoting the Greek tradition with her dance groups and is a member of many scientific associations.