Clean Monday At The Stavros Niarchos Park

The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center is celebrating Koulouma with songs and dances from all parts of Hellenism.

On Monday, March 18, we ring in Lent and Spring with kites and loads of fun and imagination! From 12.00 to 15.00, Professor of Ethnomusicology Lambros Liavas is curating and presenting at the Great Lawn a panorama of Greek traditional music and dance, in an open invitation for all to participate in the ritual of the traditional feast.

An incomparable pundit of the codes of Greek traditional music, boasting several studies, academic papers, and extensive travel throughout Greece, Lambros Liavas is calling on us to see off the three weeks of the Apokries in a time-honored authentic manner. Carnival mimic mixes together with kalamatiano, kagelia, and tsamiko; pogonisio from Epirus, syrto from Macedonia, zonaradiko from Thrace; hasapiko from Constantinople; karsilama from Smyrna; pentozali from Crete; and ballos from the islands.

The tone is set by traditional brass instruments played by the renowned Valkanis Brothers Brass Band from Florina, as well as by the dynamic musical group Eptasimo, featuring singers Ilias Gakos and Marianthi Lioudaki.

Also participating in the lineup are Pontic lyra player Ilias Yfantidis and Cretan lyra player Manolis Bountalakis with his band. The dance group of the Pontian Association Argonautai Komninoi (led by: Kostas Savvinidis) is inviting us to join in the dance circle!