George Papadopoulos was born and raised in Anthousa, Kozanis, Greece, leaving and coming to America as a young adult. Missing his homeland and his love for the culture and traditions, he created the Sons & Daughters of Alexander the Great Dance Group in 1972 to continuously promote the Greek Culture, history, and traditions of dance. The Sons & Daughters of Alexander the Great is part of the youth Chapter of the Pan Macedonian Association of America.
The group first started with 8 members and quickly grew. Over the fifty years, the group has brought together more than a thousand members of the Hellenic community teaching them the music and dance traditions of their Hellenic ancestry.
Although George no longer dances with the group, he still attends weekly practices and remains very active as the director in the organization. George's dedication to our Greek heritage is truly admirable and we are immensely grateful to have such an impactful community leader as our founder.
Haralampos Stathopoulos:
For the past sixteen years, I have been a proud member of The Sons and Daughters of Alexander the Great, I began my journey as a dancer, but over time my role grew to include leadership positions on the board, serving as both Vice President and President, before ultimately stepping into the role of instructor—a responsibility I continue to hold with pride today. Beyond my work with the group, I have sought to deepen my knowledge by attending workshops to learn dances from across Greece, broadening both my skill set and appreciation for the country’s diverse traditions. Over the years, I have performed at countless Greek church festivals throughout the region and have had the privilege of traveling and performing in Greece multiple times with the group. While my love for Greek dance and tradition runs deep, I am equally passionate about fostering and sustaining this cultural legacy in my community and throughout New England, ensuring that these dances and customs continue to be shared and celebrated for generations to come.
Stefania Calogrias:
I was introduced to Greek dancing at the age of 7 by my mother and father, who taught me the dances from their villages of Politsani, Vorio Epirus and Xironomi, Viotia respectively. It was then my love for Greek Dancing was born. Throughout my youth I danced at my church's dance group until graduating from High School. I joined the Sons & Daughters of Alexander the Great Dance Group a little over 12 years ago as a dancer before being elected to the board where I held the roles of Vice President and Secretary, to my current role as "right hand to our director" George Papadopoulos, where I coordinate practices, performance scheduling and programs as well as being honored with the responsibility to teach a long side Haralampos at various times. We, the Sons & Daughters perform at many church festivals throughout the area, cultural events at local schools where we promote our Greek Culture, we often go to New York to participate in events with the Pan Macedonian Association as well as performing in Greece. The Sons & Daughters also was the first ever Greek dance group to perform for the Boston Celtics Greek Heritage Night.
Any opportunity I can, I attend Greek dance conferences, or exhibits held in the area to enrich my knowledge not just of dance, the music, the instruments, and the Greek culture in general. My love for Greek dancing and continuing to promote Greek Culture as the diaspora here in the US, is not only shared with my fellow dancers and also with the youth of my church where I have been co-directing for the last 9 years.
