Dance Classes and Educational Programs at the Dora Stratou School

The Dora Stratou Greek Dances Theatre runs a dance school with classes for beginners, advanced dancers, and children, plus seminars and lectures for experienced dancers, teacher training in dance education, and courses and seminars taught in English. It also offers specialized instruction in traditional embroidery, rebetiko dances, and dance therapy. The school sits within a larger institution founded in 1953 and described as a living museum of Greek dance, so instruction is tied to a working theatre company and a museum collection rather than standing alone as a studio.

Who the programs are for

The school organizes its teaching around three main learner groups, with additional tracks for people who already dance at a high level or teach dance themselves.

• Beginners – entry-level classes in Greek dance.
• Advanced dancers – continued training for experienced participants.
• Children – separate classes for younger learners.
• Experienced dancers – seminars and lectures that go beyond regular class instruction.
• Dance teachers – in-service training (teacher education) in dance teaching.
• English speakers – courses and seminars delivered in English.

Specialized courses sit alongside these: traditional embroidery, rebetiko dances, and dance therapy.

Seminars, lectures, and teacher training

Beyond weekly classes, the organization runs seminars and lectures aimed at experienced dancers, and a teacher-training program for dance educators. These are the routes to take if your goal is depth — repertoire, context, or teaching method — rather than first exposure to Greek dance. Because the theatre also carries out research programs in the ethnography, history, and sociology of dance, with international collaborations, and hosts a study group on ancient Greek orchestics, seminar content can draw on that research activity.

Courses and seminars in English

Courses and seminars are offered in English, which matters if you are visiting Athens or based there without Greek. If your Greek is limited, confirm the language of the specific class or seminar you want before enrolling, since the English offering is described for courses and seminars rather than stated for every class level.

What surrounds the classes

Several features of the institution shape what studying there is like:

• A garden theatre of 860 seats with daily performances on Filopappou Hill.
• A company of 75 dancers, musicians, and singers.
• A collection of 2,000 museum costumes, jewelry, embroideries, and other folk-art objects — and these are worn in performances.
• A library and archive of recordings, films, photographs, and records.
• Publications: more than 53 records, 15 cassettes, 7 videocassettes, 30 books in various languages, 8 CD-ROMs, and 5 DVDs.
• Costume services: making or renting copies of the authentic costumes in the collection.
• An educational visits program for primary schools.

For anyone learning Greek dance, the practical benefit is proximity to performance: the same organization that teaches also stages daily shows using its own costume collection, so students are inside a working tradition rather than only a classroom.

How to decide whether it fits

The institution is a public-benefit organization funded by the Ministry of Culture and the Greek National Tourism Organization, under the auspices of the Municipality of Athens. It also organizes the World Congress on Dance Research and the Anapali and Emmeleia festivals, and cooperates with the International Dance Council CID of UNESCO. Its Greek dance portal, the "Pandect of Greek Dance," is at dance-pandect.gr.

Practical notes before you enroll

• Level placement: the school distinguishes beginners, advanced dancers, and children, so state your level when asking about a class rather than assuming a single open class.
• Language: English-language courses and seminars exist, but the description does not say every class is bilingual — verify for the specific session.
• Scheduling: performances are daily, which suggests a busy venue; ask directly about class days and times.
• Fees and registration: the available material does not state prices or enrollment procedures, so these need to be confirmed with the organization.

The most reliable next step is to contact the theatre directly with your level, language, and preferred style (general Greek dance, rebetiko, embroidery, or dance therapy) and ask which current class or seminar matches.