On August 3, 2021, Northern Evia burst in flames. A local man describes this haunting experience.
He always loved dancing, but could never imagine he would become not just a professional dancer, but Director of Studies at the Greek National Opera Professional Dance School.
Stories of people from all over Greece: of their hometowns, stories of love, stories that changed Greece or defined it, modern or old stories. Stories that are not recorded in the history books and that could easily be lost in time.
This week’s episodes you shouldn’t miss:
Monday 31 July ”Anything is possible when you dance” [Greek Audio]
Yorghos Matskaris could never imagine dance would become his life. His childhood friend decided to apply to the National School of Dance and he impulsively joined. Thank God he did, because he is now Director of Studies at the Greek National Opera Professional Dance School and he is the one in charge of the assessment of prospective candidates.
Wednesday 02 August ”The blind violinist of Amorgos” [Greek Audio]
At Tholaria village, on the island of Amorgos, the blind violinist of the village recounts tales of wild festivities and plays traditional folk tunes.
Friday 04 August ”Nature and fire, dancing tango hand in hand” [Greek Audio]
During the wildfires in Northern Evia, Panagiotis Kapetanakis managed to find the path to salvation passing through ashes, charred memories and images of total chaos.
On Sundays, istorima has two new episodes coming in – one in Greek (with Greek Audio) and one in English (with English Voiceover).
This Sunday (August 06):
”I was raised in Ibrahimia, Alexandria” [Greek Audio]
From the Averofeio Gymnasium and the magnificent European theatres, to the narrow alleys with the street vendors selling falafel, Voula Gavriilidou takes us to the neighborhood of her childhood, Ibrahimia, Alexandria.
”An arranged marriage that took me to Australia” [English Voiceover]
In the wake of World War II, over 150,000 Greeks emigrated to Australia. In their new home, they tried to keep their connections to Greece alive. In the 1950’s and 60’s, thousands of Greek men in Australia married Greek women from “back home,” through arranged marriages. Young Greek brides, many of whom had never before left their hometowns, traveled the immense distance to Australia to get married — to men they had never met. In 1965 in Lesvos, Eleni Theodorou embarks on a ship to sail to Australia — and her adventure begins. New inlaws, a new way of life, the hard work of the immigrant laboring in a factory, being treated as an outsider in a foreign lands, lands that “require constant struggle, but also love.”
Monday – Friday new episodes are available from 21.00, while Sunday’s first episode in Greek is available at 11.00 and the second one (in English) is available at 17.00. (Athens time)
You can find the episodes on both ERTecho radio plarform and on the Voice of Greece website and app, under the Podcasts category.
Edited for ERTεcho by: Calliope Kapetanopoulou
Edited for the Voice of Greece by: Ermioni Katsigianni
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Info
Istorima was created by journalist Sofia Papaioannou and historian Katherine Fleming and is implemented with a founding grant from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF), as part of its initiative to Empower and Restart Youth.
Istorima’s podcasts and videos arise from the work of more than 1,000 young researchers across Greece, who take on the task of finding and collecting personal stories of people and stories of their hometowns. Life stories, love stories, stories that changed or defined us, stories modern or old. Stories that are not recorded in the official history books and that could easily be lost in time.
