Greek culture shines at Bentleigh Festival as MANASIS students perform

On Sunday, February 23, whilst much of the community was centred at Lonsdale St for the annual Antipodes Festival, a cohort of students from the MANASIS School of Greek Dance and Culture showcased a plethora of traditional Greek folk dances, at the Bentleigh Festival, proudly presented by the Bentleigh Shops Traders’ Association.

For another consecutive year, the event fell across the same weekend as the Greek community’s headline event, and again event organisers called upon MANASIS for the Greek entertainment component.

The MANASIS school regularly performs and presents dances which highlight cultural similarities with host organisations. 

“When we’re invited to perform alongside Serbians or Bulgarians, we present dances from Macedonia and Thrace; when we’re with Albanians- Epirus; or with Turkish- Pontian, Asian Minor,” MANASIS Director / Instructor, Dimosthenis Manasis, said.

“We don’t shy away from cultural similarities- we actively research it all in order to highlight these parallels; and when our audience is entirely diverse as it was over this weekend, we’re able to present an array of dances, costumes, and music, and of course finish off with the famous Sirtaki/Zorba dance, in order to encourage our audiences to join in with us.”

The Bentleigh Festival is a staple for the South-East Melburnian community, and the area boasts a fusion of trendy eateries, retail outlets, and uber-cool bars. 

Centre Rd (from Jasper Rd onwards) is closed off to traffic, transforming an entire kilometre stretch, into a busting pedestrian precinct, complete with rides, activations, representation from various organisations, and street entertainment. 

The young students from MANASIS performed in the blistering heat, the pouring rain, and won the admiration of the thousands in attendance.

This Friday, the APOKRIES Carnival Season reaches its pinnacle, as the school concludes its presentations with the annual Masquerade Party at Vanilla, Oakleigh. Across the weekend, MANASIS will be performing at headline events of the Bulgarian community’s “MARTENITSA FESTIVAL”, together with Serbian, Hungarian, and Romanian dance groups, and renowned folk singers/musicians currently touring Australia from the “Pirin Ensemble” in Bulgaria, Dimana Boyanova and Boyan Boyanov. Bulgaria’s Ambassador to Australia, His Excellency Mr Encho Dimitrov is flying down to open the event.

MANASIS and the FROURA | Hellenic Australian Honorary Guard, are also preparing for a significant lineup of events this year, including their participation in the Moomba Parade and Festival (the first of any formal Greek representation since 1994), flash-mob activations, dance presentations, flag-raising ceremonies, parades and processions. 

Their last participation in the 2023 Greek National Day Parade (Lakeside Stadium) was a spectacle of epic proportions which caught the attention of officials and media in Greece, with the endless array of flags and banners from the Hellenic Revolution, their marching band, and endless rows of hundreds of students dressed in traditional attire grouped by geographic region.

The school was not a participant in the 2024 parade, or in the National Youth Parade during His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew’s visit.  

When asked if they will participate in this year’s parade, Dimosthenis remained optimistic.

“We understand there is a new chairperson and committee at the helm, and we anticipate honest and transparent communication. It appears they have already been quite proactive, and we would be inclined to support their initiatives,” he said. 

“I’ve even requested joining the committee, and I’m awaiting updates regarding that, along with a series of other queries I’ve flagged. There’s a very simple application form which we have completed and submitted.

“The sky is the limit with what our participation can contribute towards the event, however our involvement is not straight-forward and often requires further consideration due to the scale and magnitude of our cohorts. With some support from the organising committee, we’re looking beyond the sky!”