From sequined dresses to 70s-style wigs, the Kytherian Association of Australia’s (KAA) Mamma Mia: ABBA’s Back taverna night on Saturday, October 1 went off with a bang.
Held at the Mytilenian House in the Sydney suburb of Canterbury, over 200 Super Troopers and Dancing Queens took to the dance floor and grooved along to iconic songs by Swedish supergroup, ABBA.
A live ABBA band, ABBASBACK, performed on the night and drew loud applause from everyone in attendance.
When people weren’t dancing or enjoying the live music, they were treated to a Greek taverna dinner, music by DJ Darcy, a Santorini photo wall, as well as ABBA prizes and giveaways.
On the night, emcee, Christine Gazepis Stavropoulos, also introduced a number of people to the stage for small speeches. This included the President of the KAA, Barbara Zantiotis; the President of the KAA’s Centenary Committee, Andrew Malanos; Centenary Committee member, Sophia Poulos; and Secretary of the Board of the KAA, Dennis Cordato.
All three spoke proudly of the event and congratulated Centenary Committee member, Patricia Samios, for putting together such a successful night.
The Greek Herald spoke with Ms Samios on the night and she said she was “really proud” of organising the taverna night with a Mamma Mia twist.
“It’s the most amazing thing to see all of our communities come together. There’s Kytherians here, Mytilenians, Pontians, Spartans and all we want is to be together and enjoy our heritage and I’m so proud of that,” Ms Samios said.
“I think we should do more of this. We all need to do these sorts of functions so that our children can learn about their heritage and be proud of where they’ve come from.”
Attendee, Christina Wellham, who was from the island of Imvros, couldn’t agree more with Ms Samios.
“I’m really enjoying the night. I’m a huge ABBA fan. There’s a lot of imitation ABBA bands that circulate, but this one was really nice and close to home!” Christina concluded with a smile.
A glowing response for a great event with a unique twist.
READ MORE: ‘It’s nostalgic’: 100 years of memories at the Kytherian Association of Australia’s family day.
*All photos by The Greek Herald / Andriana Simos.
