Meet us on the dance floor: Getting to know Dimitrios Papadimitriou

Dimitri Papadimitriou is a native of Atlanta, GA. His dance and music journey began at the age of five. Under the direction of Eleni Apostolakos-Hopes, his knowledge and love for dance grew like wildfire. He and his sister were some of the first and youngest children in the community to perform with the adult dance group. Through the years, he has attended seminars around the US learning from instructors such as Joe Graziosi, Nikos Zournatzidis, Lazaros Hatzipanayiotou, Christos Papakostas, Kyriako Moissidis and many more. In his early twenties, he took on the role of director of the adult dance group of the Atlanta community and has been teaching since. Under Dimitri’s direction, the group has performed for various events around the Atlanta area and southeast. Similarly, the group has enjoyed continued growth and success by way of several medals at HDF and FDF including the 2007 FDF Division 1 Sweepstakes award in Ontario, California. Codirecting with Sandy Papadopoulos, Troupe Hellas was one of the first groups from the East coast to ever win the award. 

Dimitri was also born with a passion for music. His mother paved the traditional music path by starting him in dance. His father, lead singer and bouzkouki player in the Alpha Omega Sound band, encouraged his growth as a percussionist and enrolled him in lessons with reknowned drummer, Jerry Fields (the Hampton Grease band) when he was 13. Dimitri later joined his father’s band at 17 years old. His traditional dance music path began at age 16 when he bought his first daouli from percussion legend George Gevgelis while visiting in Athens, Greece. Since, he has been self taught and continues to learn and play traditional Greek percussion instruments. In the early 2000s, he met lifelong friends Dimitrios Dallas and John Themelis and formed the music ensemble Endasi. Along with other friends, musicians and collaborators, Endasi still performs today.