Meet us on the dance floor: Getting to know Rania and Mike

Rania Samartzis- born in NYC, moved to Athens, Greece until I was 8 yo, then moved to Port Richey, FL and currently living in Palm Harbor,FL. My mom is from Kastoria (Macedonia) and my dad is Athenian (his mom from Smyrna & his dad from Thiva). 
I started dancing when i was in school in Greece as part of the school curriculum, then when we moved to Florida with my family, i joined the local church dance group with my brother. As my brother went into college, the group did not have a college dance group so he ventured out to the next local dance group - in tarpon Springs.. Levendia! I joined him shortly after. I have been a part of Levendia (of the St. Nicholas Dance Ministry) for about 15 years now. This year teach the middle/high school group along with Mike. I’ve taught the High School/College groups for several years and this year I also help with the adult group with Maria Kouskoutis as the main instructor.

Nomikos “Mike” Kambourakis 
Born in Kalymnos, Greece - raised in Tarpon Springs, FL! Greek folklore has been a part of my life since I was a baby. My great grandfather Nikitas Tsimouris played the Tsampouna and would play all the time accompanied by his wife (my great yiayia) Nomiki and his 4 sisters singing at the house. I started dancing with Levendia in the first grade and was hooked since as it “ran through my veins” and ive been dancing since. This year I am teaching the middle/high school group of the St. Nicholas Dance ministry.

Music courtesy of Panayotis League