The Dancing Department of Municipality of Patras, was founded in 1976, closing this year 48 years of offer in the frame of our popular dance and more generally, of our popular culture.

Our effort during all these the years incude the study, research and the transportation of this culture in nowadays, serving the needs of a modern person.

Far from the arrows of nationalism, we approach our popular dance, seeking to extract from this the human values, that it’s each step carries, forged thus, that only the popular soul knows how to makes. Values that so much we need to have today, in a society of stem contestation, alienation and hebetudes.

Under this prism, the members of the Dancing Department, offer without material wage all their free time (and this is important), using our popular dance as shield of resistance in each form subculture from wherever this emanates.

Today, the Dancing Department enumerates over 150 adult members and more than 600 childrens, in its under-age sections, while it exceeds the 60 representations, participating in events of institutions of Patras, and in entire Greece. It has participated in a lot of festivals in Greece and abroad (i.e. France, Italy, Germany, Hungary, Portugal, Japan, etc) with big success and a lot of discriminations.

It holds costumes, original copies of traditional, manufactured in "Doras Stratou" costume-laboratory, as well as costumes for the presentation of popular dances and choreographies.

It is also capable of presenting a dancing programme of over two hours in length, with traditional and popular dances, as it can also present choreographies in skilful popular music (i.e. Theodorakis, Hatzidakis, Markopoulos, Xarhakos, etc).

Person in charge of Dancing Department,
Christos Giannopoulos