For years, members of both Panagia and St. Demetrios parishes have said they would like to do more things together. This effort will give our youth a chance to meet and make new friends who share cultural backgrounds. Through dance, our hope is to inspire and build relationships. The evolution of many immigrant communities coming to Canada is that slowly these communities tend to dwindle as each generation passes. We can see this in our very own community. Our Greek School and Greek Dance enrollment numbers at both churches are down. Soccer, swimming, hockey, North American life, are all taking priority over Greek culture. It is difficult for parents to make the time for a weekly Greek dance effort. Enomeni only meets once every few months so this is PERFECT for those busy schedules. We need to bring our youth back to our community and we believe that by Panagia and St. Demetrios joining forces and working together rather than individually, we can all grow stronger.

Although it is appreciated to be a member of a Greek parish it is not necessary. Keep in mind, memberships help grow programs like ours and also help our communities overall.

We would be holding practices every 2 months or so. The great thing about Enomeni is that commitment would not be extensive. Why? Because the same dances are taught at both weekly Parish dance programs. What if my child is NOT part of a weekly Parish program? Enomeni will not be able to replace the consistency of a weekly program however it will allow ALL youth to be part of a Hellenic Dance Program. We will jam as much learning as possible into 2 hours of instruction every Enomeni practice. This should be enough for most kids to be prepared for any events :)

Absolutely! Come and check it out. See if you child likes it. Our ages range from 4-13 years old. Everyone is welcome.

We are asking that each child contribute $20.00 as a one-time fee for this year. This, combined with seed money from the communities, along with donations and sponsors should be enough to build the program in year one.

Each community will still celebrate individually. Each Greek School will perform their poems, dances, and any other activities. For example, Christmas time there will still be separate functions at each church. Enomeni will only perform together at new events, or functions that are joint Panagia & St. Demetrios endeavors. This allows each community to maintain the status quo as it pertains to individual functions, but at the same time bring together all Greek youth in the Hamilton and surrounding area together for joint ventures.

Over the past years many communities have reached out to see if a youth group (ages 5-13) would be interested in performing at festivals and dances. Individually, Panagia and St. Demetrios could not commit due to lack of participants. For example, let us say that Kitchener is having a function and invites St. Demetrios Greek School dance program to come and perform. Let's say there are 20 kids enrolled. If half of them cannot commit, we cannot attend with only 10 dancers. In the past we have politely declined to attend. However, if Panagia and St.D's students knew the same dances and choreography, and we could send the invite out to both schools via Enomeni, then we could attend. We are also working on some joint events within the community that Enomeni could perform at. Some ideas are a year-end joint Greek school celebration, or even an annual dance. The sky is the limit.