John Peppes
I cannot
thank you enough for the wonderful hospitality and friendship that you,
Kosta and the entire Orpheus group showed me over the last few days.
Many times long weekends tend to wear you out and you look forward to
going home. In this case, I must honestly say that I was sad to leave. I
feel I have made friends for life.
I am honored to have been able to celebrate Orpheus' great achievement
with everyone. I hope that I contributed to the overall success of the
program and your mission. Please pass on a sincerely thank you and hello
to the entire group for me; Christina, Tina, Bessie, Marianna, Nina,
Presvytera Stephanie, Jimmy, and the many others...I am sure I am
forgetting names.
I look forward to hopefully collaborating with Orpheus in the future.
Andegone Boufas
Great show
tonight! Everyone did a great job! Congratulations, you should all be
very proud!
Asimina Chremos
You were awesome onstage last night! Congratulations to
everyone :)
All the dances were so beautifully presented. The kids
were so adorable �and impressive! And the singing!!!! so good. The
opening Easter song was just so moving. My friend Timothy really liked
it too. He liked the athletic male dancing, of course, since he is a
young guy.
Linda Karras
I just
wanted to tell you that we so very much enjoyed ourselves last night.
You can tell you all take this very serious and I am excited for Elena
to start next year. Thank You for letting me know about it.
George, Harriet, Nico , Alex and Eva Pappas
THANK
YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! We had a great evening last night. The kids
were so excited to see all of the singing and dancing and especially
Catherine. I'm so proud of her. To see you dancing and singing was
fabulous. I really did not realize how wonderful the performance was
going to be. I really enjoyed watching everything. I also didn't realize
that my cousins son is in the group. It was nice that many of my family
members were there as well. You have a beautiful and loving family. You
really set a good example of the true Greek spirit, Family, Love and
Friendship! Congratulations on a successful evening and 20 years of
keeping the traditions alive. Thank you again.
John Petenes
Thank you again, very much for inviting me to your 20th Celebration.
It was wonderful, very enjoyable and entertaining. I will never forget
it.!!!!
My cousin (Maria) and I had a good time.
God bless you with the energy and passion in the next 20 years that led
you to this monumental 20th year.
John Damianos
I have to
say that that was the best $100.00 I've ever spent at a Greek affair.
Margot Vaselopoulos
Dear
Kostas, Yannis, Bessie and all Orpheus staff,
BRAVO. What a fantastic show! It started off with a bang and continued
to get better and better. You should all be commended for your hard work
and dedication. All of the performers and singers were exceptional. The
pianist, saxophonist, bouzouki, clarinetist, guitarist and all of the
musicians were phenomenal. The videos, choreographing and performances
came together to make the show absolutely spectacular. Our entire family
thoroughly enjoyed it, as did all the people in the audience, making
positive comments. Thank you again for all of your hard work.
Nikos Bokas
Please tell Anna Mavrou that I will forever remember her--for her
beauty, her grace, and her warm and loving heart. She gave us all such a
beautiful gift that we will always remember and appreciate. Thank you
Yannis, and please tell Kosta and Marianna the same, for all you've done
for Orpheus.
Frank Rose
I
wanted to thank you for your preparedness and positive attitude � things
went very smoothly, I thought, thanks to your diligence. It was a
pleasure working with all of you. I hope we can see you again soon!
Technical Director, NSCPAS
Gregory Kontos
Συγχαρητήρια για
20
χρόνια!
Just wanted to let you know that we really enjoyed the performance this
past Saturday. It is incredible what you and your directors have been
able to accomplish over the last 20 years. My son, who is just starting
to dance with the intermediate group, especially enjoyed the performance
of the dances from Kalymnos and the live musicians. In fact, as soon as
I got to my car in the parking lot, I was on the phone to my parents and
Ellena letting them know what an exciting evening it was. I wish you all
the best and many more years. Again, please thank all of your directors
and dancers for a wonderful evening!
Christina Sampras
Two words
to describe the performance on Saturday. ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS!!!
Melissa Thodos
Hello
Yannis,
I want to thank you so very much for the tickets to your wonderful 20th
anniversary celebration. It was a fantastic evening and we thoroughly
enjoyed all of the live performance in addition to the enlightening and
informative video montages.
My mother
who was with me was able to identify all of the regions where the dances
were from based on her knowledge of both music, choreography,
and costuming. It brought back many memories for her. She is from
Konitsa near Ioanina and we will be traveling to Greece in June and
taking my twin daughters for their first trip there. Thank
you for your kind words regarding Thodos Dance Chicago, and I look
forward to keeping in touch,
Christine Burikas
You all
were awesome last night. We enjoyed the show so much!!!!
Eleni Markos
I just
wanted to take a moment of your time and congratulate you and everyone
who participated in the performance on Saturday. Everything was
amazing, to the dancing, the band and the choir. So congratulations
to you and Costa for a job well done. You guys definitely made the
Greek community very proud.
Kathy, Chris, Estelle and Ian Pappas
Yianni,
Kosta and Bessie,
Thank you again for an absolutely incredible evening! All my guests
were so impressed, prepare yourselves for increased enrollments!!
God Bless You!
Barbara Kalobratsos
Truthfully, I did not know what to expect�I will admit, I was pleasantly
surprised; the show was absolutely fabulous, very well executed and
really thought provoking. Thank you for all the hard work and please
pass my thanks on to the rest of the crew.
Pres. Stefanie
Dear
Yanni, Kosta & Marianna~ Saturday evening was absolutely beautiful!
Everyone should really be commended for all your efforts and hard work!
I was telling Marianna that I was tearing up during the choral
part..every moment was so touching! Thank you so much for passing on
your knowledge and love for Greek Dance! I feel very proud to be a part
of the troupe and I hope and pray that it will be around for many years
to come! Thank you again!
Ronnie Malley
I just
want to say congratulations on 20 years of Orpheus. The production was
outstanding and very inspiring. Everyone in the Lamajamal group had a
great time. Orpheus' role in the Greek community is immeasurable and it
serves as a model of excellence for other cultural community groups.
Fr. Panteleimon
Dear
Alex, Christ is risen.
Thanks for having us come - it was great. In fact I was telling people
that, had I known how impressive it was going to be, I would have come
even if I hadn't known you or anyone in it.
Pauline
Thank you
everybody. I'm so happy everything turned out so fabulous. The t-shirts
were so fun to look at and a great idea. I too got a really positive
response to the displays and the entire show in general. The shoe
project was a little challenging at times, but the final product made it
so worthwhile. I know Louisa's mom was very moved by the display, but
my sister (who doesn't know the OHFS members) said that the worn shoes
represented the hard work each dancer dedicates to learning this skill.
It gave her a new appreciation for Greek folklore dancing.
I want to
thank everyone for providing the shoes, providing/reviewing the text and
overall cooperation. Nikki and I joke that we've known each other since
our girls were in pre-school together, but we really didn't get to know
each other until we started working on this project together!! It was a
pleasure working with all of you, you are a creative and fun group. I
hope we can do it again!
Well, you
got what you wished for...the show was wonderful and "seamless"!! (I
know that was a word I heard Yannis use repeatedly.). I know you have
probably received a ton of e-mails on the show, but here is one more. My
family and friends were so impressed by the show. It exceeded their
expectations and left everyone feeling really good. It doesn't get any
better than that. My mother ( a hard woman to impress) said, "I have
been in this country for 50 years and have attended many Greek
functions/shows, but this one was truly outstanding." Now that's a
compliment!!! Congratulations to you all!
Alex
Kapotas
The
t-shirts were cool, but the entire exhibit ROCKED!!! The retired shoe
display really tugged at people's heartstrings--you should talk to
Louisa's mother about her reaction. The way the shoes were displayed
and the accompanying text made them come to life--almost like a "who's
who" of OHFS. Just awesome. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone
again on Thursday--post-stress.
Fr. Tilemahos
Hello
John and Kosta!
I can't
begin to tell you how wonderful the event was Saturday night. I
was truly impressed how far you have taken this group and how much you
offer to these kids and to our heritage. Thank you so much for the
tickets. The children really enjoyed it. My goal was to get them
excited about the group, and it worked, so I mailed the registration
forms today. There are a couple of kids from the parish that wish to
come as well. I hope there is still room. I would love for them to
have the opportunity to experience everything that Orpheus has become.
Again, my heartfelt congratulations and many thanks from the whole
family.
Eve Monzingo
The show
was so great by the way, our friends loved it. George
and I played for a Greek wedding on Sunday and the photographer
recognized us, he said he filmed the show Saturday, his name was
Dimitris. He talked about the show all night! He loved it and said it
reminded him of when his daughters were in the troupe and how proud he
felt to see them. It gave me a little insight on the parents and
grandparents, and how strange it must be to see your children grow up in
another country. Thanks for inviting us to be a part of you group, it's
been an incredible experience.
Pantelis Pandis
Words are
not enough to describe the success of this event! All guests that
attended were very impressed. Congratulations to all the participants!
Anonymous - Survey
This
was by far the most wonderful performance I have seen. Great job.
Georgia Makris
Hi Yianni!!
On behalf of my family and I we wanted to say sixaritiria for such a
great event!! Thanks again for all of your hard work!!!
Elpida Rallis
I just wanted to
congratulate you and the entire Orpheus group on such a FANTASTIC
performance on Saturday evening! I so enjoyed it - it was wonderful!
Much different to sit in the seats - the video was fun, the kids were
awesome, the Kalymnos dances really looked great, and having the guest
performers were AMAZING! Again, thanks for providing the Chicago
community with such wonderful cultural experiences.
Stephanie Acosta (Production Manager)
To all of
you @ OHFS I want to send my deepest thanks and congratulations on a
very successful project!
As the days have passed I've had little time to think about the
completion as I dive head first into new work but I wanted to take the
time to thank you ALL for your wonderful work and for including me in
such an important event for your groups growth. Watching Anna, Beth,
John & Panayotis play and sing as everyone dances at Yannis' house I
realized I had been welcomed into a new community not just a job and it
was a real pleasure.
The real thing I take away from this is a reminder of what the purpose
of all dance, song, theatre is really about and that is community
building and connection and Orpheus really embodies that. For someone
working in the 'professional' sphere it's great to have those reminders
that bring us back to the truth and power of these elements of our
culture. Thank you for giving that back to me.
I hope you will keep me posted on any work to come and that you all
enjoy a well deserved break! You won't be rid of me easily and I look
forward to seeing you all again soon.
Fany Karahalios
The performance was great, all the kids did beautifully!
Margarita Denekos
The event
last Saturday was fabulous!!! No words to describe what we field.
Congratulations to all of you !!! Thank you, and one more time
congratulations.
Beth Cohen
Hi Yanni,
I hope you're recovering well from that great effort.......It was well
worth it - the performance was wonderful - so many facets to it...As I
told you over the weekend, I was so impressed by the many musicians of
all ages! I've never seen that anywhere else.....It was fantastic to
perform with Anna and Panayotis and John, and playing for your group was
very exciting - the mutual energy exchange was very inspiring. And of
course all of the kindness and generosity shown to us was very
wonderful. So thank all of you for so much. Please say hi to everyone
from me and thanks again.
Kenneth
A very excellent performance.
Anonymous - Survey
The performance was fantastic! All the performers, musicians, etc.
were very professional and well trained. The videos intertwined
into the performance gave a great insight into the history of Orpheus
and some of the highlights. It worked very well together.
Kelly Apostolopoulos
I did
want to see you all afterwards and congratulate everyone on a fantastic
event. It brought back lots of memories and tears to my eyes. I was
overwhelmed with emotion at one point (at many points, actually) that I
thought I was the only one clapping the loudest and moving with the
beat. Everything from the chorus to the kids playing all the
instruments, the youth and adult dancers it was just incredible!!! It
was a great event Yanni, congratulations to all of you! You don't know
how proud I am of everyone there at Orpheus. Bravo, and here's to
another 20 years!!!
Angie Georginas
Stacy and I enjoyed the performance sooooo much last Saturday. We both
got very emotional and it made us want to hop a plane for Greece.
Veni Friga
You
already know how much I value Orpheus work. I knew also that there was
some "singing" and some instruments, but I could have never imagined
that level of quality and repertoire. The performance was absolutely
stunning. The number of young kids that joined the group! Unbelievable!
Congratulations! Along with the congratulations, at this point, I do
have a question for Orpheus: what's next?
My best wishes to the group.
Anna Mavrou
Σας ευχαριστώ όλους πάρα πολύ για την υπέροχη
και ζεστή φιλοξενία,και την τιμή που μου κάνατε να πάρω μέρος στην
καταπληκτική σας παράσταση. Η δουλειά που κάνετε στο Σικάγο είναι
τρομερά αξιόλογη και άπειρα τα οφέλη της ελλην. κοινότητας που έχει
άτομα σαν εσάς.
Voula Nicholson
Well done! Last week's program was absolutely wonderful. Grandparents
and parents alike
shed tears of joy watching the performances! In our case, some of those
tears were shed wishing the kids'
great
grandparents were there to see it as well!
Christina Pagones
Just want
to tell you the benefit was a wonderful event!! You could tell a lot of
work went into the stage direction and my family and others I talked to
expressed the same thoughts about the professionalism and creativity of
the program. A couple shout-outs to:
1)
Alex for
the rocking video
2)
the shoe
display committee -- the presentation was really creative and artistic
3)
I know we
talked about someone emceeing or doing an introduction to the program,
but I thought the singers beginning the program with Xpistos Anesti
without any intro was very dramatic � nicely done!
4)
the
musical ensemble � such talent!
Mingling
with the crowd after the performance, I found out that a number of my
old friends from school and other activities have their kids in the
youth group and all are enjoying it and had great things to say about
OHFS. hought you�d want to know. The night was another OHFS success!
Sophia Moraris
The show was great! You did a fantastic job! Coming to the show made me
realize how much I miss dancing!
Pirpiris Family
Happy 20th Year anniversary to Orpheus! Congratulations for a
fabulous show. We consider it an honor to be part of the Orpheus
family!
Christine Sampras
The
performance was excellent! Maybe a �mourning� song may not have been
suitable for a 20th Year anniversary celebration. The
musicians seem to need more work as a group. The teachers and the
organizers of this event need to be commended for their fantastic job!
Anonymous - Survey
Everything was absolutely fabulous. Congratulations on a remarkable
event.
Vickie Plevritis
The performance was memorable, everyone did great -- but I was
especially impressed with the 10 year old group who I thought stole the
show (not that I am biased or anything).
Gina Mitrousias
Also
wanted (not sure if I mentioned it to you) to let you know what an
incredible night the 20th anniversary was. We as well as our guests
really enjoyed it all. Our only complaint was that it was too short. It
was a seamless, flowing, nostalgic event that poured out energy, fun and
longevity. Bravo sas! It was tremendous to see everyone�s growth and we
are very proud to be a part of this highly talented and passionate group
of people. It will be awhile before the buzz
quiets about the 20th anniversary extravaganza....what a beautiful
evening with no detailed left overlooked. Bravo.
Voula Nicholson
Thanks for all of your hard work...it really showed. More importantly,
Group II -- especially the boys (but I'm biased!) --
really seemed to be enjoying themselves during their performance!
What more can you hope for?
Angela Kosmas
Congratulations to all of you for such an awesome performance last
month! It was such a pleasure to watch from beginning to end! Kudos to
everyone.
Margie Beniaris
I hope
all is well! Thank you for the great job you do with the students. Your
team is superior. We as parents are proud and happy to see our children
continue our culture and customs. We owe this to you and your staff.
Keep up the superior job!
Patty
Angelos
I want so
say again how much I enjoyed the 20th Anniversary Celebration. I am so
proud of the extent Orpheus has progressed since I left the States. Way
to go!!!
Angie Meletsis-Harris
Thank you
very much for putting a program together that looked like it took years
to pur together. We were so proud to be part of this organization.
Nancy DeDakis
We took
my 88-year old mom, and she just loved it. We would like to keep in
touch and will attend future performances. |