Vasiliki Malamatos is the director of Epanastasi Dance Troupe at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Fort Worth, Texas; and the founder & director of Rizes HDF. Epanastasi is a young-adult competitive dance troupe that she started back in January of 2024 and is an official ministry of the St. Demetrios parish in Fort Worth, Texas. Epanastasi will be hosting Rizes HDF on January 25: a parish level event encouraging dance groups within the Denver Metropolis & beyond to attend for a first ever HDF event in the area.
Vasiliki grew up on the East Coast & has been dancing all of her life. She grew up in New Jersey & attended the Ascension Fairview parish where she competed at their own HDF: “Sights & Sounds”. At the age of 17, she & her family moved to Florida where she completed her final year of GOYA & Dance at the Tarpon Springs Parish with Levendia. She then moved to Boston, MA where she attended Hellenic College Holy Cross from 2016-2020 where she met her husband, Theodore Malamatos. They got married in Florida & relocated to Fort Worth, Texas in February 2022 for his job.
Vasiliki is first generation Greek & was raised in a home where Greek tradition & culture was always prevalent & important. Vasiliki & her family are Vlachoi (Vlachs) from Thessalia. Her father was born and raised in a Vlachochori (Vlach-speaking village) called “Kalochori”, located just outside of Larisa. Vlachika was her fathers first language, & their village of Kalochori still practices their Vlach customs & traditions (ex: speaking Vlachika, Vlach music & dance at their annual Panigiria, etc). Her mother is from a village in Trikala called “Mavrelli”, located north of Kalambaka. Vasiliki is very proud of her Greek Vlach roots. She visits her villages in Greece as often as she can where she spends her summers with family. While there, attending every Panigiri is always on the list of things to do. She was raised listening to her region's music, so she loves all things Klarino, Epirotika, and Thessalika.
Vasiliki also runs a private business: DFW Greek Social Club. It is a private Greek event promotional business where she brings various different Greek cultural events to the DFW Metroplex, such as: Greek Nights, Greek Concerts, Greek Comedy Shows, etc. The events are for all ages because Vasiliki feels that Greek culture is for everyone. Greek culture is intergenerational and she wants everyone in the community to be able to come together to bond over their Greek culture.
Vasiliki is very passionate about preserving Greek culture & tradition in the diaspora. She feels that it is important we equip the next generation with the tools needed to preserve our traditions and culture. If we fail to do so, it is so easy for our culture to slip through the cracks and die off. We need strong events, outlets, and more to keep this younger generation hungry for their culture so that they themselves will grow up and want to pass the torch to the next generation, & so-on.
www.stdemetrios.net
Episode Music: ΞΕΝΙΤΕΜΕΝΟ ΜΟΥ ΠΟΥΛΙ (Πωγώνι) - Ηπειρώτικα τραγούδια
