Stergios Vakoulis will be joining us from Serres, Greece and will be teaching dances from the Darnakochoria villages in Serres. He was a judge at the Hellenic Dance Festival (HDF) in 2025.

Bio

Stergios Vakoulis was born on January 18, 1980, in Piraeus and hails from the village of Agio Pnevma in Serres. He has been involved in traditional dance since childhood. In 1999, he joined the dance group of the "Dora Stratou" theater as a professional dancer, where he remained for five years. He was a member of the dance groups of the following organizations: the Association of Epirotes of Agios Demetriou "TO KOUGI," the Association of Pontians "SERRA," the Greek Folk Dance Group of the Municipality of Kallithea, the Folklore-Dance Group "CHOROPEDIA," and the Association of Kastellorizia Everywhere. He was responsible for the dance teachers for many parishes of the Metropolis of Piraeus and the Student Church Action (2000-2008), as well as at the 63rd Primary School of Athens (2003-2005).

He has participated in many dance seminars over the years. He has taught dances from the local villages of Serres, as well as those of the Vlachs of Serres and other areas of Greece, such as Kythira, which he has studied extensively. He has primarily been involved in the study and recording of the music and dance tradition, the manners, and customs of the Darnakochoria in the prefecture of Serres. He has taught the dances and songs of the Darnakochoria at many dance seminars and organizations throughout Greece and abroad. In 2005, he presented, for the first time in Athens, the music and dance traditions of the village of Agio Pnevma (Serres), as well as moments from the wedding customs at folklore nights in the event hall of the International Folk Art Organization in Plaka. In 2013, he was a speaker at the event commemorating the 100 years of the liberation of Macedonia, the Regional Unit of Serres, and the associations of Darnakochoria, on "Customs and Traditions of Spring and Easter in Darnakochoria." In 2016, he participated as a speaker in the 2nd conference of the Federation of Serres Associations of Thessaloniki on the subject: "Experiential approach of young people to popular culture through cultural associations." In 2017, within the framework of the event "To see Serras the villages," he developed the topic "The custom of Lazarina in Agio Pnevma of Serres" at the municipal library of Serres. In 2018, he developed the theme: "Musical instruments in Darnakochoria" at an event of the Panhellenic Federation of Macedonian Associations.

He is responsible for the publications of the cultural association of Agio Pnevma, "The local costume of Agio Pnevma and the wider area of Darnakochoria” and “The days have come… Dances and songs of Agio Pnevma of Serres,” as well as the thematic calendar of the association of Vlachs of Serres "GEORGAKIS OLYMPIOS" in 2020, "... nightingales comb them, your golden hair...-the headband of the Vlachs of Serres." He edited the shows "O Topos kai to Tragoudi Tou" with Giorgis Meliki on "The Agio Pnevma of Darnakes " and "With the Zourna tou Karakostas," as well as "Alati tis Gis" with Lambros Liavas in a show dedicated to the music and dance tradition of Darnakochoria.

He was president of the cultural association of Agio Pnevma of Serres, and today he is a dance teacher in the cultural associations of Agio Pnevma and Neo Souli of Serres, the Panepirotic Association of Serres, and the Association of Vlachs of Serres "Georgakis Olympios." Most recently, he was a judge at the annual Metropolis of Atlanta Hellenic Dance Festival.