It's All Greek To Me - A Short Documentary By Abby Okarski

Thank you to the St. Demetrios Church of Daytona Beach!

[@helgaioannidis9365]

Usually nobody asks anybody to dance when it comes to Greek folk dances. Whoever wants to join, just goes and joins. Greek culture is very inclusive, nobody will send you away from the dancefloor, even if you don't know anybody and butchers the steps. They'll try to help you with the steps and encourage you too try once you join. But you're expected to join without an invitation.

[@zetazelda1801]

welcome to the clan Abby! Petros seems like a wonderful guy! love from Greece!

[@estelsaradop492]

Hey Abby, who could be more Greek than a lovely person who has the heart and desire to be one ❤ You've got my vote! I'm Greek by birth, American by choice (grew up in Houston) and I enjoyed your video very much❤ It reminded me of the Greek festival in Houston. Wishing you all the best from the north Peloponnese 💕

[@Bboss83]

this is beautiful greetings from Greece kos island ❤

[@Phosphoreus]

Lovely. Thank you. I wish you many recurrent trips to beautiful Greece where you’ll have wonderful times.

[@NG-om8wo]

What a beautiful story! Well done korisakimou! Many non Greeks become more Greek than Greeks! Always be proud of what you are and what makes you unique!!

[@kimon114]

Να κάτι τέτοια βλέπουμε εμείς εδώ στην Ελλάδα και χαιρόμαστε και ελπίζουμε!!! Κρατήστε βαθιά μες την ψύχη σας το πνεύμα την Ελλάδας, ποτίσετε το και στα παιδιά σας, θα τα κάνει να φουντώσουν και να ανθήσουν. Και να έρχεστε πότε πότε πισω στην μητέρα Ελλάδα. Και αυτή θα χαίρετε και θα καμαρώνει, και εμείς.

[@user-nb8gr8ef5i]

love from Greece, you are all wonderful. You actually make wonders over there.

[@user-sb5ir5fb9k]

Υπεροχοι.Στην υγεια σας.Χριστος Ανεστη.

[@generalnguyenngocloan1700]

Truly He is risen! ☦️

[@cassandramalvasia3629]

Wonderful video!👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@croatsweareserbiancatholic7521]

Nice community, music and dance My love and greets👍

[@cyclops92]

Petros is a stud

[@parraswilkinson5322]

😅so beautiful

[@MomoMomoyan]

Nice video, where you at?

[@dimitriosvlissides5781]

Where are you ?

[@VHOS-db1td]

Η Ελλάς με την ..ματια της Νιας Βαρνταλος!!!

[@supermavro6072]

Arbanite Greek, Arab Greek, Georgina Greek, Slavgreek, TurkGreek Greek Greek Greek Greek Greek. It's all Greek

[@user-vc8on7fm2o]

Forget Italian Greeks.

[@cavaradossi7761]

It never ceases to amaze me - however Greek they may claim to be - just how different Greek-Americans and, generally, Greeks of the diaspora, are from their distant ethnic "brethren". There is really nothing Greek about 99% of Greek-Americans. They're Americans, who know a couple of different dances, a couple of expressions in a foreign language and a couple of recipes that other Americans don't know, and go to a different church. This also applies to Italians, Portuguese, and pretty much to every ethnic group that has established a presence in the US. Maybe I'm just a cynic, but I find these types of ethnic festivals kind of depressing, where people are playacting and pretending to be something they are not.

[@kaarvan]

You have to remember that they are trying to keep to an image of Greece (Italy, Portugal, etc) that is what either their parents or grandparents remember. So it is, by definition, out of sync with the modern culture in their countries of original ancestry. But hey, as long as they are having fun and not causing problems, more power to them. All ethnic festivities are kind of playacting, even in the original countries, since we no longer have the need for them, and we are simply recreating the way people of the past were celebrating and socializing. For example, the greek costumes are now just a folklore item, no-one dresses like that. The dances are folklore dances, except maybe one or two exceptions, seeing only in dedicated festivals, not as pure dances in normal gatherings. The food is the same though (why change a good thing?) !

[@estelsaradop492]

❤Well, of course they're American; but how admirable of them to keep native traditions. Life would be so drab without them😉

[@cavaradossi7761]

@@kaarvan I hear you, and I get it. That said, they'd be doing themselves a favour if they spent some time learning the language of their ethnic heritage, not to mention a thing or two about the current state of affairs in these places. They would then more convincingly be able to call themselves Greek, Italian or whatever and their lives would be much richer because they'd be more intimately connected with another vibrant culture. As for the food at these festivals... I don't know if it's the cooking or the ingredients but it's generally a poor imitation of the authentic stuff...

[@Evan490BC]

You know nothing about hybrid and complex identities (a notion studied by Anthropologists, especially Cultural Anthropologists, Sociologists, etc). Many Greek-Americans are more Greek, in some ways, than Greeks living in Greece. This cultural substrate is what distinguishes them from Italian-Americans, Swedish-Americans, etc.

[@cavaradossi7761]

@@Evan490BC It doesn't take a sociologist or anthropologist to make the "hoi polloi" aware of the existence of hybrid identities. My point is that Greek-Americans, Canadians, Australians - whatever the hybrid might be - are, in the vast majority of cases, only minimally Greek. They may be proud to be Greek but it'll take much more than eating moussaka prepared by "Yaya", and doing Greek dances to be Greek enough to fit seamlessly into Greek society. "Hybrid" Greeks dress differently, they are groomed differently, they carry themselves differently, they gesture differently and, most importantly they speak pitiful Greek, which, to add insult to injury, they speak with assorted horrible accents. I'm not judging. I'm just remarking. "Greekness" is essentially a question of socialization. The Antetokoumpo brothers, to take a glaring example, are about as Greek as you can get, though they were born to Nigerian parents. "Hybrid" Greeks, on the other hand, are essentially American, Canadian, etc., irrespective of whether they identify as Greek.