Our Teachers
Our school always collaborates with distinguished, graduate teachers.
ELENA VAKALOPOULOU
Graduate of the Higher Professional Dance School of Thaleia Anomeritou.
Her teachers included Leonidas Depian, Timos Pappas, and Terry Slaney in modern dance, and after graduation, Yannis Metsis. She attended postgraduate dance courses in Greece and Europe between 1978–1988.
Classical Ballet: Tom Schilling (Berlin), Nina Sokolova (Paris), Lise Delaplace (Aix-en-Provence), M. Tolstaya, G. Kousnietzova, Galina Bogoeva, Anton Stoinof, Daniel Lommel (Athens), Alain Astie (Lyon), Yvonice Satie (Geneva), among others.
Modern Dance: Erin Martin, Ruth Gurier, Doris Rudko, Mary Hinkson, Taria Kankainen.
Rhythmics: Maria Kynigou (8 seminar cycles).
She danced from 1974–1986 with the “Experimental Ballet of Athens” by Yannis Metsis, the “Ballet of Athens” by Leonidas Depian, the “Greek Dance Drama” of Rallou Manou, and the Thaleia Anomeritou Dance Group for Axion Estiby Mikis Theodorakis. She represented Greece at the International Congress for Dance organized by the International Theatre Institute (ITI) in 1986 in Moscow.
She has been teaching since 1977. In 1982 she founded an amateur dance school, whose graduates include, among others: Elena Topalidou, Ioanna Apostolou, Cecil Mikroutsikou, Konstantina Mikroutsikou, Elisavet Pliakostathi, Dimitra Charalambous, Alexia Kosti, Stelios Kefalas, Iris Karagiann, Katerina Toumba, Arianna Zarmkoupi, Eutychia Bourcha, Anna Georgiou, Fotini Georgiou, Stali Symeon, Fani Vakalopoulou, Danai Giannakakou, Anastasia Panteli, Elina Kontomina, Athina Papadopoulou, and others.
She created the children’s dance group FANTASIA, staging Alice in Wonderland with music by Minos Voutsinos, giving 20 performances for schools.
She has choreographed for theatre since 1980. Her first work was in Germany for the Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar, the musical Alexis Zorbas, directed by Johannes Felsenstein (1980).
In Greece, she choreographed:
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Theatre of Art (Theatro Technis):
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Frogs by Aristophanes, dir. M. Kougioumtzis, Epidaurus (1992)
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Yerma by Lorca, dir. M. Kougioumtzis (1992)
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Trojan Women by Euripides, dir. G. Lazanis, Epidaurus (1993)
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The Venetian Twins by Goldoni, dir. M. Kougioumtzis (1993)
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The Little Prince by A. de Saint-Exupéry, dir. M. Kougioumtzis (1994)
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Medea by Euripides, dir. G. Lazanis, Epidaurus (1995)
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Ecclesiazusae by Aristophanes, dir. S. Chatzakis, Epidaurus (2000)
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Municipal Regional Theatre of Roumeli: La Moscheta by Ruzante, dir. S. Chatzakis, Lamia (2002)
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National Theatre of Northern Greece (NTNG): Growing Old Successfully by Skambardonis, dir. S. Chatzakis (2002)
She taught movement at the Theatre of Art school (1991–2001) and at the Giorgos Armenis school (1997–1999). As Head of Dance at the Panhellenic Cultural Movement (PAPOK), she organized the first ballet seminar in Athens, with 90 dancers participating, at the National Gallery, with Daniel Lommel, then a soloist of the Ballets du XXe Siècle. She subsequently collaborated with Daniel Lommel, Fragkiskos Voutsinos, Alexis Akrithakis, and Minos Volanakis to create the dance group AENΑON.
In 2008 she founded the contemporary dance group ad hoc, with which she presented seven performances in Athens and toured Northern Greece, under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Macedonia–Thrace, with the work Her Step.
She has been a member of the Ministry of Culture’s Advisory Committee (2020–2023), a member of the Entrance Exam Committee (2019, 2020, 2022), and the Graduation Exam Committee (2021). She continues to teach today at her school in selected classes.
VASO POLITI
(Teaching ballet in the Nursery section and in the C/F for teenagers)
She was born in Athens. She studied dance on scholarship at the Despina Grigoriadou School while at the same time she began her collaboration with the Greek National Opera Ballet from 1981 - 2012.
During her career at the Hellenic Ballet as a Soloist Dancer, she has collaborated with distinguished choreographers such as Rudie Van Danzing, Oleg Vinogradov, Vladimir Vasiliev, Igor Zelensky, William Carter, Ray Barra, Irek Mukhamedov, Renato Zanella, Lorca Massine, Daniel Lomel, PetriVirtanen, Carol Armitage, Alice Elliot, Menia Martinez, Frederik Aston, William Forsythe, Jose Limon, KalinaBogoeva, Simon André, Pier Tavernier, Pierre Lacotte and with Greeks such as Olympia Gelodari, Yannis Metsis, Angelos Hatzis, Haris Mantafounis, Yannis Mantafounis, Leonidas Depian. She has performed leading and solo roles in works such as Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Bayandrera, The Nutcracker, The Corsair, Cinderella, Coppélia, Sleeping Beauty, Raymonda, The Maiden, Eugene Onegin, Les Sylphides, Parisian Life, The Magician, Paquita, Pinocchio, The Birds, Carmen, Valpurhias Night, The Snow Queen, Canto General, The Bat, The Afternoon of a Faun, Petrushka, Zorba, Faust, The Moorish Pavane.
Professor at the Professional Dance School of the Hellenic National Ballet from 1999 to 2017 in Ballet Theory and Technique Analysis, in the Repertoire as well as in its Nursery.
Today she teaches at the Rallos Manos Professional Dance School as well as at Amateur Repertory and Ballet Dance Schools.
IOANNA APOSTOLOU
(Teaching contemporary dance in the 8-10 year old section and in the advanced C/F teen section as well as in the intermediate adult section)
Graduate of the State School of Dance.
Master's degree in contemporary dance at the "Folkwang Hochschule" with a scholarship from the Pratsikas Brothers Foundation.
As a dancer, she has collaborated with the groups Proschima, Yelp danceco, Ypsilon Dance Theater, Dancers of the North, X-it Dance Theater, Lumi Dance Company, AdHoc and with choreographers Angeliki Stellatou, Yiannis Nikolaidis, Ioanna Portolou, Olia Lydaki, Haris Mantafounis, etc.
He has edited choreography and movement for many theatrical works.
He teaches contemporary dance at the State School of Dance (KSOT)
He has also taught at the Higher Vocational School ''HOROCHRONOS'' and at the Higher Vocational School of S. Hatziaras.
NIKOLETA KARMIRI
(Teaching contemporary dance in the Nursery section and in the C/F for teenagers)
She began dancing at the Municipal Dance School of Kalamata, under the direction of Viki Marangopoulos, and completed her studies at the State School of Dance, under the direction of Deni Efthymiou.
With a scholarship from the Onassis Foundation, he studied contemporary dance and improvisation techniques at the Dance Space Center school in New York. As a dancer and performer, she has collaborated with: MariaGorgia (Amalgama), Haris Antachopoulou, Vaso Giannakopoulou (Dalika), Giorgos Christakis (Dagipoli), Petros Gallia (Iros Angelos), Ioanna Portolou (Griffon), Jessica Henou, Cecil Mikroutsikou, Sofia Kamagiani, Vittoria Kotsalou, Iris Karayan (Zeta), Mariela Nestora (Yelp), Maria Koliopoulou (Proschima), Eleonora Siarava (Per_DancePlatform), Androniki Marathaki, Eva Pyrnokokki and Thanos Mikroutsikos, for performances in Greece (Athens and Epidaurus Festival, Kalamata International Dance Festival, Dimitria, Athens Concert Hall, Stegi Onassis Foundation, Dance Days Chania, etc.) as well as abroad (England, Sweden, Denmark, France, Italy, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Serbia, USA, Austria).
As a choreographer he has collaborated with Themis Moumoulidis, Iben Ravn, Maximos Moumouris and the Ta/De group. From 2013-2021 he collaborated with
Onassis Foundation Stegi as a movement teacher, choreographer and dancer in the educational program ''Dancing to connect''.
From 2004 until today, he has been teaching contemporary dance to teenagers and adults, as well as movement and dance lessons to actors.
ELENI ARAPAKI
(She periodically teaches contemporary dance in the advanced C/F division)
She graduated from the State School of Dance (KSOT) in 2010 and continued her postgraduate studies at the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance (SEAD), from which she graduated in 2012.
During her studies, she collaborated as a dancer with acclaimed choreographers (Les Ballets C de la B, RootlessRoot, Sonya Levin, Carlos Matos, Martin Kilvády, Eleonore Valere, Roberto Oliván, Tono Lachky, Paul Blackman, Christina Gouzeli) in works presented in Greece and Austria.
In 2013, she worked with Nobulus Dance Company in Austria, participating as a dancer in two productions. From 2014 to 2017, she was a member of the Gotra Ballet Company in the Netherlands, both as a dancer and assistant choreographer in three productions, which included collaborations with City Theater Aachen in Germany and DeVries+Partners GmbH in Beijing, with performances and tours in England, the Netherlands, Germany, China, and Israel.
Later, she collaborated with dance companies and choreographers as both dancer and choreographer in Greece and abroad, for dance productions as well as video dance projects (David Zambrano, Willi Dorner, Jos Baker, Plotinos Iliadis, ReleaseTheFly dance company, Efrosyni Iliadi, Joost Vrouenraets, Ken Bridgen).
She has taught contemporary dance technique at City Theater Aachen for Gotra Ballet Company and at the Salzburg Dance School, as well as repertoire workshops for Nobulus Dance Company and Gotra Ballet Company in England, the Netherlands, Germany, and China.
Since 2016, she has been collaborating with dance schools in Athens, teaching contemporary dance technique, improvisation, and yoga.
In 2020–2021, she taught contemporary dance for the entrance exams of the Higher Professional Dance Schools of the Ministry of Culture.
She was also a member of the examination committee for the Ministry of Culture’s entrance and repeat exams in 2019 and for the graduation exams in 2020.
She has attended numerous seminars in dance, improvisation, choreography, and yoga, led by internationally recognized teachers and choreographers.
ALEXANDROS NOUSKAS VARELAS
(Teaching contemporary dance in the C/F advanced department)
He graduated from the KSOT in 2018 and studied Spanish Literature at the National University of Athens.
He works in "physical cinema" and has directed and choreographed short films that have been presented at festivals around the world.
As a dancer, he has collaborated with Christos Papadopoulos, the dance group Ki omOs Kinetai, Griffón DC, Alexandros Stavropoulos, director Giorgos Koutlis, Kostas Gavras, etc. with performances in Greece and abroad.
He has received a scholarship as part of the Return Trip action.
Project by the Athens and Epidaurus Festival and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. He has been awarded by ARTWORKS (2021) and was a Fellow of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation's Artist Support Program.
SISSI TSAGKADA
(Teaching in preparatory classes at regular intervals)
Graduate of the Higher Vocational School of the Greek National Opera.
Graduate of the Accademia Ucraina di Ballettto Milano with a scholarship from the Niarchos Foundation.
He teaches at the Academy from which he graduated in Milan and in preparation seminars in Athens.
FANI VAKALOPOULOU
(Teaching Bebe Dance and contemporary dance in the department)
He was born in Athens in 1997.
She graduated in 2021 from the Higher Professional School of Dance "Aktina". Her involvement with dance began at a young age. At the same time, she studied at the Department of Geology and Geoenvironment of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
As a performer, she participated in the work presented at the National Opera “The artist on the composer” in 2018. In 2019, she presented her solo “Ministry of Silly Walks” at the AthensVideo Dance Project festival at the Athens School of Fine Arts, in 2020 as part of the same festival with the work “Moloima”. This work, for public space, was presented for the first time in the spring of 2020 at the Lycabettus Festival.
She has attended dance seminars with David Zambrano and Samantha van Wissen in Brussels in the period 2022-2023 as well as with Natalia Gabrielczyk, Salva Sanchis, GeorgiaVardarou, Akira Yoshida, Edivaldo Ernesto, Peter Yasko, etc. in Greece and abroad.
In the fall of 2022, he attended Euripides Laskarides' seminar "Metamorphosis and Ridicule" in London.
During the period May-June 2023, she worked as the production organization manager for the amateur dance school's summer performance.
In the year 2024-2025, she took part in the Lunapark works exchange program in Berlin and presented, together with another dancer, the work in progress "Is it getting lighter?".
Since the fall of 2024, he has been part of the dance theater group "Kinitiras youth", participating in performances open to the public.
Since the fall of 2024, she has been teaching dance in the pre-ballet department, for children aged 4-6, at the Elena Vakalopoulou School.
DANAE GIANNAKAKOU
(Teaching ballet in PRE-BALLET 1 and contemporary dance in M/T)
Danae Giannakakos is a dancer and creator based in Athens, a graduate of the State School of Dance (2022).
In parallel with her studies in contemporary dance, she also completed her degree in Business Organization and Administration at the Athens University of Economics and Business.
He has participated in numerous seminars in Greece and abroad (Rambert, Gaga, NDT, Ultima Vez), emphasizing improvisation and body research.
He has danced in works by Marco Goecke, Rainer Behr, Konstantinos Rigos, Konstantinos Argyriou and others, which were presented in venues such as the Stegi, the Concert Hall and the opening ceremony of Eleusis – European Capital of Culture 2023.
He participated in the festival of young creators at Treno sto Rouf.
Since 2022, she has been teaching dance to children and adults, delivering classical dance, contemporary dance and improvisation classes.
She is gradually working on creating her own works, most recently the duet "I never think about the beginning until it's the end" which is currently in progress.
He has collaborated with photographers on artistic projects, such as “Body in Motion” in London.
APHRODITE VERVENIOTI
(She teaches Hip-Hop and Ballet in the Adult Division)
She was born in Athens in 1981.
Graduate of the State School of Dance (KSOT, 2002), the Rotterdamse Dansacademie – BA Dancer in the Netherlands (Codarts University, 2005), where she collaborated with Ann van de Broek, Gabriele Staiger, and Itzik Galili, and of the Fontys Dance Academy – PG/Ma in Choreography in Tilburg, the Netherlands (2007).
She received scholarships from the State Scholarships Foundation (IKY, 2004) and from Jacob’s Pillow – Contemporary Tradition, Massachusetts, USA (2002). She was also awarded a scholarship from PACT Zollverein, where she attended the seminar of Robert Stein (Essen, Germany, 2005).
She continues to perform as a dancer in productions and festivals in Greece and abroad (China, Tunisia, the Netherlands, Poland, Germany, Italy).
She has danced with the companies of Natassa Zouka, Airesis, 58+3, Art Dance Theatre, Akin, Memento Bodyworks (Netherlands), Dionysis Tsaftaridis, Griffon Dance Company, and Kinitiras.
Since 2008, she has served as a Priestess at the Lighting of the Olympic Flame Ceremony.
She has been involved with Hip-Hop since the age of 10, attending seminars in the USA, the Netherlands, and France.
Since 2007, she has been teaching dance (ballet, contemporary, hip-hop, barre à terre) in dance schools and drama schools (Delos, Theodosiadis, Iasmos). She has also delivered dance and choreography workshops.
Her choreographies include Sargam, Lost Thought, Alternative (Netherlands), as well as Pros (as part of the In Progress Festival – Kinitiras Residency Center 2010), One Way (Spider Festival, Athens), and Pros II (2013).
She has been responsible for movement direction in Electra – The Rewrite by Edward Pomerantz (Athens Fringe Festival 2010, Kinitiras production). She has also worked as assistant choreographer in various events and dance performances, and has undertaken movement direction in theatrical productions.