Zaharoula Zogopoulos was born in New York City. She began her Greek folk dance studies while attending the St. Demetrios Day School of Astoria, NY where the love of Hellenic traditions was instilled in her from a young age. She began choreographing her highschool Greek Dance Team and performed with the Pan-Macedonian Association of New York. Parallel to her Greek folk dancing, she continued to train in classical dance in NYC. She went on to obtain a Bachelor of Arts in Drama, Theater, Dance and Choreography from CUNY Queens College, where she was awarded the “Farah Marcellus Award for Outstanding Choreography”. Zaharoula also holds a Master’s of Education Degree, certified in Elementary Education, Early Childhood, and Dance Education (K-12). She founded the Greek Dance Program of the Archangel Michael Church in Long Island in 1999. Since then, the program has grown exponentially. Zaharoula has presented her work in many Hellenic cultural and charity events. The Archangelos program has also participated in the Parathosi Archdiocesan Competition of NY since 2017. In 2020, her dancers participated in the Greek Orthodox Folk Dance & Choral Festival (FDF) for the first time. Zaharoula continued directing for FDF, and most recently competed in the Hellenic Dance Festival (HDF) in 2023 making Archangel Michael Church the first church from New York to compete in such national competitions. In her classes, she strives to create a warm and safe space for all children to feel inspired and learn the beautiful Hellenic customs through song and dance. Her mission remains to continue learning and growing as a dancer, director, researcher and choreographer. Zaharoula continues to conduct her research in Greece/US as authentically as possible with renowned dance experts as well as village elders and locals. Episode Music Credit: Manolis Kottors