Kostas Mitsis

About me:

Kostas was born in 1975, Munich Germany. In 1976 he moved to Greece in the area of Preveza, Epiros, where his parents have their roots. Kostas grew up in a farm life environment with the customs of traditional farm family life, where traditional dance and music were holding significant place in his every day life. He studied Agriculture in the “Aristoteleio” University of Thessaloniki, and at this moment he is doing post graduate studies at the University of Ioannina. Kostas speaks three languages, Greek, English and German. From 1982 he has been a member of the folk dancing groups of the Preveza area, in addition to other areas of Greece where he lived or travelled for this reason. He has also attended numerous Greek dance seminars, symposiums and conferences in the subject of Cultural studies. From 1997 he has been teaching traditional folk dancing in many folk dancing schools in Thessaloniki, Preveza and Athens. In 2000 Kostas started doing research in the areas of Epiros, Preveza, Syrrako, Metsovo, Konitsa, Zagori and Souli. In parallel he is doing research in the area of Grevena and the refugees from Asia Minor in the region of Preveza. Kostas has conducted many seminars of traditional folk dancing in Greece, the USA, Canada and Australia. He has also represented Greece in folk dance festivals to more than 15 countries around the globe. In 2002 he created a festival in Preveza for the preservation of the Hellenic Tradition. This was the first ever festival in Greece that participants (groups and musicians) should follow strict rules for presentation of the Greek folk traditions. He is also occupied with Greek traditional folk singing and has studied songs in the Greek, Vlahiki, Albanian, and Turkish languages. In September 2006 he moved to Athens and joined the performing team of "Lykeion ton Ellinidon" of Athens. He is working as an Executive Consultant to the European Organization for Strategic Planning. In March 2007, was one of the main organizers in the 1st European Conference and the biggest ever Exposition and Festivities for the “Greek Folk Culture” in Greece, which took place in the Olympic “Peace and Friendship” Stadium in Piraeus. Kostas is a member of the Cultural Commission of the Panepirotiki Confederation of Greece and responsible for the events concerning the tradition of Epirus.