Dora Stratou

Dora Stratou
Dora Stratou. She issued one of the largest series of folk music in the world: 50 records
Born	1903 Athens, Greece
Died	20 January 1988 Athens, Greece
Occupation	Folkorist
Nationality	Greek
Period	1953 to 1988
Genres	Dance, Music
Subjects	Greek Folk Dancing, Greek Folk Music
Literary movement	Founder of "Greek Dances-Dora Stratou" Society
Notable work(s)	"Greek Dances - a Living Link to the Antiquity" "Traditional Greek Dances" "A Tradition, an Adventure"
grdance.org

Dora Stratou (Greek: Δόρα Στράτου) (Athens, 1903–1988) was a significant contributor to Greek Folk Dancing and Greek Folk Music. She issued one of the largest series of folk music in the world with 50 records and is the founder of the Greek Dances-Dora Stratou Society.

Her parents Maria Koromila and Nikolaos Stratos brought her up in the upper class urban environment of Athens at the beginning of the twentieth century, along with her brother Andreas Stratou.

Dora Stratou wrote the book Greek Traditional Dances in 1979. It was printed by the Greek Educational Books Organisation in Athens 1979. She worked with Simon Karras and other ethnomusicologists. She maintained a record of traditions, recorded music, filmed dancers, interviewed villagers on dance topics, costumes, folkore, etc.

In her book she begins with the quote: I write what my eyes have seen, what went through my mind and what my soul fell in love with... Her true passion for Greek Dance led her to establish one of the most unusual living museums in the world, The Greek Dances Theatre in Athens. This theatre group dances the regional dances in Greece, the same way as they were done hundreds of years ago and the dancers still wear the authentic costumes of yesteryear. It is one of the finest living museums in Greece and unique in the world.

The Greek Dances theater is nowadays a host for other folkloric groups both within Greece and Internationally. The International Organisation of Folk Arts-Greece (UNESCO) is also run from the main offices of the Dora Stratou Theatre in Plaka.

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  Logo of Greek Dances-Dora Stratou Society

Persondata
Name	Stratou, Dora
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1903
Place of birth	Athens, Greece
Date of death	20 January 1988
Place of death	Athens, Greece