General News
Meropi Kyriacou Honored as TNH Educator of the Year
NEW YORK – Meropi Kyriacou, the new Principal of The Cathedral School in Manhattan, was honored as The National Herald’s Educator of the Year.
BOSTON – Alexandra Stamoulis, a young woman from Thessaloniki, spent the last academic semester doing an internship at the Maliotis Cultural Center of Hellenic College – Holy Cross School of Theology. She gained experience in the fields of organizing and operating art exhibitions, and theatrical performances, cultural events, progressing in the field of the arts.
At the same time, she spent time exploring the possibilities and prospects of postgraduate studies at the Universities of United States, She is a graduate of the School of Drama of the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, class of 2021 and she spoke to The National Herald about art, theater, acting – and her dreams.
When asked what attracted her to acting, she replied: “To start with, I was fascinated – and continue to be fascinated – by the fact that a person chooses to be exposed, to go on the stage and communicate the story of the role to the audience. This experience of exposure is like a brief life cycle: The actor is born in rehearsals, becomes fully alive at the beginning of a play, and dies at the end of it. And this cycle is repeated many times in front of different audiences, with different needs and judgements. Also, creating the role is a big process, a big journey. Imagine, people in the living room are watching TV and see: kings and beggars, rich and poor people, in different situations, different lives, different needs. In order for the actor to create his or her role, he or she has to think like the character thinks. It is a great struggle to tell convincing lies, to passionately embrace opinions that you hate in your real life. In fact, many times the actor is in a ‘battle’ with the role, because the role is the ‘Other’ and it takes courage to live through the Other.”
Asked if her parents had any influence on her decision to engage in art, as they are musicians, she said – her father is also a distinguished professor of Theology and now Dean of the Theological School of the University of Thessaloniki – “my parents are musicians. They have nothing to do with theater. However, as you can understand, ‘art’ was in the air at home, and the music education they gave me and my participation in ensembles helped me get to know the space and the magic of the stage, rehearsals, the exposure, and finally, the performance result. Therefore, the influence of my parents was indirect, and of course, they did not disagree with my choice.”
Alexandra also said that, “the only professional show in which I have participated is the still-active production of ‘Football,’ a play by Thanasis Triaridis, which was my dissertation for the School of Art which then was presented professionally on the stages of Athens, Thessaloniki, and Larissa. Football is a dramatic monologue that brings us face to face with our responsibilities for the development of the modern world.
Asked what brought her to Boston, she answered: “I arrived in Boston to do an internship at the Maliotis Cultural Center, having a consulting role in the artistic events that were organized. At the same time, I am researching possible postgraduate programs… I would very much like to continue my studies in the United States, either in acting or in a second subject, always related to theater.”
NEW YORK – Meropi Kyriacou, the new Principal of The Cathedral School in Manhattan, was honored as The National Herald’s Educator of the Year.
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Filipino villager has been nailed to a wooden cross for the 35th time to reenact Jesus Christ’s suffering in a brutal Good Friday tradition he said he would devote to pray for peace in Ukraine, Gaza and the disputed South China Sea.
ALBANY – New York State Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris, Senator Andrew Gounardes, and Senator James Skoufis honored Greek Independence at the State Capitol on March 26, welcoming His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros, who offered an invocation before the Senate.
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S.
LOS ANGELES – The UCLA Stavros Niarchos Foundation Center for the Study of Hellenic Culture presents a captivating evening with acclaimed singer-songwriter Alkinoos Ioannidis, who will perform at UCLA’s Schoenberg Hall on Saturday, April 27, 7:30 PM, in a solo concert.
ATHENS - The "OLYMPOS - Global Spiritual Center" Association presents on Saturday, April 6, at 6:00 pm, at the "Antonis Tritsis" Amphitheatre of the Cultural Center of the Municipality of Athens, 50, Acadimias Street, the truly ingenious funding proposal for the construction of Heptapolis in the wider area of Delphi, entitled "World Green Taxation Fund".