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11 THE SHEPHERD • MARCH 2026 • SAINT SPYRIDON GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF SAN DIEGO DANCE & CHORAL FDF 2026 We are fresh on the heels from our trip to Phoenix, Arizona for the 49th annual 2026 FDF (a.k.a. Faith, Dance, Fellowship) con- ference. On Friday our dance group, Pela- gos, performed dances from Florina for their semi-final dance suite and on Saturday from the Rethimno area of Crete for their final suite. This year the Youth Choir presented two performances, from two groups. The all-girls High School group known as “Ta Koritisa tis Horodias” performed a selection of music that ended with a song accompa- nied on live bouzouki by one of our dancers, Christos Koletsou. The Youth Choir present- ed an original dramatic musical performance written by one of their own choir members, Sia Paraskevopoulos. All the performances were amazing and brought tears to our eyes! It’s incredible to see everyone on stage, after months of work. And there is no one that deserves more gratitude than our dance and choral directors: Kathy Meck, Sia Brown and Dimitri Litsas. Beyond the performances, FDF has a packed schedule filled with workshops and glendia. Our dance director, Dimitri Litsas present- ed in one of the workshops as part of his scholarship to attend a dance symposium in Greece in the summer of 2025. Attending impromptu and organized dancing is proba- bly one of the most fun things to do all week- end. Musicians lined up the hallways playing into the early-morning hours with people of all ages dancing tirelessly. The hotel lobby was packed almost every night with a Greek DJ playing modern Greek dance favorites until last call. It’s hard to believe that next year will mark the 50th anniversary of this event that start- ed in San Diego at St. Spyridon. No word yet on next year’s location, but we are already looking forward to FDF 2027. Until then, we will take a well-deserved break for Great Lent. All our dance groups will resume prac- tices on April 19th when we will start to pre- pare for our Greek Festival performances. If you have any questions or want to learn more about joining our dance instructors or volunteering, please reach out at stspyridon- dance@gmail.com