Metro Detroit's Greek community celebrates with parade, other events

On a rainy, cold Sunday afternoon, a group of young people sought shelter inside the lobby of One Campus Martius building in downtown Detroit. 

The five of them were practicing a dance routine you would definitely not see at the club. Though there was no music, the two male dancers held back and let the three young women take the spotlight.

Wearing ankle-length burgundy skirts and white and black shirts, the girls kicked out their feet a few times and then spun around on the tips of their low black heels. They repeated the moves a few time before the boys joined them by holding hands and forming an open circle.

The group is part of The Cretan Association of Detroit, a Madison Heights-based nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the history and culture of Greece's largest island, Crete. One of the ways the organization celebrates its heritage is through dance, and has a children's and young adult group called the Levendoyenna Dance Group of Detroit. 

The group performed Sunday afternoon at the Detroit Greek Independence Day Parade. Floats, Greek organizations and churches, musicians, dancers, and even mascots for the Lions, Tigers, and Michigan State University made their way from Campus Martius Park along Monroe Street into Greektown. 

According to the parade website, the event has been in Detroit since 2002, and brings the Greek community not only from Detroit, but also Ann Arbor, Flint, Toledo, and Windsor. The parade is held to commemorate Greek Independence Day, which is held annually on March 25 in Greece. Almost 200 years ago, Greece separated from the Ottoman Empire and became an independent country. 

Watching the young dance group practice was their instructor, Matina Fabian. She has been teaching traditional Cretan dances for the association for 16 years. 

"I love it, I really do," she said. "It's a great way of expressing ourselves and our culture." 

Several of the members have been dancing since they were children and some travel across the border to be a part of the group. 

Twenty-year-old Kosta Margaritis and his 17-year-old brother, Stelios, drive from Windsor to Madison Heights weekly for practice. 

Kosta said the two make the trip across the border because there are no Cretan dance groups in Windsor. 

Twenty-year-old Maria Makarounas of Woodhaven, said the group has been practicing for the parade for a couple of weeks and that their dance can be difficult. 

Eighteen-year-old Amalia El-Ali of Warren added that their routine is "more complicated than it looks" and that the steps are intricate. 

Also in the lobby was Nick Feles. The Birmingham resident marched in the parade with members of his church, the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in Troy. He said he has been coming to the parade for several years. 

"I'm hoping to see some people," he joked. "The weather is a bummer." 

Evan Maniadakis came to the parade with his teenage daughters, Joanna and Alexia. The Sterling Heights residents marched with the Messinian Association of Michigan, named after a region in Greece. 

Evan said he and his family come to the parade to "remember who we are." Joanna added that the parade helps unite the Greek community in Michigan. 

"I love the food and dancing," Joanna said of her heritage. "And once you go to Greece, you never wanna come back."