Maria Hors is an emblematic figure of the Olympic flame ceremony that takes place before the Olympic and Winter Olympic Games. She has been choreographing the Olympic torch-lighting ceremony for 50 years. She retired this year as a choreographer, but, like all creative people, she remains very much a youth.
As a child and a teenager I used to dance for the Lyceum Club of Greek Women which has branches wherever Greeks live, really from Athens to Johanesburg to Paris. Among its many activities, the club offers Greek folk dance lessons to boys and girls. That is how I met Mrs. Hors.
And this is how I remember her. Always in a long skirt, beating her tambourine to give us the rythm, the halfs and the quarters. Tonight I am going to meet her again, after some 25 years. I am sure she won't remember me, but I hope that she will leave a nice impression on my daughters as she has for me.
There is an interesting documentary about Maria Hors that you may like to see by clicking here. Hors talks in Greek but there is wonderful archive material to watch and admire this very special lady.
