A school in Malaysia danced syrtaki thanks to Melbourne student Katerina Zikou

Malaysian students rehearse the syrtaki, with Katerina Zikou, before their performance in front of the whole school. Photos: Supplied

The Greek dance syrtaki accompanied by the music to Zorba the Greek delighted hundreds of students at a Malaysian High School, with several of them joining the dance with Katerina Zikou, a student of the Melbourne Greek Community Schools.

The father of 12-year-old Katerina, Lazaros Zikou, is from northern Greece, and her mother, Kahhui, is from China, but was born in Malaysia.

So, when the family had the rare opportunity in May to spend two months in Malaysia, their children, Katerina and Yiannis, enrolled in the local school, Chung Hwa Klang High School, where their grandfather is a member of the school board.

As Mr.Zikou explained to Neos Kosmos, their classmates showed great interest in the Western culture and especially in Greece, which they consider exotic, and asked Katerina to teach them something from her heritage.

She proposed to teach them Greek dance and, immediately, about 20 students jumped at the chance.

Katerina taught them the steps of syrtaki accompanied by the music of Zorba the Greek by Mikis Theodorakis, and after several rehearsals, they performed the dance at a special school celebration in front of almost 1,500 students.

The dance delighted the Malaysian students, but also the Greek Community in Australia, who were extremely proud of Katerina’s efforts to teach something of her Greek heritage to her peers in Asia.

Therefore, last Monday, she was congratulated and presented with an award at the Balwyn Campus of the Greek Community Schools, by the principal, Maria Bakalidou and the Campus Coordinator Despina Gianniou, for her commitment to both sides of her heritage.

Spending two months in Malaysia and attending the local school was a great experience for our children, Mr Zikou said. They had the opportunity to see how the school system works in their mother’s homeland, to make long-lasting friendships, and even to learn an extra language, Bahasa, which is compulsory in Malaysian schools.

They now plan to spend more time in Greece as well, in order to cultivate their ties with their second country of origin.