09/09/2026
40 YEARS. ONE VISION.
The Victoria Cup of Excellence, 1986–1987:
The back-to-back victories that became milestones in the MANASIS story
6th September 1986.
Forty years ago this week, on a Saturday evening in Melbourne, something happened that, with the benefit of hindsight, would become far more significant than the presentation of a competition trophy.
A young Greek dance teacher, the then 26-year old Alkis Manasis , full of charisma, energy, and imagination, stood at the forefront of a dance group carrying with it something considerably larger than the expectations of a competition. He was carrying the 'idea' that Greek dance could be more than a social activity, more than a community gathering, more than a sequence of traditional steps reproduced from one generation to the next. He believed that Greek dance could be choreographed, disciplined, refined, theatricalised and elevated; that it could command a stage and demand the same artistic attention afforded to other Performing Arts.
On that evening, the MANASIS philosophy entered the Victoria Cup of Excellence in Greek Dance.
And it won.
But the trophy was only the visible part of what was achieved that night. The more important victory was the recognition that came with it: recognition that the MANASIS approach was not simply different, but that it was capable of producing a level of performance that could stand amongst the very best. The choreography, the training, the discipline and the methodology had been placed within a competitive environment and had succeeded.
The philosophy had been tested. And it had been validated.
A COMPETITION OF ITS TIME:
The 1986 Victoria Cup of Excellence was presented by "Hellenic Promotions", under the direction of three names whose place in the history of Melbourne’s Greek community belongs to an era that is now almost difficult to explain to younger generations:
Harry Patras , George Pezaros and Nick Missailidis, and hosted by what would go on to be the defining 'voice' of Greek-Australian journalism- the phenomenal Rena Frangioudakis.
Their names live on in infamy. Not because of a single competition, but because they belonged to a period in which Greek dance occupied a unique and extraordinary place within the Australian-Greek diaspora.
There was a time when Greek dance was not a peripheral cultural activity. It was not simply something children were enrolled in on a weeknight or Sunday afternoon. It was one of the ultimate social and cultural outlets of the Greek community itself- a place where friendships were formed, identities were reinforced, families gathered, young people met, communities competed and generations connected through music, movement and tradition.
Greek dance was everywhere.
And the Victorian Cup of Excellence existed within that world.
The competition itself reflected the enormous popularity of Greek dance during that era. With the sheer number of groups participating, the organisers imposed a strict five-minute limit on every presentation. The clock effectively began from the moment the first dancer stepped onto the stage and did not stop until the final dancer had stepped off. Exceeding the allotted time was not a minor technicality; significant points could be deducted for running overtime.
Five minutes. That was it.
For choreographers, the constraint was formidable. A complete presentation had to be conceived, structured and executed within an unforgiving window. There was no room for unnecessary movement, extended transitions or indulgent pauses. Every entrance, every formation, every musical passage and every transition had to serve the performance.
For Alkis, however, this restriction would become an opportunity.
THE MUSIC WAS PART OF THE CHOREOGRAPHY:
There was another defining characteristic of the 1986 competition.
Every participating group performed with live music. That might seem unremarkable today, but in the context of the competition it created another variable that choreographers had to contend with: the capabilities, preferences, interpretation and limitations of the musicians accompanying them.
Alkis approached this differently.
His dancers were not simply at the mercy of the musicians. The musicians were rehearsed extensively with the dancers, with an expectation that they would “play for the dancers” rather than the dancers simply being required to “dance to the musicians.”
That distinction was fundamental.
The music was not merely an accompaniment sitting beneath the choreography. It became part of the choreography itself.
Alkis understood that if the dancers were to perform with precision, timing and continuity, the musicians had to understand precisely what the dancers were doing, when they were doing it and why.
The relationship between musician and dancer therefore became one of collaboration and orchestration rather than dependency. And the two leading musicians blitzed it with their technique, mastery, and cooperation- clarinettists now both of eternal memory- the late Kostas Smardenkas, and the late 'Stefanakis' Kirkopoulos.
And the result was something highly unusual for its time: the presentation was not a collection of isolated dances presented one after another.
It was a medley.
A continuous, non-stop sequence of different dances, seamlessly blended together, with transitions deliberately constructed so that one movement flowed into the next. There was no sense of “now we finish this dance, stop, reset, and begin another”.
The performance continued. And continued. And continued.
Within the five-minute restriction, Alkis had effectively created a miniature staged production. By the end of it, the audience had still not come to terms with what they had just observed.
This was the genesis of something that would become one of the defining characteristics of the MANASIS method of presentation:
music mixed and structured specifically for the choreography;
dances blended seamlessly; transitions deliberately choreographed;
and the entire presentation conceived as one uninterrupted theatrical work rather than a start-and-stop succession of folk dances.
The significance of that development cannot be overstated.
It represented a fundamental shift in the way Greek dance could be presented on stage. Rather than simply presenting examples of folk repertoire or customs associated with village life, the dancers were becoming performers within a choreographed production. Greek dance was becoming Performing Art.
BEFORE THERE WAS A “MANASIS METHOD”:
Long before anyone would formally use such terminology, Alkis had been developing an approach of his own.
As an eleven-year-old boy arriving in Australia from Greece he carried with him an primitive understanding of Greek culture shaped by experience. He had lived it.
In Australia, that understanding developed into something more deliberate. He had observed it. He had absorbed its rhythms, its movements, its music and its social significance amongst a growing diaspora.
Without the modern conveniences available to choreographers today, Alkis immersed himself in whatever sources he could find- observation, research, literature, recordings and visual material. Completely self-taught, and gradually developing a body of knowledge that would become the foundation of his teaching and choreography.
For him, traditional dance was the foundation.
Choreography became the language.
The stage became the canvas.
And the distinction mattered.
He did not see authenticity and artistry as opposing forces. He believed that tradition could be respected without being imprisoned by the past; that Greek dance could retain its identity while being presented with greater discipline, precision, theatricality and imagination.
That philosophy was beginning to define the work of Alkis Manasis and, increasingly, the identity that would become synonymous with MANASIS.
THE GROUP BEHIND THE VICTORY:
For historical accuracy, there is an important distinction to make.
The group that won the Victoria Cup in 1986, and which returned to win again in 1987, was not formally competing under the name of "MANASIS School of Greek Dance and Culture" as the institution is known today.
Alkis had already established his own school and was formally conducting his own dance classes. However, during this period his reputation and legacy were becoming particularly consolidated through his work as an autonomous dance instructor within the local Greek educational community- after-hours language schools, social clubs, cultural organisations.
It was Alkis Manasis - the instructor, choreographer and creative force - who led the group to victory.
That distinction is historically important, but it does not diminish the connection to the MANASIS story.
If anything, it reinforces it.
Because what the competition recognised was not simply an institutional name.
It recognised Alkis' work.
His choreography.
His methodology.
His dancers.
His vision.
And then there were the costumes:
Every garment worn by the dancers that evening had been hand-sewn and meticulously produced by Alkis’ wife, Sylvia Manasis, as part of an extraordinary body of work that had commenced in 1984 and would continue, largely uninterrupted, through to the mid-1990s to meet the demands of the rapidly expanding student body of what was then the "ALKIS MANASIS" School of Greek Dance and Culture.
Yet on this particular evening, the costumes represented something far greater than wardrobe. For the first time in Australian history, the extraordinary "Genitsaroi and Boulles" costumes of Naousa, Macedonia, were worn and publicly exhibited on stage- imposing, intricate and instantly captivating.
Their presence added another dimension to an already ground-breaking presentation, bringing together dance, choreography, live music and traditional attire in a manner rarely, if ever, witnessed within the Australian Greek community. In time, these garments would become among the most recognisable and enduring symbols of the dance school itself- attire that remains unmistakably MANASIS to this day.
The same garments.
The same pieces.
Still worn by dancers of the present generation, carrying with them not merely the weight of their elaborate construction, but the accumulated legacy of the hundreds of principal dancers who have worn them before.
THE CUP OF EXCELLENCE
Competition changes the equation.
There is nowhere to hide when dancers are placed alongside other dancers and judged on what they collectively produce.
Preparation becomes visible.
Discipline becomes visible.
Musicality becomes visible.
The strength of choreography becomes visible.
And in 1986, the constraints were severe: five minutes, live musicians, an enormous field of competitors and the possibility of significant deductions for exceeding the time limit.
For Alkis, the Victoria Cup of Excellence offered precisely the opportunity he needed.
It was a chance not merely to win, but to demonstrate what happened when Greek dance was treated as choreography, when dancers were trained not merely to remember steps but to understand movement, when formations were deliberately constructed, when musical interpretation became part of the performance and when an ensemble was expected to move as one.
The dancers were not simply participating.
They were performing.
And on 6 September 1986, that philosophy received its first major public validation on that stage.
1986: THE BEGINNING OF “ALKIS’ ARMY”
There was another consequence of that victory which would ultimately become just as significant as the trophy itself: the dancers.
The team Alkis had assembled was fiercely loyal, phenomenally committed and, by the standards of the time, extraordinary in its ability. They were dancers who believed in the man standing at the front of them and, increasingly, in the vision he was asking them to realise.
As the reputation of the group grew, so too did the name that would become synonymous with them:
“Alkis’ Army.”
It was more than a nickname.
It captured the character of the group.
This was a team trained with discipline, bound by loyalty and driven by a common purpose. They were prepared to rehearse relentlessly, to demand more from themselves and from one another, and to embrace a standard of performance that was beginning to distinguish Alkis' work from the conventional expectations of Greek dance at the time.
The phrase would endure because the dancers themselves embodied it. And what followed became what many would later regard as the 'Golden Era' of Greek dance through the broader community, and certainly within the MANASIS story; a period in which Alkis' dancers became recognised not merely for participating in Greek cultural events, but for the extraordinary standard of performance they brought to them.
The Army had arrived.
AND THEN THEY DID IT AGAIN!
One victory can be a moment.
Two consecutive victories become something else.
In 1987, Alkis and his dancers returned to the Victoria Cup of Excellence and won again.
Back-to-back.
If 1986 demonstrated that the approach could succeed, 1987 demonstrated that it was no accident.
1986 was the breakthrough.
1987 was the confirmation.
The victories established something that would become increasingly important to the MANASIS identity:
excellence was not dependent upon circumstance.
It could be taught. It could be rehearsed.
It could be reproduced.
It could become a standard.
And the dancers who carried that standard became increasingly known as Alkis’ Army.
AND THEN, ALKIS SIMPLY WALKED AWAY...
Perhaps one of the most revealing aspects of the story is what happened next.
After winning the competition again in 1987, Alkis retired from the Victoria Cup of Excellence completely. Not because there was nothing left to prove. Quite the opposite.
The competition had served its purpose.
It had provided the proving ground.
It had tested the dancers.
It had tested the choreography.
It had established credibility and, most importantly, demonstrated publicly that Greek dance could be approached from an entirely different artistic perspective.
But Alkis was never interested in simply becoming a successful competitor. He was interested in becoming a creator. And so, having demonstrated what his dancers could achieve within the competitive environment, he turned his attention toward something considerably larger.
In 1988, MANASIS presented its first solo production: the Folkloric Dance Concert, again at the Dallas Brooks Hall- the same venue where for 2 consecutive years prior the MANASIS name had already become synonymous with Greek dance.
The competitive stage had been the proving ground.
The concert stage was the future.
FROM COMPETITION TO CREATION
This is why the Victoria Cup of Excellence victories matter so much in retrospect.
The Cup was never the destination.
It was a milestone.
The real ambition was always greater.
The victories gave Alkis and his dancers the confidence and recognition to continue developing a philosophy that would increasingly move Greek dance away from being understood solely as social recreation and toward being presented as a disciplined Performing Art.
The Greek dance itself did not disappear.
It became the starting point.
Traditional repertoire was respected. Cultural identity remained central. But around that foundation came choreography, structure, stagecraft, physical conditioning, musical interpretation, theatricality and discipline.
The five-minute medley of 1986 was, in many ways, a small glimpse of what was to come: a presentation in which the boundaries between individual dances were deliberately dissolved so that the audience experienced one continuous performance.
The village traditions remained, but were no longer confined to the village.
THE BEGINNING OF A MUCH BIGGER STORY
What followed over the next decades cannot be separated from those formative years.
The Victoria Cup of Excellence victories were part of a much larger accumulation of achievements- productions, concerts, interstate tours, civic performances, multicultural events, corporate presentations, national appearances and eventually international recognition.
The culture of performance excellence established by Alkis became embedded within the MANASIS philosophy.
The dancers changed.
The generations changed.
The stages changed.
But the expectation remained.
And “Alkis’ Army” became more than a reference to one particular group of dancers. It came to represent an era; an era when Alkis' dancers were recognised for their commitment, their discipline, their technical ability and their willingness to push beyond what Greek dance was conventionally expected to be.
It was the beginning of a Golden Era.
FROM VICTORIA TO AUSTRALIA
The significance of the Cup was never confined to the competition itself.
What Alkis demonstrated in that period travelled with him.
The methodology travelled.
The choreography travelled.
The dancers travelled.
And the reputation travelled.
Over time, the work would become increasingly visible across the Australian cultural landscape, presenting Greek dance not merely as something to be displayed at community gatherings, but as a serious performance discipline capable of occupying major stages and commanding the attention of audiences far beyond the Greek community.
This was the transformation that Alkis had envisioned.
It was the beginning of a journey from the village square to centre-stage.
TRADITION WAS NEVER THE LIMIT
Decades later, the philosophy remains remarkably recognisable.
In 2008, MANASIS created the EVOLUTION BRACKET- a defining expression of the enduring belief that Greek dance could be taken beyond its conventional boundaries and presented as a sophisticated, evolving Performing Art.
Yet its creation was not an isolated departure; rather, it represented a continuation and further development of a choreographic lineage that had begun more than two decades earlier. Its foundations can be traced to the original 1986 choreographic presentation, refined and developed for the 1987 competition, and subsequently reimagined for the monumental Folkloric Dance Concerts of 1988 and 1989.
From there, the work continued to evolve through successive generations, being continually reworked, reconstructed and regenerated in response to changing artistic trends, musical influences, performance expectations and the evolving preferences of younger Greek-Australian audiences.
This constant Evolution was deliberate. The objective was never simply to preserve a successful choreography in its original form, but to preserve its essence while allowing its expression to remain contemporary. With each generation, the work was adapted to remain relevant, compelling and inspiring, ensuring that Greek dance could continue to speak to an increasingly diverse and ever-evolving Greek-Australian community.
In this sense, the Evolution Bracket was not merely a choreography. It was an evolving tradition in itself. A living continuation of the philosophy first established by Alkis Manasis in 1979, and first presented to scale in 1986.
And in 2026, that choreography was finally performed in Greece for the first time, on the very soil from which the MANASIS story had begun.
The response was extraordinary.
Precision. Strength. Speed. Flexibility. Physical discipline. Explosive energy. Intricate formations. Absolute synchronicity.
Different generation.
Different dancers.
Different choreography.
Same philosophy.
The philosophy first tested publicly in Melbourne in 1986 remained alive four decades later on a stage in Greece.
THE LINE FROM 1986 TO TODAY:
It is tempting to look backwards and treat the Victoria Cup of Excellence as an isolated achievement.
It was anything but.
It sits within a continuous line of development.
From the young Alkis who arrived in Australia as a child, to the teacher who began shaping his own methodology;
from the dancers who became “Alkis’ Army”, to the competitions and productions that followed;
from the first Folkloric Dance Concert in 1988, through decades of performances and cultural development; from the Evolution Bracket to DESTINATION PATRIDA;
and ultimately to MANASIS’ recognition within the international dance community through UNESCO’s Council of International Dance.
The trajectory is unmistakable.
The proposition was simple: Greek dance could be more.
And Alkis Manasis, followed by the generations who inherited and developed his philosophy, spent the following four-and-a-half decades proving it.
THE TROPHY WAS NEVER THE POINT
Today, exactly forty years later from that defining moment, the trophy itself is almost secondary.
What matters is what it represented.
It represented a young choreographer refusing to accept that Greek dance had to remain within the boundaries prescribed for it.
It represented a group of dancers willing to follow him beyond those boundaries.
It represented a moment when a philosophy was placed under the brightest possible test of its time... and succeeded.
And it represented the beginning of something that would become considerably larger than a competition.
The Victoria Cup of Excellence did not create MANASIS.
MANASIS had already begun.
But the Cup gave Alkis' philosophy a stage.
And the victory gave it a voice.
FOUR DECADES:
Forty years have now passed since those dancers walked onto that stage.
Thirty-nine years since they returned and won again.
Thirty-eight years since Alkis walked away from competition and turned his attention toward productions that would push his vision even further.
Four decades of generations.
Four decades of dancers.
Four decades of choreography.
Four decades of stages.
Four decades of evolution.
Yet beneath all of it remains the same fundamental proposition that existed in 1986:
Greek dance can be more.
The names of the dancers may have changed.
The originals- both those still with us and those whom have passed, live on in the school's infamy.
The music may have evolved.
The stages may have become larger.
The audiences may have become broader.
But the vision endured.
ONE VISION. ONE PURPOSE. ONE MISSION. ONE NAME.
The vision was to elevate Greek dance. To preserve its cultural integrity while allowing it to develop, evolve and command the stage.
The purpose was to ensure that Greek culture would not merely survive in the diaspora, but flourish; that it would remain meaningful to future generations because it was allowed to remain alive.
The mission passed from Alkis to the next generation, from father to son, from Melbourne to Australia and eventually from Australia back to Greece.
And through every chapter, there has been one constant.
MANASIS.
Forty years ago, the Victoria Cup of Excellence provided a moment of recognition. Today, it stands as something much greater: a landmark in the history of a school and a philosophy that would go on to challenge, redefine and elevate the place of Greek dance within the Australian cultural landscape.
The trophy was won in 1986.
The competition was won again in 1987.
But the real victory was the idea that Greek dance could be something more.
That idea has now survived four decades.
6 September 1986.
Forty years ago.
One night.
One victory.
One beginning.
And four decades later, the name still stands, and evolution, creativity, and CONTRIBUTION remain fundamental.
