Athan’s name is synonymous with Greek dance. He launched the Greek folk dance movement in the U.S. and he founded the Intersection Folk Dance Center in Los Angeles, which subsequently became the landmark of folk cultures and a unique center for Greek music and dance.

After dancing with major companies and researching Greek dance as an exponent of his career, he has successfully produced and presented folklore programs and events in the U.S. and Canada. He had featured in many folk-dance manuals and was represented in the recently produced multi-cultural video by Human Kinetics. Until his latest health complication, he was an instructor of Greek Dance and Culture at Loyola Marymount University and the U.S. coordinator for Mazoxi, an annual Greek dance conference held on the Island of Crete.

Athan Karas was born in Thessaloniki, Greece, and upon arriving to the US he attended New York University’s School of Education, Dept. of Theater & Art, taking ballet and modern choreography with additional dance and dramatic studies under Lee Strasberg, Uta Hagen, Herbert Berghof, Joseph Anthony and at the American School of Dance, Carnegie Hall Dance Studios with Todd Bolender, Mia Slavenska and Michael Fokine. He also worked with choreographers Hanya Holm, Pearl Lang, Anna Sokolow and Sophie Maslow.

Karas had paved the way for performers in America and he conducted tours to Greece taking groups to dance festivals along with visits to ancient cites. He has also produced and presented several major Greek Festivals at UC Berkeley, UCLA, and Loyola Marymount University and created ethnic folklore programs for the Southern California Heritage Society. He was also the founder and served as Director of Laografia International Greek Folklore Society. Additionally, he was a member of the Board of Directors for the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival; Dora Stratou Greek Dance Theatre and Foundation; the AMAN Folk Ensemble; an Advisor and Director of the Folk Dance Programs for the California Traditional Musical Society "CTMS" which honored him with the Lifetime Achievement Award; a lifetime member of The Hellenic University Club of Southern California, which also recognized him for his contributions to Greek Culture and Heritage for his production of Kapetan Mihalis by Nikos Kazantzakis; he was named Man of the Year at the Levendia Conference in Tarpon Springs, Florida; and he received the 2001 Athenagoras I Humanitarian Award which is the highest award given by the Greek Orthodox Folk Dance Festival of the Western Diocese.

Athan Karas appeared on Broadway, television, and in motion pictures—starring in one of the first Greek-American films, Dark Odyssey, now available on DVD. He is the author of numerous articles on Greek dance and music that have appeared in several major ethnic and national publications, including NEO magazine.

“He will be missed by all of us. His inspirational contributions to the Dance, Theater and Film cultural communities will leave a void that will not be filled,” said Aris Katopodis, Director of the Los Angeles Greek Film Festival. “The Los Angeles Hellenic community and I personally, owe Thanasi a debt of gratitude for his continued, consistent, inspirational and significant contributions. The spirit of true Greek cultural affairs has lost one of its closest contributors but has gained one of the most inspirational examples.”