97th Annual Kytherian Debutante Ball

By Erenie Bourdaniotis 

On Saturday 1st June 2019, over 500 guests attended the 97th Annual Kytherian Debutante Ball at the Royal Randwick Racecourse.

Guest of Honour for the night was Mr Peter V’Landys, Chief Executive of Racing NSW and a Board member of the Australian Rugby League Commission and NRL. Peter is of Kytherian decent. He was born in Kythera and moved to Australia when he was two years old with his family. He gave a heartfelt and funny speech about growing up in Australia as an immigrant.

The seven debutantes, their partners and the Matron of Honour Irene Faros, had a wonderful evening and were the stars of the night. With the few practice sessions they had, they showcased an outstanding performance and really enjoyed themselves doing so.

Not only were guests entertained by the wonderful display of dancing by the debutantes and their partners, but they were also given a chance to watch ‘The Diamonds’ who have enchanted audiences across the globe performing at VIP pre-shows for Beyoncé’s recent Mrs Carter World Tour.

“You don’t need an excuse for greeks to come together do you? As long as you have good food, music, kefi and enjoyable dancing. The debutante ball gives the Kytherian community the opportunity to showcase our youth and because we are very family orientated, we get several generations of families watching proudly as the debutantes and their partners go through their performance,” said newly elected president of the Kytherian Association of Australia, Mr Emanuel Alfieris, who commended the Ball Committee on yet another wonderful and successful Ball.

The night full of ‘kefi’ wouldn’t have been possible without the Ball Committee of the Kytherian Association of Australia that put many months of effort into organising such a successful and fantastic event.

Donations from the night were made to Estia Foundation where the Debutantes and Partners spent an afternoon at Estia Headquarters in Gladesville. They sang and entertained the full-time care clients much to everyone’s delight. A cheque of $5000 was presented to Mrs Metty Cassimatis by Billy Bourdaniotis and Alexia Costa. Another donation was pledged to KythCare (Kytherian Aged Care Services) on the evening. Much to everyone’s delight and surprise, the very generous Guest of Honour Mr Peter V’Landys matched both donation amounts to the charities of his choice.

*Images by Bourdo Photography (Copyright)