Fotis Metaxopoulos

He was born in Athens in 1935. At the age of five he lost his mother and his father took over his guardianship. At 19, he attended Palmer Schools with a view to working as a radio operator in the Merchant Navy. He was influenced by the film The Life of Rodolfo Valentino (1954) and decided to take up dancing. In the same year (1954), Angelos Grimanis, choreographer of the National Opera, was looking for dancers to compose a ballet that would tour Greece and Europe. Grimanis did not hire the then inexperienced Metaxopoulos, but introduced him to the Swiss dancer Myriam Choisy, who in turn encouraged him to take up dancing professionally.

His first professional contact with dance was in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet at the National Garden Theater with choreography by Yannis Fleury. He continued his theatrical appearances and at the same time prepared for three years at the Swazi School to finally obtain a license to practice the profession of dancer in 1957.

(Source: Wikipedia)