Alkis Raftis

Alkis Raftis (Greek Αλκης Ράφτης) is a Greek engineer, sociologist, manager and dance historian. He is President of the International Dance Council CID and President of the Dora Stratou Dance Theater. He has authored 20 books and created 50 research websites on dance. He has taught at 4 universities and was invited to lecture at universities in 20 countries.

Early life and studies

The Raftis family is in central Athens since 1862. His great grandfather had a bakery, so did his grandfather and his uncle. His father Constantin Raftis was an electrician and printer; he organized clandestine printed shops during the Nazi occupation. His mother Photini Meziltzoglou was one of the first Greek women to study mathematics and worked as high school teacher. She was among the leaders of the National Solidarity relief organization during the Occupation.

Alkis Raftis entered the highly selective Varvakeion High School. He was admitted to the School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering of the National Technical University in Athens and graduated with a major in Industrial Engineering. During his studies he worked as trainee in industrial factories in Austria, Germany and twice in Sweden. He then served for 25 months in the Greek Army Signal Corps.

He moved to Paris and earned degrees from three top-level universities: Paris-VIII-Vincennes (Bachelor's and Master's in Sociology); School of Higher Studies in Social Sciences EHESS (Postgraduate Diploma in Sociology); Paris IX Dauphine (State Doctor of Management Sciences (Doctorat d'Etat ès Sciences de Gestion - Habilitation).

He speaks Greek, English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, and has basic knowledge of Ancient Greek and Latin. He has travelled to 80 countries to meet dance professionals and be briefed on the situation of dance there.

Books

 * 2019: Dance in Classical Greece. A handbook
 * 2016: Dance Quotations
 * 2007: Orientalist dance. Paintings and travellers’ accounts
 * 2004: The dance in Rhodes (in Greek)
 * 2004:  Dance and History in Cyprus (in Greek)
 * 2003: Dance in the culture of Karpathos (with Marigoula Kritsioti, in Greek).
 * 1997: Loupsiko. Wedding dances and songs (in Greek), (with Agoro Tsiou)
 * 1995: Enkyklopaideia tou hellēnikou chorou (Greek Edition), ISBN 9607204115
 * El mundo de la Danza Griega: Historia, Sociología e Investigación de la Danza (Spanish Edition), ISBN 8461714547
 * 1992: 'Χορός, πολιτισμός και κοινωνία'' [Dance, culture and society]
 * 1991, 2006: Dance in Poetry: An International Anthology of Poems on Dance
 * 1989: (French edition) Danse et poésie: Anthologie internationale de poèmes sur la danse
 * 1987: The World of Greek Dance, ISBN 960-7589-009
 * 1984: Η εργασία στην ποίηση. Ποιήματα και τραγούδια για τη δουλειά σε ελληνική μετάφραση [Work in poetry. Poems and songs about work]