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PASSINGS: Athan Karras, 82

Athan Karras, advocate of Greek dance.

February 18, 2010

Athan Karras

Advocate of Greek dance

Athan Karras, 82, who helped popularize Greek dancing in the U.S. through theater, festivals and a Silver Lake club, died Friday at Providence Tarzana Medical Center of complications from coronary-bypass surgery, his family said.

The Greek dance movement within the Greek Orthodox church can be traced to Karras, said Frosene Phillips, editor of the Hellenic Journal, a Greek American monthly.

"People took lessons from him and were inspired by him," she said.

Born Sept. 27, 1927, in Greece, Karras came to the United States when he was about 12. After serving in the Coast Guard, he studied theater and dance at New York University and eventually joined the Greek National Theater and a Greek national folk ensemble.

In the mid-1960s, he co-founded and ran the Intersection, a Silver Lake club that featured nightly folk-dancing and "caught on like wildfire," Karras told The Times in 1985, the year it closed.

For 25 years, he taught Greek culture and dance at Loyola Marymount University. He also appeared in about 20 films and television projects, staged a number of Greek-language plays in Los Angeles and produced folklore programs and events throughout North America.

-- times staff and wire reports news.obits@latimes.com