Petro Fourniotis Laskar has been teaching Greek folk dance and theater for over 25 years, with a degree in Theater-Dance/Choreography. He has worked with most of the Greek-American communities in the NY Tri-State area. Petro directed various performances at historic venues, some of which include: Uris theater at the Metropolitan Museum of Art as part of the Byzantium Exhibit, City Center and Lincoln Center.
In 2001 Petro established “Akrites,” a production company whose performances include “Journey without Boundaries” at Symphony Space on Broadway, “Rembetiko” at MIFA, The 1st and 2nd Annual Festival of Greek Music and Dance in New York, and the opening ceremonies for the 2004 Olympic torch relay for NYC.
In 2007 Petro was chosen as a Top Ten male contestant, out of 10,000, to participate on the television show in Greece “So You Think You Can Dance.” Upon the show’s closing, he remained in Greece for the next four years where he continued his career in dance working with various recording artists such as Angela Demetriou, Nino, Shaya, Peggy Zina and Kalomira, to name a few. He choreographed and performed “Greek Idol” with Roula Koromila, and “Chart Show” with Natalia Germanou on Alpha channel. He also performed in “La Cage Aux Follies” with legendary director/actor Stamatis Fasoulis and Yianni Bezos, at Pallas Theater. He worked with the first soloist of The National Opera of Greece, Nina Lotsari, where he choreographed/performed her musical at theater Fix in Thessaloniki. He also worked with singer Fotini Darra at both Megaro Mousikis and “Herodion,” the ancient theater at the Acropolis. Petro portrayed “Demetri” in the motion picture “Gamilio Party” across Betty Maggira, and was also one of the few Greek-Americans ever formally invited to perform with Lykion Ellinidon.
In 2011 Petro returned to NY, where he is presently teaching/directing at select schools and societies. In 2013 Petro established Hellenic Roots Foundation, a non-profit organization, to preserve, promote, and perpetuate Hellenic culture through the Arts in NYC.