eTwinning 2018-2019 Our Cultural Heritage Troves
GREEK DANCES A strong aspect of our intangible heritage is dances, an element that unites people and helps them identify common characteristics in their cultures. Greek culture boasts a rich variety of dances, some of which are presented to our eTwinning partners. Some the most popular ones are the following: ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖
Kalamatianos Zonaradikos Tsamikos Sirtaki (Zorbas) Pontiakos (Trigona) Sousta
KALAMATIANOS ❖ Kalamatianos is one of the best known dances of Greece. It is the most popular Greek folk dance throughout Greece, Cyprus and internationally and is often performed at many social gathering worldwide. As is the case with most Greek folk dances, it is danced in circle with a counter clockwise rotation, the dancers holding hands. The lead dancer usually holds the second dancer by a handkerchief. ❖ The roots of kalamatianos can be found in antiquity. Homer in the Iliad, describes three performances made around the spear of Achilles that depict a dance in an open circle. The ancient Spartans had a dance called hormos which was a syrto style dance described in detail by Xenophon where a woman led a male into dance using a handkerchief. ❖ In the 19th century this dance was called Syrtos of Peloponnesus.It is believed to have acquired the name kalamatianos from the town of Kalamata.
ZONARADIKOS ❖ Zonaradiko is a traditional Greek folk dance from Thace that is named after the dance’s handhold. ❖ Dancers hold the adjacent dancer’s zonaria (belt)during the dance. Zonaradiko is a village line dance done in one form or another all over Greece. In each village the dance will look somewhat different, but basic structure is essentially the same. ❖ In western Thrace the dance is led by the males and the females follow towards the end of the line. Many variations of the dance exist. In northern Thrace, zonaradikos turns in tsestos dance.
TSAMIKOS ❖ Tsamikos (Greek,tsamikos) or Kleftikos (because it was associated with the Klephts i.e thieves, who fought during the Greek War of independence(18211830),is a popular traditional folk dance of Greece.The dance follows strict and slow tempo not emphasising on the steps, but more on the “attitude,style and grace” of the dancer. ❖ The dancers hold each other from each other’s hands, bent 90 degrees upwards at the elbows.It takes a sturdy hand especially if you are supporting the first or last person of the line(or circle) who will lean on you to perform high acrobatic leaps (usually kicking his right leg up as he takes off followed by the left (in a scissor-like motion),hitting the latter with the back of his hand before landing). ❖ The steps are relatively easy but have to be precise and strictly on beat.In the past , it was danced exclusively by men.
TSAMIKOS â?– Today Tsamiko is a popular dance in festivals and weddings,especially in the rural areas of central Greece,Peloponnese, Thessaly as well as Epirus,where a slower version is performed. â?– Sometimes the dancers dress in the traditional Greek fustanella ( a traditional Greek costume).
PONTIAKOS-TRIGONA
Trigona is a cheerful simple dance, the main characteristic of this dance is its leftwards steps. The moves of this dance present the trigona, which is a bird, between bushes and sere branches.
SIRTAKI ❖ Sirtaki is a popular greek dance which was choreographed by George Provias in 1964 for the movie “ Zorba the Greek”. This kind of dance includes slow and quick moves of “hasapiko” and “hasaposerviko”,other popular Greek dances. ❖ The music was composed by M.Theodorakis. The main characteristic of this dance and music is the acceleration of the rythme. The name “Sirtaki” comes from the word “sirtos” in which dancers drag their feet. Today, “Sirtaki” is one of the most famous dances in Greece and all around the world. ❖ 31st of August 2012, 5.614 people dancing Sirtaki for 5 minutes on the seafront of Volow, Greece broke the world Guinness record about Sirtaki.
Photo from the movie “Zorba the Greek “
A photograph when they broke the record in Volos
SOUSTA ❖ Sousta (Greek: σούστα) is the name of a folk dance in Cyprus and Crete which is danced in Greece and generally in the Balkans. ❖ The music is generally played with a lyre (Cretan and Pontian) (or violin), laouto, and mandolin (or askomandoura). ❖ There are elements of eroticism and courtship acted out in the dance, which is usually performed by pairs of men and women dancing opposite. ❖ Another form is where all the dancers in a row follow the first dancer who moves in complex patterns. Almost every island of Aegean has a sousta dance. The origins of sousta come from the ancient pyrrhichios, a martial dance of Greece.
Greek students practising dances‌..
ETWINNING 2018-2019