Environmental Education Centre of Stylida-Hypate

Conference Traditional dances and folklore Friday 10-5-2013 Veliko Tarnovo BULGARIA

Hellas

Greece

Since ancient times, dance has been essential to Greek culture

The dance, of all the arts, is the one that most influences the soul. Dancing is divine in its nature and is the gift of the gods Plato

A typical characteristic of the Greek traditional music is its three-part cultural identity: it is consisted of music, lyrics and dance, elements which -since the very Antiquity- were a solid and inseparable unity

Greek dance is characterized by the circle, dancing counter-clockwise

There are two types of movement: the springing/leaping and the shuffle/dragging. The latter is called "syrtos" and is the older form of the two, characterized by a slow-quick-quick rhythm. Traditionally, men and women usually danced separately, the women in a circle on the inside and the men on the outside. The eldest, most prominent man would lead the dance, followed by the men in descending order of eminence, then the women in the same order of seniority.

Greeks have such a high regard for dance that they often call their eminent citizens Choregous. Choregos()=lead dancer.

Traditional dance continues to be passed from generation to generation, which in turns maintains national identity. Folklore is the term used for traditional dance when performed out of its traditional social context.

Some Ancient types of dance

(Pyrrihic) was a martial dance, part of a man's military education.

(Gymnopaedia) was athletic, somewhat like modern gymnastics.

 (Geranos) included serpentine movements in imitation of Theseus hunting the Minotaur in the Labyrinth.

known as

 (Epilinios) was danced while treading grapes for wine, in honor of the god Dionysus.

 (Eumelia) and (Kordax) were the dances of tragedy and comedy, respectively, (Sikinnis) was of satire. (Hymaeneos) was a marriage dance, danced by the bride, her mother and friends.

(Hormos) was danced by young men and women together. The men demonstrated their martial skill, and the women responded to demonstrate their virtue.
(Hyprochema) was danced by boys and girls together, and included pantomime and singing.

Greek dancing differs from region to region and its choreography and movements very much depend on the morphology and the climate.

Mainland regions: Epirus, Macedonia, Thrace, Thessaly, Central Greece and Peloponnesus. The islands fall into 4 main groups: the Ionian Islands to the west, the Aegean Islands to the east (which include the northern Aegean islands, Cyclades and Sporades groups, the Dodecanese Islands and Crete. Furthermore, areas previously inhabited by Greeks and which have developed rich cultural identity and characteristic dances.

There are over 4000 traditional dances that come from all regions of Greece.

There are also pan-Hellenic dances, which have been adopted throughout the Greek world. These include the syrtos, kalamatianos, hasapiko hasaposervikos and syrtaki.

 (Syrtos Kalamatianos)

From the Greek: , syro, "drag the dance"

Syrtos is the collective name of a group of Greek folk dances. Syrtos, along with its relative kalamatianos, are the most popular dances throughout Greece

 (Tsamikos)

Danced almost exclusively by men

Today Tsamikos is a popular dance in festivals and weddings, especially in the rural areas of Central Greece and Peloponnese, as well as Epirus periphery where a slower version is performed. The dance follows a 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 90o upwards at the elbows.

 (Hasapikos)

The dance is in a rhythm of 2/4, with songs for this dance usually in a slow to medium tempo. It is typically for two to three dancers with their hands on each other's shoulders, with variations indicated by a leader and followed by the others, with a basic step returned to and alternated with numerous variations, formerly indicated by hand pressure on the shoulder of the adjacent dancer (though now often spoken). This dance, which comes from the word for butcher (hasapis) refers to the time when there were butchers' guilds.

 (Hasaposerviko)

 (syrtaki)

Syrtaki (Greek: ) is a popular dance of Greek origin. It is not a traditional Greek folkdance, but a mixture of the slow and fast versions of the hasapiko dance, choreographed, by Giorgos Provias for the 1964 film Zorba the Greek. This syrtaki and the accompanying music by Mikis Theodorakis, are also called Zorba's dance, Zorbas, or the dance of Zorba.