TODAY

Greece is one of the few places in the world where folk dance is still kept alive. Folk dance is not a museum piece preserved only for performances and special events. It is a vivid expression of our everyday life! Occasions for dance are usually weddings, family celebrations, and paneyeria (Patron Saints' name days). Dance has its place in some ceremonial customs that are still preserved in the Greek villages, such as dancing the bride during a wedding, dancing the trousseau of the bride during the wedding preparations, etc. The Carnival and Easter offer more opportunities for family gatherings and dancing! Greek taverns which provide live entertainment include folk dances in their program, as well.

There are many common characteristics among all Greek dances, as will be discussed later. However, regional characteristics have been developed over the years due to different climatic conditions, land morphology, and people's social lives. In the later years, wars, international pacts and consequent movement of populations, and movements of civil servants within the country, intermixed traditions. People learned new dances, adopted them in their environment, and included them in their feasts. Kalamatianos and Tsamikos are considered today panhellenic dances and are danced all over the world, wherever there are Greek communities. Some other dances have also crossed boundaries and are known beyond the regions where they originated. Such dances are Karagouna from Thessaly, Pentozalis from Crete, Zonaradikos from Thrace, Tik from Pontos, Balos from the Aegean Islands, etc.

In each region local dances are preserved because of people's love for dancing, regional customs, and efforts of local cultural organizations.

The interest in dance is also kept alive thanks to the interest in other related elements of our cultural life: the music, the song, and the costumes. In addition, there are nationwide systematic efforts by organizations supported by the State, such as the Lyceum of Greek Women.

Other private efforts include the Dora Stratou Dance Theater and the Peloponnesian Folklore Museum. The talents of certain individuals in traditional music and song help also bring the music and sometimes the dances in our homes. Domna Samiou, Chronis Aidonidis, Aristides Moshos, the Halkias family, the Konitopoulos family are among the better known folk musicians and singers in Greece today.

Another group of dances which have gained nationwide popularity are dances that originated in Asia Minor: Hasapikos, Hasaposervikos, Karsilamas, Zeibekikos. The Rebetika songs, which originated in Asia Minor as well, were written in these rhythms. When Hatzidakis and Theodorakis appeared in the Greek musical scene and turned to the roots of the Greek music in the 50's, they made the Rebetika known and accepted by a large part of the Greek population. Hatzidakis and Theodorakis were inspired by these songs and wrote music on the same rhythms. This movement continued with other popular composers of the later years: Xarhakos, Markopoulos, Loizos, Moutsis, Nikolopoulos.

At the same time Greeks re-discovered Tsitsanis, Vamvakaris, Kaldaras, and many other composers of rebetika which were not socially accepted before. The re-discovery of the old rebetika songs, and the effort of the contemporary Greek musicians to turn to the roots of the Greek music, popularized these traditional, but forgotten rhythms, and the corresponding dances. Today, Hasapiko, Hasaposerviko, Zeibekiko, are included in the program of the Greek tavernas along with Syrto and Karagouna. Greek movies, such as "Never on Sunday", and "Zorba the Greek", made these tunes and dances known all over the world!

When examining an element of our life for continuity, there are two aspects that we should equally study. The first is to examine if this element is preserved for historical reasons only, or it is a part of our everyday life and we practice it without much thought. As was discussed above, Greek dancing belongs to this second category, thereby passing the first test of continuity. The second aspect is the evolution. In the case of dancing, evolution can be translated as new national dances being created today, or transplanted from outside and adopted to the Greek reality. Are there any such dances accepted in the Greek world? When does a dance cross this step and become "traditional"? Three examples come to our mind.
The two of them refer to relatively newly choreographed dances:
"Makedonia Xakousti" and "Syrtaki". The words of "Makedonia Xakousti" have a highly nationalistic content: " ...Renowned Makedonia, mother of Alexander the Great, you sent away all the barbarians, and now you are liberated. You are Greek and you will be Greek, and Greeks will be proud of you ...". This dance was first created in the 1920's when the Macedonian land was finally liberated from the Bulgarians and Turks and became Greek possession. The words of the song show an attempt to develop a national feeling of the population of this region. It became popular again a few years ago, when Skopje usurped the Greek names and symbols. There was a revived interest on this song and dance, at least in the area of Thessaloniki, these last years. The second dance "Syrtaki" was created for the movie "Zorba the Greek" on music written by Theodorakis. It got baptized at another popular movie of the 60's from the theme song "Sikw xorepse Syrtaki". It is basically a combination of the traditional dances of Hasapiko and Hasaposerviko. It starts with a slow tempo which is danced in the steps of Hasapiko and eventually becomes faster and danced in the steps of Hasaposerviko. Syrtaki has been embraced by people, and it is included in the repertoire of many Greek folk dancing troupes, including the Lyceum of Greek Women.

Tsifteteli is an example of a transplanted dance. Tsifteteli is of oriental origin, but in the contemporary Greek world, it got separated from the belly dancing. It became more of a free style dance, enjoyed by many young people who do not need to worry about learning steps, just moving their body to the music the way they feel it!