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Dancing In Greece

Dancing in Grece

If you have ever danced in this country please do give your review about unique styles, steps and traditions associated with dancing there including social thoughts.

Keywords: Greek Dancing, Zeus Dance

Greece Dancing

For more Information about Greek please see the Greece Index.

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There are so many types and styles that it is hard to write down or describe, to be honest. I used to be in a group that gave traditional Greek dance performances all over Greece, so I know many. All in all, they are separated according to the places they originated from: Macedonia, Crete, Ionian Islands, Pontiac etc.

All these are group dances, which means they are danced by several people that link together either by holding hands, with handkerchiefs(in the case of Corfu dances for ex., or without, OR holding the people that are next to them (on either side) by their shoulders. In the case of several Macedonian dances, all people spread arms low and hold hands, forming an "X" all around the circle that they form.

Most styles in clothing differ; in the dances that originate from North Greece, women and men usually wear "war uniforms" because their dances were more about war(fast dances) while in the islands, for example, they wear those that were more comfortable, since they usually had no time for formalities and danced in the fields where they worked (working clothes or bride/groom uniforms in the case of a wedding). It all depends on the sort of dance.

There is a dance in particular called "Zeibekiko/Zebekia" that is usually danced by a single man or several. I'm referring to this dance because it must be the one mostly known abroad, through the movie "Zorba the Greek". I say that men usually dance to it, because their spreading of arms is supposed to be like the one of the eagle, so it means pride, authority, confidence and is well... Manly. Lately though, it is mostly women who dance to it, I do not know why, and it is a shame.

I won't even begin to describe the steps, some dance steps are WAY complicated. There are many videos over the internet with Greek dances if anyone is more interested(I'm not sure if I am supposed to link, in case it's considered advertising or whatever).

Edited: Amaruil on 12th Jan, 2010 - 11:04pm

Greece Dancing

Fantastic to have someone relate their experience who has actually done Greek Dancing. Do some of your more traditional dances go back to ancient times or is it mostly modern movements?

Greece Dancing

They're definitely not modern, but I'm guessing most are not that ancient either; I am not exactly sure how old they are, as I bet they have been altered over the years with several influences, wars and so forth. All I know is that they are folk dances, so they must be pretty old.

*My favorite dances are those coming from Crete and Pontos; they are fast, make you watch in awe and can cause a heart attack in no time...*

Dancing In Greece

What about dance clubs... The style of dance there I guess is the typical of Europe or is there something unique? For instance in certain countries dance places can become lewd or have heavy drug use associated with it.

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Hmmm that is an interesting topic. Now we are talking about another type of Greek culture; how Greeks like to entertain themselves.

There are actually several ways of entertainment; most prefer dance clubs, similar to those abroad, same songs, same dancing style (rap, reggaeton, hip-hop, RnB etc.)

Others prefer some sort of clubs, with singers singing live(usually gorgeous, but with horrible singing ability). There they can eat, drink alcohol, dance on tables when in truly high spirits and sing along. Those places are called "bouzoukia", because of the instruments that are usually played there. Another name for them is "skyladika"(=dog houses) because well, the singers sing like dogs do; horrible.

There are other places, like taverns, where you eat and drink, mostly Greek cuisine and wine, respectively. There is a stage right in front of where the singers and the band is for people to dance; usually folk songs are sang there, so the dancing is similar. You can find people of every age there, since it's a great way to have fun if you want something different and more traditional than clubs.

And of course there are other places/bars with soft rock music, greek and other, where you sit and relax and have your drink.

As for the drug issues, I have no idea. There may be places like those, of course, but nor my friends neither I ever cared to go there.

I think that is all...?

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Not really how Greeeks like to entertain themselves but other forms of dancing in Greece and their associations. Sometimes in a culture music is associated with certain things so I merely wanted to see if it was true in your country also but I think you gave an idea about it. Thanks.