Portrait of the Greek Dance

ByLytridou Soultana

Dance has always

played an important role in the life of a Greek. It is an expression of human feelings and everyday life. The Greeks danced at religious festivals, ceremonies; they danced to ensure fertility; to prepare for war and to celebrate victories; they danced at weddings; to overcome depression and to cure physical illness. Almost every dance has a story to tell. Dance was regarded as one of the highest forms of art. 

INTRODUCTION

“ 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

The Pyrrhic, or weapon

dance (a form of mock

combat) taken from Crete

and perfected in Sparta, was

the ideal.

Plato and his mentor

Socrates said that every

educated man should know how to dance gracefully by

which he meant the manly

exercises that kept the body strong and

ready to do its duty on the battlefield

THE PYRRHIC TODAY PONTUS CRETE

TRADITIONAL DANCE & FOLKLORE 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. The principal characteristic of folklore dance is that it is not transmitted in a traditional manner but by a process involving dance teachers and gym instructors.

TRADITIΟNAL DANCE

FOLKLORE

Greece has 6 mainland regions: Epirus, Macedonia, Thrace, Thess

aly, Central Greece and Peloponnesus.

REGIONAL CHRACTERISTI

CS

The Greek islands fall into the

following categories. The Ionian islands

between Greece and Italy the Saronic islands near Athens, Cyclades occupying the central Aegean Sea,

the North Aegean islands close to the West coast of

Turkey, the Dodecanese islands, occupying the southeast of the Aegean, between Crete

and Turkey, the Sporades which are a

small cluster of islands near the island of Euboea, and Crete, the largest island which lies in the

southern part of the Aegean Sea.

Although Cyprus is an independent country, it is however the largest island inhabited by Greeks and

falls within the Greek major cultural regions.

THE GREEK ISLANDS

Asia Minor which is separated from Europe by the Bosporus, the Sea of

Marmara (Propondis) and the Aegean Sea was

previously inhabited by Greeks since ancient times but the majority have found refuge in

Greece following the Asia Minor Disaster and the

burning of Smyrni in 1922, Generally, Asia Minor

dances are divided into four

groups; Pontus, Cappadocia, the Coastal Regions

and the urban centres of Constantinople and

Smyrna. 

ASIA MINOR

MACEDONIA THRACE

DANCING GROUP OF THESSALONIKI

Ο Χορευτικός Όμιλος Θεσσαλονίκης ιδρύθηκε το

Δεκέμβριο του 1990. Στόχος του είναι η έρευνα του ελληνικού παραδοσιακού πολιτισμού, η διατήρηση και διάδοση της

ελληνικής παράδοσης μέσω των χορών και των τραγουδιών της

κάθε περιοχής της Ελλάδας. Έδρα του Χ.Ο.Θ. είναι η

Καλαμαριά

CAPPADOCIA

MACEDONIA

«Όταν χορεύεις γράφεις στη γη αυτά που θέλει να πει η

ψυχή σου. »Κ.Καβάφης

FAMOUS QUOTES ABOUT DANCING