Greek Island traditional Music and Dance
Yvonne Hunt, author of Traditional Dance in Greek Culture, has been teaching and researching traditional Greek dances for more than 25 years. She has taught seminars and workshops throughout Greece, the USA, Canada and Europe. Her research has been presented at many international symposia and conferences, as well as in academic journals. She has taught at several universities and is a research associate of the Centre for Asia Minor Studies in Athens. contact: yhunty@yahoo.com Much of the following is based on Ms. Hunt's book.
There are many differences between the music and dance of the various island groups of Greece, but also many
similarities. It is often said that island dances, when compared to dances of the mainland are lighter and that they have
a lilting quality, conjectured to be related to the movement of the sea. Certainly this quality can be seen in the
island syrtos and ballos danced in the Cyclades and the Issos and Sousta of the Dodecanese islands. But it can also be
seen in the kalamatianos from the Peloponnese, which has become one of the 'Panhellenic' dances seen everywhere in
Greece, and which includes the same steps as the typical Cycladic syrtos but in a different pattern.
Cyclades
The Syrtos and Ballos, the second usually following the first, are consistently found in this island group, though performed differently from island to island. Though the rhythm of both can be counted as 2/4 or 8/8, the accenting of the beats is more accurately rendered by a 3.3.2 count for each measure. The syrtos in the Cyclades is danced as a line dance in some places, or as a couple dance (in Kythnos, for example), though the Ballos is always a couple dance, danced face to face with the pair moving around each other as they dance. The ballos is performed by either several couples simultaneously, or by one at a time, the man with his arms outstretched, fingers snapping in time to the rhythm, and some slapping of the thighs, calves or feet with the hands, as well as squats and turns. On some islands the women dance with a handkerchief in one or both hands (or with their hands behind them or on their hips). On the island of Kythnos the hands of the couple are linked by a handkerchief , and the hands swing from side to side as the ballos begins, and then the couple goes into a series of turns called 'voltes', with the woman's back touching that of their partner as she revolves around him. There is also a couple dance for men on Kythnos island, to the rhythm (a form of 9/8) known as Karsilamas, a Turkish name used for a number of dances performed in Thrace, all of them in some variant of 9/8 rhythm. Some local dances are also performed from island to island, though the Syrtos and Ballos are the most commonly danced. The instruments are typically violin and laouto.
Dodecanese islands
There is a wider variety of dances traditionally performed on these twelve main islands (the name Dodeka - nissos meaning just that),
the best known of which are Rhodes (Rhodos), Karpathos, Kos, Simi, Kalymnos, Patmos, and Leros. The islands in this
group differ from each other in many ways and some are quite far apart, but all of them have some form of a dance known as
the 'sousta' which means 'spring', and is characterized by a springing up and down movement. On the islands closest to
Crete, the sousta resembles a dance performed in eastern Crete, called 'pidiktos' (or 'jumpy'). A crossed handhold
between dancers is used on many of the islands in this group for this dance, with hands crossing over the adjacent dancer
to link hands with the dancer two away , forming a tightly knit line of dancers thus linked. On other islands hands are
simply held between dancers with the arms bent up at the elbow. There is also a shoulder hold used (on Patmos).
Other dances in this island group are the Siganos (also called Issio, Melahrino, and by other names as well). This
dance is indeed lilting, like a slower sousta, though it can move into the faster sousta after awhile. Another dance is
related to the Cretan Haniotikos and known in some places as the 'Kritikos', whereas on Kos it is sometimes called
Rhoditikos (meaning, 'from Rhodes'). Other dances in this island group include the 'Zervos'(Kasos, Karpathos and Halki)
which moves to the left, contrary to the direction of most Greek line dances, the Maroudi (Tilos) performed by women who
accompany the dance with their singing, dancing in to lines which face each other, and singing stanzas antiphonally, the
'Kamares' (Tilos), and the fascinating men's dance called Mihanikos, performed on Kalymnos, an island which used to have
major sponge diving fleets which employed many of the local islanders. This dance has two parts, with a slow melody
and a fast one which alternate. During the slow part, the lead dancer hobbles on two canes and is half held up by the
others, mimicking the crippling effects of the 'bends'. This disease, which involved nitrogen embolism in the joints ,
crippled and and even killed many divers who dove to great depths in the old heavy diving suits, which were later
outlawed. During the fast part of the dance, the supposedly crippled dancer suddenly begins dancing joyfully with the
others, only to return again to his crippled wobbling.
On the island of Karpathos, there are a sequence of dances that make up dance celebrations in the mountain village of Olymbos, one of them, called Pano Horos, danced during the entire celebration and the others only at the end. A dance that leads into the Pano Horos (the Kato Horos, 'pano' meaning upper and 'kato' lower) may last six or seven hours, with the whole village singing 'mandinadhes' as they dance. These are rhymed couplets, most of them improvised on the spot. In addition to these local island dances, some panhellenic dances are also performed (kalamatianos, hasaposerviko). The main instruments played in the Dodecanese include both the violin and the Dodecanesian lyra, laouto, santouri, and the Karpathian tsambouna (which has a double chanter which plays beautiful chords).
Sporades
This small group of islands, which includes Skiathos, Skopelos, Alonissos and Skyros have mostly lost their traditional dances, except for the 'Kamara', danced on Skiathos, and the syrtos and ballos still danced on Skyros.
Ionian Islands
These islands, long under Venetian rule, have a definite Italian flavor to their music, with the guitar accompanying
the violin rather than the laouto, and the singing of cantadhes, often in multi part harmony (something not found in music
elsewhere in Greece). Nevertheless, the syrtos-ballos type dances are found here, though in Lefkadha, the syrtos rhythm
is combined in one dance with a kalamatiano rhythm (7/8) as well as a ballos with this combination. Another dance on the
same island combines the syrtos and tsamikos rhythms, the latter a heavier kind of dance performed in much of mainland
Greece (Peloponnesos, Roumeli/Sterea Elladha, Thessaly and Ipiros) which has a syncopated 3 /4 rhythm, and which some
believe to have originated in Ipiros. Given the close proximity of Lefkadha to the mainland (from which is is separated
only by lagoons) and to both Thessaly and Epiros it is not surprising that this rhythm would be found here, and other
dances from those mainland regions are included in the island repertoire. 8 Kerkyra (Corfu) has a well known dance with
a strong Italian influence pairs of girls promenade as a young man dances and leaps from one to the other, trying to
capture their attention. The island of Kythira, far from the other 'Eptanisa' (literally, 'Seven islands', which is what
Greeks call the Ionian islands), has variations of Cretan dances, such as Syrtos (the Cretan version) and Pentozali, being
very close to Crete, though the other syrtos type dances of the Eptanisa are also danced here. Corfu right.
Saronic Islands
Like the Sporadhes, the presence of tourism on these islands has contributed greatly to the disappearance of many local dances, though island type syrtos/ballos and sousta dances were once popular as well as dances of the adjacent mainland, such as Kalamatianos, Tsamikos, Hasaposervikos, Karsilamas, Zeibekikos. One interesting account of the dances of Salamina describes dances accompanied by songs without musical instruments at important feast days, while instruments were used more for unofficial festivities, including private gathering, weddings, less important holidays, and at kafeneia (coffee shops).
North and East Aegean Islands
These islands aren't classified within island groups, and will be discussed individually, though most of them include syrtos-ballos type dances (common to all of the island groups), as well as the kalamatianos, hasapikos, as well as other widely popular dances.
Limnos
The Kehayiaikos is a shepherds' dance performed by men, and takes it name from the local word for shepherd, kehayias. The man dance in a circle without holding onto one another, the step a simple one in a 7/8 rhythm (3.2.2) with 'embellishments' including squats and leg slaps. The dance called 'Elenaki', in a 9/8 rhythm (2.2.2.3) is a women's dance where the dancers are also not linked. Another dance is the 'Bros-Piso' (Forward and Back), which is very animated, based on the sytros and kalamatianos. The Patima is a dance in which dancers move from the end of the line (the left, since Greek dancers almost invariably move to the right, with the exception of Zervos) to assume leadership at the head (the right), moving through various dance figures as they migrate from the end to the beginning of the line. The lyra has continued to be played on Limnos, though the instrument may die out for lack of younger players, as it has done on most islands except in a few of the Dodecanese (most notably on Karpathos and Kassos), and in Crete. As on other islands where it is played, the laouto is the accompanying instrument, as with the violin, which is also played on Limnos.
Samothraki
Most of the dances of this island are joyful in the manner of most Greek island dances, and include the Yar Yar, which moves both to the right and to the left, and the wedding syrtos called Platanisios. The dance called Zeimbekikos here, performed by both men and women in pairs facing each other, is more like a karsilamas than the rembetiko dance known as zeimbekiko.
Thassos
Syrtos-ballos type dances are performed here as on other islands, though in local styles, as well as popular panhellenic mainland dance mentioned above. A women's dance , Ola Ta Poulakia is a song sung by the women as they dance, the words meaning, 'All the Birds'. The gaida, a Thracian bagpipe, still much played on the mainland close by, is dying out on Thassos, though it used to be widely used to accompany the local dances.
Lesvos or Mytilini
Very popular dances here are different forms of the Zeibekiko and the Karsilamas, which are described as 'vari' (heavy) dances, especially the Zeibekiko. One form of the latter is danced by several men in a circle, each moving independently. Another version, called the Aivaliotiko' (from the town of Aivali, across from Lesvos on the Asia Minor coast) is danced by men in pairs, each doing his own variations. The karsilamadhes (plural of karsilamas) are lighter, and are danced by both men and women, who face one another in pairs (the name karsilamas coming from the word 'karsi', or face-to-face). These dances are in a 9/8 rhythm, sometimes counted 2.2.2.3, or, alternatively, 3.2.2.2). Though syrtos ballos dances are also done here, they are less popular than on other islands. Lesvos/Mytilini has an unusual instrumental tradition, with a wild assortment of instruments played, sometimes in rather odd-seeming orchestras that include brass instruments along with such instruments as accordion and santouri, though a popular trio was the violin, santouri and guitar. The outi (oud) was and is played on Lesvos; the laouto is conspicuously absent.
Hios
The dances of this island tend to be lighter than those of Lesvos (Mytilini), and the syrtos and ballos commonly performed. One form of the syrtos (called Hiotikos, or 'dance from Hios') is performed by couples (rather than as a line dance), the pairs moving in a counter clockwise direction, with the man leading his partner in his own set of steps. The main step used resembles that on many other Aegean islands, but is performed in a manner unique to Hios. Many local villages dances also exist on Hios, including the Pyrgousikos (from the village of Pyrgi), which is done by groups of three, which include two men and one woman, and performed traditionally to the music of the tsambouna (island bagpipe) and toumbaki (small, two headed drum, struck on one head by sticks). These instruments are among those rapidly dying out on the Greek islands, however. The evocative dance known as Tripatos (from the village of Nenita) is based on the story of a young girl captured by pirates and forced to marry the chief, who attempts to return to her family after his death. A series of steps with six forward and three backward, performed by couples holding hands in a line, demonstrates the girl's shyness in the situation. At a designated point in the music the couples leave the line and dance as pairs, then return to the line formation.
Another Hios dance is the dipli, often danced during the pre-Lenten period of Apokries (carnival), and on every Sunday except the last, beginning at dusk, ending in the squares when it gets dark, but continuing until midnight in some of the houses. The dance, which begins slowly and ends fast, is danced to improvised verses (like the mandinadhes or Crete and the Dodecanese islands, or the kotsakia of Naxos island in the Cyclades). Aside from the tsambouna-toumbaki mentioned above, instruments played in Hios include the violin, laouto and santouri.
Ikaria
The main dance of this island is the 'Kariotikos (a shortening of the word 'Ikariotikos', which simply means, of or from Ikaria). The dance step of the 'Kariotikos seems simple but is difficult to execute well, and varies from village to village. The tunes, often named for the villages they come from ( e.g. Rakhiotiko Kariotiko from Rakhes) consists of odd melodic fragments strung together in series determined by the players, and is very unlike the music of other islands. The rhythm is basically in 8/8, like that of the widespread syrtos, though accented rather differently. Instruments are traditionally violin and laouto, though in recent years the laouto has disappeared from the island, 'replaced' (as on so many islands) by the guitar, and the band often includes the bouzouki as well, an instrument belonging to the urban tradition of rembetika.