Greece Culture: Music and Dance in Ipiros
The music of this mountainous northwestern Greek province has a very unique and characteristic sound, and many of its
own dances. Polyphonic singing is native to the northern part of this region, part of which lies within the borders of
southern Albania, so that the polyphonic singing of the two peoples from this region is similar. In this vocal music, the
lead singer carries the main melody, others hold a drone, and yet another sings what is called the 'klostis' or
thread , which goes around the main melody in the manner of a thread, tying the 'fabric' of the music together. The same
is true of some of the instrumental music, in which the clarinet is the lead instrument, embellishing melody with
intricate ornamentation, and the violin plays complementary notes ornamented with descending slides, while the defi (a
tambourine like frame drum) holds the rhythm.
Two kinds of instrumental pieces played in this region often precede dance tunes. One of these is the Skaros, consists of a slow improvisation that follows certain characteristic figures, played in present times on clarinet, though previously on the end blown shepherd's flute known as floyera or kavali, which the clarinet has largely replaced in Ipiros and in other regions where the clarinet is now played . Sometimes the violin will imitate bird song during a Skaros. Another kind of slow, largely improvised piece of music, is the Miroloyi , which is a lament for the dead, though it most often played as an introductory piece (often quite long in duration) to dance tunes which follow, and is the opening melody played at celebrations.
During it, the clarinet, violin, and laouto all take turns playing improvised solos. One of the common dances, Sta Tria, is in either ¾ or 4/4 and resembles a very slow hasaposervikos with high leg lifts on the part of the men, and low ones by the women (or sometimes just a touching of the ball of the foot to the floor). One of the most common dances is the Pogonisios or Sta Dhio, another slow dance, whose first steps resemble those of the syrtos/kalamatianos. This dance often follows another dance with no break in between. There are also Ipirot dances whose rhythm resembles that of the tsamiko, such as Kitsantonis and Kleftes, with different steps in different parts of the region as well as conventions as to the gender of the dancers. Another dance is Osmandakas or Samandakas, which begins in a 4/4 rhythm and changes to a tsamiko type ¾ rhythm, and is danced in some places to set steps but in others is entirely improvisations by the lead dancer. Usually a dance for men, it is one that demands much skill.
An unusual dance rhythm found in Ipirus is the 5/4 of the Zagorisios, which is from the Zagori region, though danced in all of Ipiros. Another dance in 5/4 is the couple dance called Syngathistos, found mainly among the Vlach (an ancient shepherd people who speak a Latin-based tongue). The Beratis is a men's dance in an 8/8 rhythm counted 3.2.3 and found more frequently in Albania and in parts of Macedonia. . The region of Ipiros offers some fine celebrations, especially during the summer months, which often last more than a full day (in the Zagori region, sometimes as much as three days) which draw both inhabitants of nearby villages and tourists. In some places the locals arrange nights for the outsiders (both Greek and non Greek), during which dancing is open to all, in turn reserving nights for their own local communities, such annual celebrations being special and intimate occasions.