The nearer the dawn the darker the night.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
I was at a Greek festival recently. One of the performing groups danced a Hasapiko. I didn't capture it on video because I ran out of space on my phone; but I did manage to take a picture of the dancers.
Hasapiko was originally a dance performed by the butcher's guild in Greece. The more modern form is also known as Sirtaki.
On the Universe of YouTube I found a superb rendition of Hasapiko performed by a couple to the beautiful song I Fili Mou Haramata (My Friends At The Break Of Dawn). The song blended so well with the dance that I had to share it.
The song itself is about a woman who wants to hide from everyone, including her friends, because of a relationship breakup. They gather at her house at dawn, happy, with drinks in their hands. She isn't having any of it.
We have reached the middle of the alphabet. Today's dance is Leventikos, from Florina, in northern Greece.
This dance is also known as Pušteno across the border in the Republic of Macedonia. Many folk dances in the Balkans don't follow political borders, as a result, especially on the YouTube comments, people bicker about whether the dance is Macedonian or Greek. Actually, for the record, it's both, since there's a region called Macedonia in Northern Greece. If the dance crossed the border into the Republic of Macedonia under a different name, who cares? We should be dancing instead of fighting, anyway.
Many Balkan dances are grouped into quick-slow beats, which confuses things even more. The time signature for Leventikos (for those of you who are into music theory) is 12/16. The beats are grouped together in this manner: 3+2+2+3+2. An easier way is to clap the rhythm: slow-quick-quick-slow-quick.
Here's a slightly fancier version of the same dance. The men like to add embellishments (and the little girls behind the line are paying attention!)
This week's bonus video celebrates the springtime tradition of Martenitsa. It is a custom especially in Bulgaria, but also done in Romania and Greece. People give each other red and white decorated tassels or bracelets to drive away winter and welcome spring.
It has been a very long hard winter in my part of the world, and the snow on the ground will take a while to melt. Baba Marta, (a mythological figure much like Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy) may have been good to the Bulgarians this year, but she's keeping that beautiful springtime weather across the pond instead of sharing it with us.
Who will win the Martenitsa fight? Will spring finally take over? Watch the video and find out.
Today's dance is Syrtos from Greece and comes in a number of different "flavors" from plain vanilla to the fancier varieties with chocolate sauce and nuts.
Let's start with the easiest version danced at a Greek festival in California, the vanilla flavor. It's a festive good-time dance, and everyone can join the line..
Another dance, Kalamantianos, in a slightly different rhythm (7/8, or slow-quick-quick) uses the same steps as the Syrtos. It is related to Syrtos the same way the Bulgarian dance Graovsko Horo is related to Kyustendilska Rachenitsa. You can read about the similarities by following the links at the bottom of this page.
Now we get into the fancier variety of Syrtos. This is an island version (can anyone tell me which island it's from?) and slightly more complicated; this time we added the chocolate sauce to the vanilla ice cream :)
The dance Karagouna, which incorporates the syrtos steps in the last figure, is the ice cream with chocolate sauce and nuts. (It's really not as hard as it looks). These ladies from Finland do it with feeling, and they have an excellent band, Souvlaki, to accompany them. You can find the lyrics to the song here.
By the way, souvlaki is the Greek version of shish-kebab: seasoned meat and vegetables skewered on a stick and grilled; it's often served with pita bread. The meat can be lamb, pork or chicken. It's very tasty.
“Men are like bagpipes. No sound comes from them until they're full.”
Irish proverb
Bagpipe music is prevelant throughout Eastern Europe. Since one of the main occupations in these countries (back in the old days, before industrialization) was sheep or goat herding, when an animal was slaughtered or died from natural causes, the first thing on the mind of the pastoral peoples was "what use can I make of the hide?" The gaida was a logical as well as a creative use for what was left of the dead critter.
When the shepherds created bagpipes and found they could make music with them they were delighted. Of course, not everyone appreciated the sound, but then the bagpipe is one of those instruments people either love or hate.
Most people don't associate Greek music with bagpipes. They are actually quite popular in that country, especially in the northern regions bordering Bulgaria and Macedonia.
The Greek bagpipe, or gaida, is similar to the bagpipes in the other Balkan countries, made from the hide of a sheep or goat, and fitted with chanters, a blowpipe, and a drone.
The first video is of a Greek dance which looks and sounds Bulgarian, Troiro, from the region of Thrace. (The dance Triti Puti from Bulgaria is very similar to this one.) By the way, there is a Thrace in Bulgaria, too.
Zonaradikos, a traditional Greek folk dance, is also from the Thracian region and related to the Bulgarian Pravo Horo. These dancers performed at a Greek Festival that I went to during the late summer of 2010. You can hear the gaida loud and clear here.
The next video is a dance from Greek Macedonia, also played on a gaida. I noticed comments have been disabled for this particular video. Unfortunately, there is a lot of contention among the Greeks, Bulgarians, and Macedonians over what constitutes "Macedonia." If everyone realized how similar their music and dances were they wouldn't be fighting so much.
For those who want to know why the name Macedonia has been contested, here's some food for thought from Wikipedia.
If you love Balkan music and dance you have come to the right place! The Alien Diaries began in February 2010 and is updated at least twice a month.
This blog is dedicated to the memory of my cat Fatso (see avatar), who passed away on April 9, 2011 from congestive heart failure. He was the inspiration for several of my early posts.
Don't forget to check out my second blog, Light and Shadow, for some humor, satire, photos and poetry!
