Numbers constitute the only universal language.
Nathaniel West
Today's featured dance is the 16 Count Tsamiko. It's slightly more complicated than the basic Tsamiko that is usually done at Greek festivals. We do it at the Sunday night dances.
The dance is sometimes called Tsamikos. In Video #1 the spelling is "Chamiko." This dance and its variations may have originated with the Cham people; ethnic Albanians who lived in Greece.
This is the Tsamiko dance that we do when we're not dancing the 16 count version. It is often done at Greek festivals. Notice that it's the same music as video #1. At 1:54 the leader introduces a variation. She also does a few turns: some leaders embellish the basic dance with turns, jumps and acrobatics. Male leaders tend to do this more than women, but there are exceptions.
Since The Alien Diaries is an equal opportunity blog, the Tsamiko in Video #3 shows a female leader in an all female line doing some masculine moves that include turns, jumps, and knee bends. She spices it up with shouts.
In the end, when it's over, all that matters is what you've done.
Alexander the Great Alexander the Great was a king from the ancient Greek region of Macedon. His goal was to conquer the world (and if he had done so, Macedonia would be much bigger than it is today.) The name is much contested, especially in the southern Balkans.
There are three regions that use the name Macedonia: northern Greece, Blagoevgrad Province in southwestern Bulgaria, and the Republic of Macedonia. The Republic of Macedonia and the Greek government are in the process of deciding a name that would be agreeable to both countries. One name being proposed is The Republic of North Macedonia.
Gerakina is a dance from Greek Macedonia that is very popular in the international folk dance community.
I couldn't find the lyrics in translation. According to a dance friend of mine (who understands Greek) it is about a young woman named Gerakina who fell into a well. Her rescuers were able to locate her by the jingle of her bracelets (the "vroom vroom vroom vroom") in the song.
The recording is so old that you can hear the needle hitting the record at the very beginning of the music (it was cut out of the video). Many of the recordings we use date from the Dark Ages :)
Version #1 is the one we use at dances. The music is in 7/8 (pineapple-apple-apple).
Version #2 uses a different choreography than Version #1. This one was danced by kids in a Greek performing group. Watch how they clap along to the rhythm. Asymmetrical rhythms like 7/8 are very common in the Balkans. The kids grow up with it. They walk, sing, and dance in 7/8.
There are more love songs than anything else. If songs could make you do something we'd all love one another.
Frank Zappa
Today's post features a dance created from the beautiful Greek song Tou Paradiso Lemonia. One of the dancers from the Sunday night group in Wethersfield introduced it last year. It's a very catchy melody in 7/8 rhythm (pineapple-apple-apple).
The leader in the video is Murray Spiegel; the group is the Morristown Folk Dancers from New Jersey.
Below are the lyrics in English translation provided by Danai Kyriakou, via YouTube. It's a tragic song about lost love; it probably would make more sense in the original language; something always gets lost in translation.
The singer's name is Pantelis Thalassinos. You can find his songs on YouTube.
This was the best translation I could find (Google Translate didn't work well).
Lemon tree of paradise a twig of oblivion Keep for me too keep for me too For I have two years in my throat a tired sigh And lips locked up, and lips locked up My body filled with myrrh and fragrances that wake the hearts my good lemon That wake the hearts my good lemon that stop the pain Send me your white blossom with its aromas before I fall and wither in other bodies Before I fall and wither in other bodies before I enter into the third year Lemon tree of paradise hide the clothes of the murderer Into the closet of bitterness Into the closet of bitterness the bloody waters so to get again my wings That love has broken that love has broken My body filled with myrrh and fragrances that wake the hearts my good lemon That wake the hearts my good lemon that stop the pain Send me your white blossom with its aromas before I fall and wither in other bodies Before I fall and wither in other bodies before I enter into the third year before I enter into the third year If you enjoyed this you may also like:
Choreography isn't written in stone, nor does it exist in a vacuum.
-Katley
My approach to folk dance is one of flexibility. I find that too many people focus on one choreography whereas I focus more on "feeling the music" and letting it take you where you want to go. The basic choreography is a guide, the variations are like frosting on a cake. There is room for creativity in folk dance, and different "villages" have their variations on a basic theme.
Today's dance is Tai Tai from the Greek region of Thessaly, usually performed around Easter.
Video #1 is the version done by recreational folk dancers.
The music is haunting and beautiful, sung by a female chorus and accompanied by a clarinet. This dance has two parts: part one with a front basket hold (slow) and the second part with step hops, pas de basques (crossovers) and raised hands.
Video #2 is the Greek version. The melody is the same, although the music has a definitely different quality, with a male singer and a lower octave on the clarinet.
The choreography is different than the previous video. The first figure resembles a slow Pravo Horo (three steps forward and one to the side); the second figure looks like Sta Tria, the Greek version of Lesnoto. The dancers also do turns and swings into the middle of the circle.
The center of Western culture is Greece, and we have never lost our ties with the architectural concepts of that ancient civilization.
Stephen Gardiner
The Greeks have contributed much to the culture of Europe and the rest of the world: art, sculpture music, dance and literature. There are mathematical symbols that use Greek letters; the most famous being π (pi), used to figure out the circumference of a circle; and β,(beta) one of the roots of a quadratic equation. Dancing also has lots of math in it; and many math and science people are into folk dancing. I'm still trying to figure this out.
Today's dances are easy to pick up by either watching or following the leader.
The first video is Lerikos. There are two different parts (figures), one done during the singing and the other to the instrumental. This is common to many folk dances. The leader signals the change with the word "opa".
You can find the lyrics here if you want to sing along. I couldn't find a translation. If you can find one, please post it in the "comments" section.
The next dance, Zervos, looks and sounds almost like Trite Puti, a dance from Bulgaria, with a combination of northern Bulgarian style steps and arm swings. The Balkans are a cultural melting pot and dances often cross borders.
It moves to the left, also known as "reverse line of direction." I prefer "right" or "left." Reverse sounds too much like an auto transmission. If I put my car in reverse, it goes backwards.
Troiro is another Greek dance that reminds me of Trite Puti. The steps and the arm swinging are similar to Zervos, except that this dance moves to the right. Both Triti Puti and Troiro are from Thrace, a region shared by Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey.
The Greeks seem to like the gaida (bagpipe) almost as much as the Bulgarians. Dancers and musicians just don't pay attention to borders :)
Tsamikos is a dance very popular at festivals. This version includes the basic steps as well as the (optional) turns.
This is the crazy version of Tsamikos, performed by two men at a party. It has acrobatics and funny stuff (don't try this at home), along with audience participation.
A nation's culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people.
Mahatma Gandhi
Today's post features dances from the Macedonia region of northern Greece.
The name "Macedonia" has been much contested because the region historically known as Macedonia spans three countries: northern Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, and the Pirin region of Bulgaria.
My intent is not to start World War III in the Balkans, but to educate readers why the name of "Macedonia" has stirred up so much conflict.
There are also places with the name Macedonia in other parts of the world, and there are numerous towns in the United States with this name.
It doesn't make sense to me to fight over a name. See video below for an explanation.The one thing it does not mention is that there is a region called "Pirin Macedonia" in Bulgaria. Its official name is Blagoevgrad Province.
By the way if people danced more, there would be no fighting. Too much time, money and energy are spent on war.
The first dance is Sire Sire. (If anyone can find the dance notes for this, please let me know). It is very popular in recreational folk dance groups in the States. The rhythm and the movements of Sire Sire remind me of rachenitsa, the national dance of Bulgaria, which can be in either 7/8 or 7/16 depending on the speed of the music. The Greek tik is similar to the rachenitsa, and also to the Romanian geampara. It's the same rhythm: apple-apple-pineapple.
There is a lot of cultural cross-pollination in the Balkans. Brass bands, I've noticed, provide the music for all of the dances featured in this post.. They are also popular in Serbia, the Republic of Macedonia, parts of Bulgaria, and also in Romania.
You heard one in the last video, and you will see one here. The dance is Raiko, also in 7/8 rhythm.
The last dance, which has been featured on this blog before, is also from Greek Macedonia. It has a very strange rhythm: 12/16. It also has two names, depending on which side of the border you're from. In Greece it's known as Leventikos. In the Republic of Macedonia they call it Pusteno.
“Thou whoreson zed! Thou unnecessary letter! My lord, if you will give me leave, I will tread this unbolted villain into mortar, and daub the wall of a jakes with him.
William Shakespeare
Why Shakespeare had such a low opinion of the letter "z", I don't know. He probably didn't know of the existence of Balkan dancing.
Back in Shakespeare's time, Britain was its own happy little world. Few people traveled far from where they were born except for some brave explorers who sailed to the New World and the British Navy who fought the Spanish at sea.
Travel in those days was dangerous, expensive and time consuming. The British had no idea of the Balkan world until Bram Stoker wrote his famous novel about the vampire, Dracula.
He then opened up the Balkans to English speakers, who, all of a sudden, had this fascination about vampires and Transylvania.
Today we go further south, to Greece, with two dances that begin with the letter Z.
The first one, Zagorisios, is in the odd time signature of 5/4. It's a slow, but very subtle, and with this kind of rhythm you have to pay attention to what you're doing.
These dancers are from Ottawa, Canada, and it's their annual Christmas party.
The next video isZonaradikos, named after the belt hold used in the dance. It is from the region of Thrace in Greece. Bulgarian Thrace is the home of Pravo Horo, which is very similar to the Greek Zonaradikos.
The bonus video for the last letter of the alphabet features a vintage episode of Sesame Street and Kermit. The letter "z" seems to be giving him trouble, but then, "it's not easy being green."
That's what sailing is, a dance, and your partner is the sea. And with the sea you never take liberties. You ask her, you don't tell her. You have to remember always that she's the leader, not you. You and your boat are dancing to her tune. ― Michael Morpurgo, Alone on a Wide Wide Sea This week's dance, Paraliakós, is from Greece. Unlike most of the dances featured during the past few months, this one is fairly easy. The music for Paraliakos reminds me of riding in a boat rocking gently on the waves. I've never been on a sailboat but have had a bit of experience paddling canoes and kayaks. The boat mentioned in the song is a craft used for fishing in the Greek islands (if you listen closely you'll hear the song in the background, and also see the men sailing in a vrastsera).
The lyrics of the song describe a man sailing his boat out to sea. He mentions the beauty of the scenery and the danger of the oncoming storm.
The dance goes very well with the music. The swaying part reminds me of a boat on the water. In the next video there is a short teach by Lee Otterholt. You can easily learn the dance by watching.
This dance is very popular in our group and requested frequently.
The bonus video also has a Greek theme, and if you are a regular reader of The Alien Diaries, you have probably seen it before: Miss Piggy's Never on Sunday. It's a blast with dancing pigs, flying plates and gunshots!
I like to see myself as a bridge builder, that is me building bridges between people, between races, between cultures, between politics, trying to find common ground.
T.D. Jakes
This week's post will be short, as there were two great ethnic events in the area this past weekend. The first was the Springfield Massachusetts Glendi, a three-day festival of Greek music, dance, and food. Too bad I forgot to take a picture of the moussaka before I ate it. It was delicious.
Once my hunger was sated, I took a video of the dancers. I was traveling light and used my phone instead of the camera to take the video, so the sound quality wasn't great. You can hear it if you turn up the speakers to the highest setting.
Last year's video was much better because I used the camera. I was able to zoom in on the dancers performing a Pentozaliand here you can REALLY hear the music.
There was also a Bulgarian event that I went to last Friday, and I remembered to bring the camera. Everyone got up and danced to Bulgarika, despite the fact that the Masonic Hall was very hot and sticky, and the only cooling devices were two large fans (no air conditioning.) Summer decided to come to New England in September. It was running late this year.
I will write more on Bulgarika in a future post. Bulgarika is currently on tour in the United States. They are a four person ensemble; two live in New York City and two traveled here from Bulgaria.
The dance is Sadi Moma, with vocalsby Donka Koleva.
In another incarnation, Sadi Moma became the Free Software Song. By the way, the time signature is 7/8, very common in Bulgarian folk music, and in this song the rhythm is pineapple-apple-apple.
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!
