Sirtaki
Sirtaki is not an old village dance but a creation for the 1964 film Zorba the Greek, set to music by Mikis Theodorakis. The choreography is credited to Giorgos Provias and was made deliberately simple, partly because actor Anthony Quinn could not perform traditional Greek dances. It blends the slow and fast forms of the hasapiko with elements of the syrtos.
The dance starts slowly and gradually speeds up, in 4/4 time that can shift to 2/4 in the fast part. Dancers usually stand in a line or circle with hands on each other's shoulders. Although invented for the screen, it is now strongly identified with Greece. Traditional Greek dances are presented in Athens by the Dora Stratou Greek Dances Theatre, a living museum of Greek dance since 1953.
Sources
- Zorba's Dance: the sirtaki (Society of Folk Dance Historians / socalfolkdance.org)
- Zorba's Dance, the famous music of Zorba the Greek (Greece Index)
- Sirtaki (Wikipedia)
- Dora Stratou Greek Dances Theatre (official site)
Organisations connected with this dance
- Θέατρο Ελληνικών Χορών «Δώρα Στράτου» (Dora Stratou Greek Dances Theatre)
- International Dance Council CID (UNESCO)
Listed as references; being listed is not an endorsement by or of the organisation.