What is sirtaki? Greek dance of American origin

In the vocabulary of culture and art there are many terms and words that come to us from other languages. Among them, we can name the word "sirtaki". What is sirtaki? Where did this word come from? We'll talk about this today with you.

Sirtaki as a term in art

This word came to us from Greece as the name of the national group Greek dance. In translation from the Greek language, this means "touching". Dance is characterized by a gradual increase in tempo-rhythm from slow and calm to very mobile. It is a visiting card of Greek culture.

Sirtaki: history

Many mistakenly reckon sirtaki dance to ancient folk dances. However, you will be surprised to learn that this dance is not at all popular, but quite authoritative. And the author of it is the movie actor Anthony Quinn.

The second surprise for you is that it is not Greek originally this dance, but American, since Quinn is not a Greek, but an American, shot in 1964 from the Greek director Michalis Kakkoyannis. True, the film concerned the Greek theme. And the actor was supposed to perform the Greek folk dance by the sea. But Quinn broke his leg, and it was not just difficult for him to dance fast Greek dance - it's impossible. So he invented a new dance based on simple rhythmic movements of Greek folk dances on his slow version. The film was shot for a long time. During the filming of the foot of Queen's healed. And the second part of the dance he was able to perform quickly. The music for the sirtaki Quina dance was also written specifically in connection with the necessity that arose. Her written for "Greek Zorba" Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis.

But what about the director, did he really not know that such a dance does not exist? Apparently, Kakoyannis was very trusting, because he believed the arguments of the actor who said that the local residents told him about this dance. Did he not recheck from them what sirtaki is, is there really such a dance in the culture of the Greek people? It is possible that we will never find the answer to this question.

By the way, about the name of the dance. And it is attributed to the imagination of Queen: supposedly this is a "small" (reduced) version of the traditional Cretan dance sirtos.

Sirtaki: technique of execution

More often, the sirtaki dance is performed by a group of people standing in one line and holding their outstretched arms by the shoulders of their neighbors. It happens that part of the dance is performed in a circle, but, as a rule, this is an exception. In the case of participation in the dance of a large number of people, the dancers are in a few lines.

The dance is performed only with the feet, and the hulls and hands of the dancing sirtaki remain immobile. With the help of a strong grip of hands, the dance participants keep the dance line.

The rhythm of the dance is clear, for four quarters, and for a quick dance - for two quarters. The legs perform the movements absolutely synchronously: the traditional zigzag-like cross step, step-in steps, sit-ups and half-squats, attacks. If you disassemble the features of the movements used in the dance, the Greeks noticed that in the first part of the sirtaki dance the traditional movements of the Cretan folk dance group sirtos were used, and in the second part the elements of the other group of Cretan dances-the pidikhtos, among which jumping and jumping, were used.

To the rhythm of the dance was well audible during performance, dancing sirtaki wear special sandals on their feet on the hard soles.

Types of modern sirtaki

One of the most common varieties of sirtaki in modern Greece was born on the basis of the Athenian dance of Haspako. What do hakapiko and sirtaki have in common? First, music. Secondly, the linear form of dance. True, both dances do not assume the location of a large number of people in one line. There should not be more than three. If there are more dancers, then they line up in parallel lines. Thirdly, a number of movements, especially similar in the fast part of the dance.

There is a version that hashapiko was previously a military dance. It was used as a pantomime for preparing for battle and for training silent operations, for example, approaching the enemy. He also gave the features of conducting the battle by the Greeks.

The second variant of sirtaki is the zorbas, consisting not of two parts, but of three or four. All parts are characterized by a change in rhythm and tempo. In the slow part of the movement, they look like sirtaki, and in the fast part they look like hapakiko. And the movements along the dance can be changed and combined by the dancers improvisingly, by transferring the "impulse" to the neighbors with shoulders: after all, their bodies are tightly pressed against each other.

There is another dance, very reminiscent of sirtaki - naphthiko. His dance Greek sailors, and he is very similar to the Russian apple. The original dance for naftiko was the ancient folk dance of makkelarikos, from which the hashapiko dance also grew.

Sirtaki today

What is sirtaki for the Greeks now? Now this dance is so popular with the Greeks that they honor it as other traditional national dances and dance with pleasure on holidays. Photos of sirtaki are presented in the article.

In the case when you need to introduce the guests to the Greek culture, it is performed in Greek national costumes.

Today, there are a large number of options for sirtaki. The author of the dance Anthony Quinn the Greeks are called the Honorary Greek, and his dance is the dance of Zorba. And sirtaki dances not only in Greece, but also in many countries of the world. For example, in the USA in the late 1960s sirtaki played in a number of nightclubs. And in Russia sirtaki is one of the brightest numbers of the ballet theaters and dance ensembles, for example, the Moiseev ensemble, the Gzhel dance theater.

So what is sirtaki? For some, this is an amazing phenomenon of the dance culture of the 20th century, which seized the whole world with its energy. For others - a way of ethnic self-identification. For the third - the opportunity to find like-minded people and share with them a positive charge obtained from a joint detachment from the surrounding reality and absolute immersion into a wholly full rhythm of the dance. And what sirtaki for you?