Folk Dancing

 

Last year’s festival was a complete surprise to us.   This year we knew a little bit more about what to expect.  Yesterday I noticed people sweeping the streets in front of their shops and houses, and saw barriers of stacked plastic chairs in front of the central parking lot.  It’s the only place in the village with room enough for seating, dancing, and a raised platform for the live actors and Greek musicians.  There is a low wall at the north end of the parking lot that offers a nice breeze with a dramatic view of the terraced landscape below and the Augean Sea beyond. In the far distance, beyond the Aegean, loom the dark mountains of Turkey which stand in dark contrast to the pink sky of the setting sun.  It was an exhilarating setting for the event.

The current economy has caused the villagers to charge for the food and beverage this year, but the music, costumed dancers, village skit, and fire jumping, remain an unbroken tradition.  When the costumed dancing had concluded, a portly grandmother, perhaps moved by nostalgia and the music, strode forth and began to dance all alone in front of a good 300 people or so.  Gradually the center of the parking lot was filled with people of all ages, doing the same, often intricate, line and circle dances that costumed dancers had performed.


 

One dancer in particular, a thin man in his 60’s fortified by wine, seemed to be enjoying himself immensely.  He had a florid complexion and danced with a lit cigarette behind his back.  Someone told us that he was a local Sheppard who had seven children and a “large” wife.    With each different song there seemed to be a specific dance step to accompany it, and everyone, without cue, seemed to be on the same page.  I suddenly realized that we were watching a spontaneous demonstration of a local folk dancing tradition that was probably far older than the 400 yr. old village itself.
 

 

 

 

photos by Newell