Chios' Traditional Greek Dances

 

 

 Greece is a country with many traditions and one of them are the Greek Dances. Greece has many kinds of dances with many different historical backgrounds!

 


Nisiotika is the name of the songs and dances of Greek islands including a variety of Greek styles. In particular, the Aegean Islands have a wide and famous folk dance tradition, which comes from the dances of ancient Greece like: syrtos, sousta and ballos. The dominant instrument is the lyre among others like the violin, laouto or askomandoura. Also in the Aegean Islands the Cretan lyre is also used.
Since we are living in one of these islands in concrete Chios Island we will also talk especially about some of the dances that are traditional in this region. We move now to the town of Thimiana, here starting from Friday, before the last Sunday of the Carnival, the people of Thimiana celebrate the Mostra that is the handmade carnival chariots. At the same night they dance the "talimi" a kind of dance representing the warriors’ movements during the battle against the pirates. There are two groups of dancers representing the villagers and the pirates. They dance in pairs and in the end they dance the Detos dance, holding each other by the arms.

In Pirgy on August 15th takes place a dance called “Pirgousikos” a dance dedicated to the Virgin. The dance is done in groups of three. Two men and one woman usually dance it and move dancing in a V formation. The dance is accompanied usually by an instrumental song, which main instrument is the violin.

Another dance you can find in Chios Island is the dance of Diplos that takes place every year in Volissos. The people dance creating human double chains. They would start from every neighbourhood of the village and dance until they reach the central square, creating a very long chain.

Another group of Greek folk dances that take place in Chios among other islands are syrtos, karsilama, sousta, and aptalikos.



We have 2229 guests and no members online

Loading ...