Who wrote sirtaki. The truth about sirtaki: How the most famous Greek dance appeared, and who its creators are
Incendiary dance Sirtaki is easily recognizable with its mesmerizing melody and graceful movements. We may forget the name, but the music can immediately transport us to Greece. Many consider the origin of sirtaki to be folk, but it has authors, one of whom is Anthony Quinn - American actor, who has Mexican roots, the other is the Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis.
Features of Sirtaki dance
Today the dance called “sirtaki” is associated with the national Greek culture. They perform it standing in one row, placing their hands on each other's shoulders. The melody sounds slowly at first, gradually picking up the tempo. The community of dancers and the clear rhythm remind ritual dance, performed by warriors before battle. But is it a traditional folk dance?
First time on screen
First time sirtaki dance with amazing music appeared in the film “Zorba the Greek” (1964). The main role of Zorba is played by Anthony Quinn, who was nominated for an Oscar for this role.
The hero of the film meets the Englishman Basil, who is of Greek origin, who needs to take over the inheritance left to him in Crete. He arrives in Greece, where he meets Zorba, a smiling, cheerful and impulsive Greek, who immediately after meeting a foreigner offers to go to the island together.
Young guys have to get acquainted with the customs of the inhabitants of Crete - friendly and cruel. To complete the understanding of Greek culture, the sirtaki dance, taught by Zorba Basil, was introduced into the picture.
Movement and music
The heroes dance in the finale. Anthony came to the shoot with an injured leg, so he couldn’t make any sudden movements. Improvised movements had to be introduced into the dance choreography. The outstretched arms were drawn from national traditions, but I had to “shuffle” my feet along the sand, demonstrating a sliding-pulling step. Quinn “spotted” something similar from the Greeks in a dance he called “sirtaki”. It was taken from the ancient Cretan word for a special rhythm - “sirtos”.
The music was composed by Mikis Theodorakis.
Thus, the date of birth of sirtaki can be considered 1964, and its authors are Anthony Quinn and Mikis Theodorakis. But today no one bothers themselves with its history and appearance, taking sirtaki as a national cultural heritage of Greece.
Sirtaki is a dance of Greek origin, but at the same time it is not folk. This is a unique action that has no equal even among the brightest. Firstly, sirtaki arose quickly and spontaneously, and immediately conquered the whole world. This is the dance of the film - after the release of the film “Zorba the Greek” the world learned about sirtaki, and people quickly picked up its rhythm. Secondly, sirtaki is perhaps the only dance that can be performed by the maximum number of people. The more performers there are in a dance, the more spectacular it becomes.
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Photo gallery: Sirtaki dance - the spirit of Greece in your home
History of sirtaki dance
Sirtaki is quite young greek dance. It consists of fast and slow movements of the ancient Greek warrior dance Hasapiko, and was created in 1964 for the film Zorba the Greek. After the film was broadcast in many countries around the world, the views of the audience were riveted on this extraordinary and funny action. So the new movement began to be associated with Greece. Sirtaki's movements were created by choreographer Yorgos Provias, and the music was written by composer Mikis Theodorakis.
The history of the name and one of the main movements this dance very funny. In the movie "Zorba the Greek" main role played by American actor Anthony Quinn. Filming of the scene when his character Zorb had to teach Basil to dance on the beach was scheduled for the last day. But the day before, Quinn broke his leg. Filming had to be postponed until the day when the actor could do without a cast. Since Anthony Quinn was still prohibited from making the jumps and sudden movements written in the script, the actor found an unusual solution to the problem. Having promised director Michalis Kokoyannis that he could handle the scene, Quinn came up with a sand-sliding motion, which he complemented with raised arms.
When Kokoyannis asked the actor what kind of dance he was performing, Quinn joked that it was the Greek folk dance sirtaki, which one of the local people taught him. The name “sirtaki” came to his mind by analogy with the Cretan dance sirtos. By the way, it is his steps that are present in modern sirtaki.
Video of Greek dance sirtaki
Everyone who has ever tried to dance sirtaki says that during the performance, a person completely forgets about the surroundings and simply enjoys the movements to the music, brought to the point of automatism. The beautiful action can be roughly divided into two parts: the first is slower and calmer, the second is already beginning to accelerate both in melody and in movements. This is explained quite simply. As we already mentioned, Quinn broke his leg and the first dance scenes were filmed when he could not yet move confidently. The second half of the sirtaki dance was filmed during the period when the actor moved freely and nothing bothered him. Accordingly, all movements began to be performed in more fast pace. Here we can already notice jumps and slight bounces during the dance.
Nowadays, you can often find sirtaki performers in national Greek costumes. One gets the impression that sirtaki is a Greek folk dance, but this is not so. It’s just that dressing up dancers like this serves as a presentation of the culture of Greece outside its borders.
Since sirtaki has existed for more than half a century, several variations of it have appeared, but main feature remained unchanged - a slow start and a gradual acceleration of the tempo. Sirtaki is a group dance, and is performed by people standing in one line or forming a circle. If there are quite a lot of people wanting to dance, then creating several lines of dancers is acceptable.
Sirtaki dance training
During the performance of sirtaki, hands are always placed on the shoulders of neighboring dancers on both sides. The upper parts of the dancers' bodies should be in contact with each other. Well basic movements performed only with the help of the legs. The steps must be well learned and brought to automaticity so that they are performed synchronously and at the same time. In addition, dancers are required to watch their hands, since breaking the line during the action is unacceptable.
The main movements of sirtaki are called as follows:
- Added steps.
- Lunges, or as they are popularly called, half squats.
- "Zigzag".
The most interesting and spectacular is the zigzag movement. It is performed like this: the dancers stand in one line and put their hands on the shoulders of their neighbors. Then, moving in a circle or from side to side, they seem to cross their legs in the process of rapid movement (running).
Sirtaki video lesson
Learning to dance sirtaki at an amateur level is not difficult. Many tourists can confirm this, because they themselves often take part in this dance while on vacation in Greece or simply while traveling around Crete.
In fact, it is enough to learn the basic steps that we mentioned above. An experienced performer, as a rule, is placed on the far right so that he loudly commands what movement should be performed next. And he is already followed by less experienced and newbies. If we're talking about When it comes to sirtaki on stage, here the performers simply memorize combinations of basic movements and bring them to the point of automatism, so that the action is as synchronous as possible.
Sirtaki lessons (watch the video) are in demand today. You can also learn the basics at home, and then polish your performance in a group with your friends.
If you don’t know what to do with your guests at your birthday or any other celebration, show them a few sirtaki moves, turn on the melody of a Greek dance - and good mood guaranteed for you and your guests!
In the vocabulary of culture and art there are many terms and words that came to us from other languages. Among them one can name the word “sirtaki”. What is "sirtaki"? Where did this word come to us from? This is what we will talk about today.
Sirtaki as a term in art
This word came to us from Greece as the name of the national group Greek dance. Translated from Greek language the word means "touch". The dance is characterized by a gradual increase in tempo from slow and calm to very active. This business card Greek culture.
Sirtaki: history
Many people mistakenly classify the sirtaki dance as an ancient folk dance. However, you will be surprised to learn that this dance is not folk at all, but completely original. And its author is film actor Anthony Quinn.
The second surprise for you will be that this dance is not originally Greek at all, but American, since Queen is not Greek, but an American, who starred in 1964 with the Greek director Mihallis Kakkoyannis. True, the film dealt with Greek themes. And the actor had to perform a Greek folk dance by the sea. But Quinn broke his leg, and it was not just difficult for him to dance a fast Greek dance - it was impossible. That's what he came up with new dance based on the simple rhythmic movements of Greek folk dances in its own slow version. The film took a long time to film. During filming, Quinn's leg healed. And he was already able to perform the second part of the dance quickly. The music for Quina's sirtaki dance was also written specifically in response to the need. It was written for "Zorba the Greek" by the Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis.
But what about the director, did he really not know that such a dance does not exist? Apparently, Kakkoyannis was very trusting, because he believed the arguments of the actor, who said that they told him about this dance local residents. Didn’t he double-check with them what sirtaki is, whether there really is such a dance in culture? 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 Quinn's imagination: supposedly this is a “small” (smaller) version of the traditional Cretan dance sirtos.
Sirtaki: performance technique
Most often, the sirtaki dance is performed by a group of people standing in one line and holding each other with outstretched arms on 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. If a large number of people participate in the dance, the dancers are arranged in several lines.
The dance is performed only with the legs, and the body and arms of the sirtaki dancers remain motionless. With the help of a strong grip of hands, the dance participants maintain the line of dance.
The rhythm of the dance is clear, four quarters, and if fast, two quarters. The legs perform movements absolutely synchronously: a traditional zigzag cross step, side steps, squats and half-squats, lunges. If we analyze 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 folk Cretan dance group Sirtos were used, and in the second, fast part, elements of another group of Cretan dances - pidichtos, including jumping and jumping.
To ensure that the rhythm of the dance can be clearly heard during performance, dancing sirtaki wear special sandals with hard soles on their feet.
Types of modern sirtaki
One of the most common variants of sirtaki in modern Greece was born from the Athenian dance Hasapiko. What do hasapiko and sirtaki have in common? Firstly, the music. Secondly, the linear form of dance. True, both dances do not require a large number of people to line up in one line. There should be no more than three. If there are more dancers, then they line up parallel lines. Thirdly, a whole series movements, especially similar in the fast part of the dance.
There is a version that hasapiko was previously a war dance. It was used as a pantomime to prepare for battle and to teach silent combat actions, such as approaching the enemy. He also conveyed the peculiarities of combat by the Greeks.
The second version of sirtaki is zorbas, which consists not of two parts, but of three or four. All parts are characterized by changes in rhythm and tempo. In the slow part the movements are similar to sirtaki, and in the fast part they are similar to hasapiko. Moreover, movements during the dance can be changed and combined by the dancers improvisationally, by transferring the “impulse” to neighbors with their shoulders: after all, their bodies are tightly pressed to each other.
There is another dance that is very reminiscent of sirtaki - naftiko. It is danced by Greek sailors, and it is very reminiscent of a Russian apple. The original dance for naftiko was the ancient folk dance Makkelarikos, from which the hasapiko dance later grew.
Sirtaki today
What is sirtaki for the Greeks now? Now the Greeks like this dance so much that they consider it equal to other national dances. traditional dances and dance it with pleasure at holidays. Photos of sirtaki are presented in the article.
When it is necessary to introduce guests to Greek culture, it is performed in Greek national costumes.
Today there is large number variants of sirtaki execution. The Greeks call the author of the dance the Honorable Greek, and his dance is the dance of Zorba. And sirtaki is danced not only in Greece, but also in many countries around the world. For example, in the USA, back in the late 1960s, sirtaki were performed in a number of nightclubs. And in Russia sirtaki is one of the the brightest numbers ballet theaters and dance ensembles, for example, the Moiseev Ensemble, the Gzhel Dance Theater.
So what are sirtaki? For some, this is an amazing phenomenon of dance culture of the 20th century, which captured the whole world with its energy. For others, it is a way of ethnic self-identification. For still others, it is an opportunity to find like-minded people and share with them the positive charge received from a joint renunciation of surrounding reality and absolute immersion in the completely and completely encompassing rhythm of the dance. What do sirtaki mean to you?
Surprisingly, the most popular known Greek dance is not ancient at all. Sirtaki is more modern than Latin American lambada and Brazilian samba.
Sirtaki was created in the 20th century, in 1964. It was invented for the filming of the film “Zorba the Greek”. Bizarre movements to a recognizable melody are now known all over the world.
This melody was written by musician and composer Mikis Theodorakis. Thanks to the exciting plot and musical component, the film itself was released with great success, after which the dance began to be called a real symbol of Hellas.
After the premiere, the whole world perceived it as a folk dance, like the Lezginka in the Caucasus. The Greeks did not dispute this; they themselves really liked the scene performed by American actor Anthony Quinn. Thus, Sirtaki was considered national.
It is interesting that it is performed not in recognizable Greek outfits, but in modern costumes, like in the film, consisting of a black bottom and a white top. And yet there are national elements in it.
It is based on classical dance butchers - hasapiko.
Hasapiko
According to historical data, Constantinople merchant butchers danced the traditional hasapiko during the holidays.
It is performed like this: men, holding each other’s shoulders, create a chain and repeat a combination of certain steps at the same pace.
Hasapiko gained popular love in 1955, during the dawn of cinema in Greece. He was present in every film, any Greek knew this set of steps, and any tourist after training could repeat them. According to art researcher Elizabeth Chenier (France), the dance most likely symbolizes the battle of Alexander the Great with the Persian king Darius.
Hasapiko and sirtaki are not just dances, they are life itself and the personification of the people of Greece.
Sirtaki is such a popular Greek dance that many consider it a folk dance. However, its origin is very unusual. This dance was not inherited from ancient times and was not passed down from generation to generation. Sirtaki was invented not so long ago - when the film “Zorba the Greek” (1964) was filmed in Greece. In one of the film episodes main character named Zorba - played by the famous American actor Anthony Quinn - danced to fiery music: at first it sounded slowly, but gradually became faster and faster.
Sirtaki is also called "Zorba's dance". Musical accompaniment The dance was written by the Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis. Very soon everyone loved this music so much that the dance entered Greek folklore, along with folk dances. The word sirtaki itself is a diminutive of the Greek sirtos, which refers to several Cretan folk dances.
Sirtaki contains elements of Sirtos and other Cretan folk dance- pidichthos, living and rhythmic. Indeed, sirtaki begins, like sirtos, slowly, and then gradually becomes more lively and energetic. Sirtaki is danced by several people who join hands, as in a round dance, or put their hands on the shoulders of neighbors to the left and right. They start with slow, smooth movements and gradually move on to fast and sharp ones, sometimes with jumps and jerks.
