View source for Sirtaki

{{Short description|Type of Greek folkdance}}
{{About|the Greek dance|the album of Italian singer Mango|Sirtaki (album)}}
[[File:Sirtaki at Accroches coeurs.jpg|thumb|Sirtaki flash mob at Accroche-Cœurs festival.]]
{{Music of Greece}}
'''Sirtaki''' or '''syrtaki'''<ref>{{cite book|title=Greek islands|year=2008|publisher=[[Lonely Planet]]|location=Footscray, Vic|isbn=9781741043143|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=4PDWSOx4lUwC&dq=%22syrtaki%22&pg=PA49 49]|author1=Kate Armstrong |author2=Michael Clark |author3=Chris Deliso }}</ref> ({{langx|el|συρτάκι}}) is a [[dance]] of [[Greece|Greek]] origin, choreographed for the 1964 film ''[[Zorba the Greek (film)|Zorba the Greek]]''.<ref name=mdb>{{IMDb name|2850250|Giorgos Provias}}</ref> It is a recent [[Greek dance|Greek folkdance]], and a mixture of "[[syrtos]]" and the slow and fast rhythms of the [[hasapiko]] dance. The dance and the [[Zorba's Dance|accompanying music]] by [[Mikis Theodorakis]] are also called '''Zorba's dance''', the '''Zorba''' or "'''the dance of Zorba'''". The dance has become popular in Greece and is identified with the Greeks,<ref name=zografou /><ref>{{cite book|last=Tatossian|first=Anthony A.|title=Villains and Lovers|year=2011|publisher=AuthorHouse|isbn=9781456739812|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=v4gRCfF8uM4C&pg=PA544]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Provost|first=P. Paul|title=The Vagabonds|year=2011|publisher=AuthorHouse|isbn=9781463428556|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=kkkdXgDI9dsC&pg=PA192]}}</ref> becoming an [[invented tradition]].
The name ''sirtaki'' comes from the Greek word [[syrtos]] – from σύρω (τον χορό), which means "drag (the dance)" or "lead (the dance)" – a common name for a group of traditional Greek dances of so-called "dragging" style, as opposed to [[pidikhtos]] (πηδηχτός), a hopping or leaping style.<ref name="modern greece"/> Despite its name, sirtaki incorporates both syrtos (in its slower part) and pidikhtós (in its faster part) elements.
==Choreography==
The dance was created specifically for the film ''[[Zorba the Greek (film)|Zorba the Greek]]'' rather than a traditional form of dance. The name ''sirtaki'' suggests it was created based on a traditional [[Cretan]] dance form "[[syrtos]]", a type of dance where the dancers drag their feet instead of hopping, however, the dance incorporates both a slower [[hasapiko]] dance  style, and a faster [[hasaposerviko]] style. The dance is therefore an amalgamation of three different dance styles.<ref name="modern greece">{{cite book |editor=Elaine Thomopoulos |title=Modern Greece|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=crNLEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA286 |year=2021|isbn=9781440854927|pages=285–286 |publisher=ABC-CLIO|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name=zografou /> It also has some characteristics of the [[zeybek dance]]. The choreography of the dance for the film has been attributed to [[Giorgos Provias]].<ref name=szatek>{{cite book |editor=Karoline Szatek |title=Uniting Regions and Nations through the Looking Glass of Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2BlUDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA52 |year=2017|isbn=9781443879491|page=52 |publisher=ABC-CLIO|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref name=zografou />
During the filming of ''[[Zorba the Greek (film)|Zorba the Greek]]'', Stelios Katsivelakis taught choreography to [[Anthony Quinn]] (although another dancer teacher contests this, claiming that several dancers, including himself, were involved in teaching Quinn), including various Greek dances such as the ''[[Kalamatianos]]'', ''Chaniotikos syrtos'' ([[syrtos]] of [[Chania]]), ''[[pentozali]]'' with the ''psalidia'' (scissor-like) movements, and ''[[hasapiko]]''.<ref name=zografou /><ref>{{cite journal |title=Zorba's Cinematic Dance: Global Fame, Local Claim Beyond Studios and Screens|first1=Mimina |last1=Pateraki |last2=Mountakis |first2=C| journal=Science of Dance|volume= 6|date= 2013 |pages=67–85 |url=https://www.academia.edu/10995162 }}</ref> The ''[[zeibekiko]]'' was initially omitted, as the director felt it was not a suitable dance for a non-Greek and that the ''hasapiko'' looked better on screen.<ref name=zografou /> Quinn claimed that because he had problem doing a hopping motion due to a broken foot, he invented the dragging-sliding dance steps that he said a villager taught him, as well as coming up with its name on the fly when the film was being shot.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/121595%7C0/Zorba-the-Greek.html |title=Zorba the Greek|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809181158/http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/121595%7C0/Zorba-the-Greek.html |archive-date=9 August 2016 |work= Turner Classic Movies}}</ref> Quinn could not perform the fast part of choreography planned for the final scene by the choreographer, and the choreography had to be changed on the spot. It is also claimed that this is the reason for having a crane shot moving away from the protagonists at the end of the film.{{citation needed|date=January 2018}}
The dance was named Sirtaki at the first screening of the film.<ref name=zografou>{{cite journal |title=The "Invisible" Dimension of Zorba's Dance|first1=Magda |last1=Zografou |first2= Mimina |last2=Pateraki|journal=Yearbook for Traditional Music|volume= 39 |date=2007|pages= 117&ndash;131 |doi=10.1017/S074015580000669X |jstor=20465014 |s2cid=193492997 }}</ref>
In [[Stamatis Kokotas]]' 1966 song "Στου Όθωνα τα χρόνια" ("In the days of [[Otto of Greece|King Otto]]") there is an anachronistic reference to the king's Bavarian bodyguards dancing sirtaki.
===Performance===
Sirtaki can be danced in a [[line dance|line]] or [[circle dance|circle]] formation with hands held on neighbours' shoulders. When performed alone, the dancer raises his arms horizontally on both sides of the body. Parts of the leg movements may be suggestive of crushing of grapes.<ref>{{cite book |editor=Karoline Szatek |title=Uniting Regions and Nations through the Looking Glass of Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2BlUDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA53 |year=2017|isbn=9781443879491|page=53 |publisher=ABC-CLIO|via=Google Books}}</ref>
[[Metre (music)|Meter]] is {{music|time|4|4}}, tempo increasing, and often the signature is changed to 2/4 in the fastest part. Accordingly, the dance begins with slower, smoother actions, gradually transforming into faster, vivid ones, often including hops and leaps.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pro-dance.gr/dances/popular-greek-dances/history-of-greek-folk-dances/history-of-syrtaki-dance |title=H ιστορία του χορού Συρτάκι |work=Pro Dance |lang=el }}</ref>
==Guinness World Records==
On August 31, 2012, the previous Sirtaki Dance Guinness World Record (Cyprus, 2010, 1672 persons) was broken by 5,614 people dancing sirtaki for five minutes by the sea, starting from the port of the city of [[Volos]] in Greece. The Association for Social Impact and Culture to the Municipality of Magnisia organized the event on the main beach of the town of Volos under the light of the second full moon of the month.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/largest-sirtaki-dance |title=Largest sirtaki dance |work=Guinness World Records |date=31 August 2012 }}</ref> Some 5,614 people, aged from 14 to 89, danced to the music of Mikis Theodorakis' Zorba the Greek, filling the town square and making it into the Guinness World Records. Enthusiasts from Volos, Larisa, Athens, Thessaloniki, Trikala, and the Greek islands joined the regional union of blind people, the national synchronized swimming team and many ordinary citizens. The idea came from a Volos resident, Alexia Halvatzakou, who suggested it to the municipal services as an alternative way to promote the area. The President of the Association for Social Impact and Culture, Costas Halevas, liked the idea and set about organizing the event.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.grreporter.info/en/sirtaki_dance_volos_guinness_world_records/7588 |title=Sirtaki dance in Volos for the Guinness World Records |date=30 August 2012 |work=GR Reporter }}</ref>
==See also==
{{Columns-list|colwidth=30em|
*[[Ballos]]
*[[Dabke]]
*[[Halay]]
*[[Hasapiko]] or Makellarios
*[[Kalamatianos]]
*[[Pentozali]]
*[[Syrtos|Sirtos]]
*[[Sousta]]
*[[Tsakonikos]]
*[[Zeibekiko]]
}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Greek dances}}
{{Balkan music}}
{{Commons category|Sirtaki}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Greek dances]]
[[Category:Group dances]]
[[Category:Greek words and phrases]]