Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and Corsica. Crete is located about 100 km (62 mi) south of the Peloponnese, and about 300 km (190 mi) southwest of Anatolia. Crete has an area of 8,450 km2 (3,260 sq mi) and a coastline of 1,046 km (650 mi). It bounds the southern border of the Aegean Sea, with the Sea of Crete to the north and the Libyan Sea to the south. Crete covers 260 km from west to east but is narrow from north to south, spanning three longitudes but only half a latitude.
The Megali Idea is a nationalist and irredentist concept that expresses the goal of reviving the Byzantine Empire, by establishing a Greek state, which would include the large Greek populations that were still under Ottoman rule after the end of the Greek War of Independence (1821–1829) and all the regions that had large Greek populations.
Sirtaki or syrtaki is a dance of Greek origin, choreographed for the 1964 film Zorba the Greek. It is a recent Greek folkdance, and a mixture of "syrtos" and the slow and fast rhythms of the hasapiko dance. The dance and the 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, becoming an invented tradition.
Circle dance, chain dance, or line dance, is a style of social dance done in a circle, semicircle or a curved line to musical accompaniment, such as rhythm instruments and singing, and is a type of dance where anyone can join in without the need of partners. Unlike line dancing, circle dancers are in physical contact with each other; the connection is made by hand-to-hand, finger-to-finger or hands-on-shoulders, where they follow the leader around the dance floor. Ranging from gentle to energetic, the dance can be an uplifting group experience or part of a meditation.
Antikristos or Antikrystós is a dance of Greek origin. “Aντικρυστός” in Greek language refers to the verb αντικρύζω “be across, opposite, face-to-face”. It is also known in Armenia. Antikristos has similarities with the karsilamas dance. It is danced in couples.
The Greco-Turkish War of 1897 or the Ottoman-Greek War of 1897, also called the Thirty Days' War and known in Greece as the Black '97 or the Unfortunate War, was a war fought between the Kingdom of Greece and the Ottoman Empire. Its immediate cause involved the status of the Ottoman province of Crete, whose Greek-majority population had long desired union with Greece. Despite the Ottoman victory on the field, an autonomous Cretan State under Ottoman suzerainty was established the following year, with Prince George of Greece and Denmark as its first High Commissioner.
The Pentozali or Pentozalis is the trademark folk dance of the island of Crete. It takes its name from the fifth (pente) attempt or step of the Cretan people to liberate Crete from the Ottoman Empire. It can thus be translated as "five-steps". The name also contains an element of wordplay, as ‘ζάλη’ means dizziness, and so it may also be interpreted as a dance that can make its dancers dizzy five times over ("five-dizzy"). In fact the dance has ten steps in total.
The music of Crete, also called kritika (κρητικά), refers to traditional forms of Greek folk music prevalent on the island of Crete in Greece. Cretan traditional music includes instrumental music, a capella songs known as the rizitika, "Erotokritos," Cretan urban songs (tabachaniotika), as well as other miscellaneous songs and folk genres.
The music of Thrace, a region in Southeastern Europe spread over southern Bulgaria, northeastern Greece, and European Turkey, contains a written history that extends back to the antiquity, when Orpheus became a legendary musician and lived close to Olympus. Though the Thracian people were eventually assimilated by surrounding Balkan groups, elements of Thracian folk music continue.
Koftos is a lively Greek dance typical of the areas of Thessaly, Epirus and central Greece. "Koftos" in Greek means to cut and the name of the dance comes from the periodic interruptions in the music/tune. When the music stops, the dancers yell "Hey", and you can also put your arms up, down, or clap. This sta dio (two-measure) style dance is a faster syrtos, that can also be danced going backwards and forwards or with partners.
Sousta is a Greek folk dance, performed at weddings as an activity of courtship between husband and wife. It originates from Ancient Greece, and holds prominence in Dodecanese Islands, and broader Aegean region. It is the second most common Greek dance, after the Syrtos, with many Greek islands and villages adopting their own version. The performance of the dance reflects various gender roles, inter-played with values of romance and marriage. The Sousta acted as a socialisation process between the youth of a village, evolving into a dance central to these youth as they grew up and formed relationships with others. Socially, the Sousta also functioned as a visible verification of courtship, namely paying respects to the wife and her family. The Sousta is most commonly performed as a three-step dance, with a 'hopping' motion and crossed-over hands.
Greek traditional music includes a variety of Greek styles played by ethnic Greeks in Greece, Cyprus, Australia, the United States and other parts of Europe. Apart from the common music found generally in Greece, each region of Greece contains a distinct type of folk music that originated from the region due to their history, traditions and cultural influences.
The Ballos is a Greek folk dance and a form of sirtos. There are also different versions in other Balkan countries.
Greek dance is an old tradition, being referred to by authors such as Plato, Aristotle, Plutarch and Lucian. There are different styles and interpretations from all of the islands and surrounding mainland areas. Each region formed its own choreography and style to fit in with their own ways. For example, island dances have more of a different smooth flow to them, while Pontic dancing closer to the Black Sea, is very sharp. There are over 10,000 traditional dances that come from all regions of Greece. There are also pan-Hellenic dances, which have been adopted throughout the Greek world. These include specifically the Syrtos, Kalamatianos, Pyrrhichios, Ballos, Zeibekiko, and hasapiko.
The Kalamatianós is one of the best-known dances of Greece. It is a popular Greek folk dance throughout Greece, Cyprus and internationally and is often performed at many social gatherings worldwide. As is the case with most Greek folk dances, it is danced in chain with a counterclockwise rotation, the dancers holding hands.
It forms part of the broader musical tradition of mainland and of the southern Balkans. Compared to other regions of, the music of Macedonia is characterized by a high degree of diversity, due to the numerous influences it has received over the years from neighboring countries and particularly from refugees arriving in the early 20th century. In general terms, Macedonian music can be thought of as the connecting chain between the Western musical tradition of Epirus and Thessaly and the Eastern musical tradition of Thrace and Constantinople.
Nisiotika are the songs and dances of the Aegean islands with a variety of styles. Outside of Greece, it is played in the diaspora in countries such as Turkey, Australia, the United States and elsewhere.
Music of Thessaly is the music of the geographic and historical region of Thessaly in Greece. Folk dances from Thessaly are slow and stately, however the music accompanying the Syrtos dance, is typically livelier and more energetic than it is in other parts of Greece and include: Kalamatianos, Thessalikos, Dionysiakos, koftos, Sirtaki, Kalamatiano, Syrtos, kleistos, kangeli, gaitanaki, tsamikos, Pilioritikos, Svarniara, Sta tria, Karagouna, Kleistos, zeibekiko, Rougatsiarikos, Tsamiko of Deskati, antikrystos and galanogalani.
The Convention of Constantinople was signed between the Kingdom of Greece and the Ottoman Empire on 2 July 1881, resulting in the cession of the region of Thessaly and a part of southern Epirus to Greece.
The borders of Greece have changed nine times since the Protocol of London on March 22, 1829 until the accession of the Dodecanese in 1947.
