What is the easiest Greek dance to learn?

[xmelissaa]

I just wanna join in on the fun but Im not too coordinated. Whats best to learn first?

 

[ellinasgolfer0320]

Sta tria, sta dyo, or a tsamiko from thessaly (it's slow unlike how tsamiko is danced in the Peloponnese). Ignore the name "Syrto sta dio" - no one says that, we say "sta dio". You can figure out sta tria and tsamiko on your own by searching videos without instruction, but incase you can't here are some videos. When watching someone dance you want to learn the steps don't look at the leader, look at thes second (sometimes third) person who is after the leader. This is because the leader will usually do figoures (stunts), the second person supports the leader, and the third person is the one who is actually keeping the pace for everyone else.

Something you will notice in the sta tria video is that the men are lifting their foot in the air, and the women are touching their toe to the ground. That's because traditional dances requires men to dance like men and women to dance very ladylike.

 

[nm1999]

Sta tria, sta dyo, or a tsamiko from thessaly (it's slow unlike how tsamiko is danced in the Peloponnese). Ignore the name "Syrto sta dio" - no one says that, we say "sta dio". You can figure out sta tria and tsamiko on your own by searching videos without instruction, but incase you can't here are some videos. When watching someone dance you want to learn the steps don't look at the leader, look at thes second (sometimes third) person who is after the leader. This is because the leader will usually do figoures (stunts), the second person supports the leader, and the third person is the one who is actually keeping the pace for everyone else.

Something you will notice in the sta tria video is that the men are lifting their foot in the air, and the women are touching their toe to the ground. That's because traditional dances requires men to dance like men and women to dance very ladylike.

Yeah this seems pretty simple I might give it a try somtime

 

[lalajess]

The zybeikiko was for me the easiest because you can actually just do what you want, as long as you put some Greek "touches" on it...

This is a great instruction video - it's all in Greek though!

 

[ellinasgolfer0320]

The zybeikiko was for me the easiest because you can actually just do what you want, as long as you put some Greek "touches" on it...

This is a great instruction video - it's all in Greek though!

You can do anything you want as long as you dance on beat. Many people dance zeibekiko wrong because they don't know the beat. You can see Christos and his wife dancing on beat - ironically, despite being famous for dancing, they're counting the beat wrong (it's counted to 9, but his wife only counts to 2). That said, she may only be counting to 2 for simplicity???

 

[francescool]

You can do anything you want as long as you dance on beat. Many people dance zeibekiko wrong because they don't know the beat. You can see Christos and his wife dancing on beat - ironically, despite being famous for dancing, they're counting the beat wrong (it's counted to 9, but his wife only counts to 2). That said, she may only be counting to 2 for simplicity???

Hmmmm....does it work if you count to 2??

 

[ellinasgolfer0320]

Hmmmm....does it work if you count to 2??

The way his wife did it it does. Below, I put how she counted, and in parenthesis I wrote the Greek numbers that should be counted because you're supposed to count to 9 (some Greek numbers represent 2 beats and some numbers represent 1 beat. The numbers that represent two beats will be separated by a dash to break down the word into syllables, or you will see two numbers next to each other)

1-2 (ε-να. 1)
1-2 (δυο τρια. 2 and 3)
1 (τεσσερα. 4)
1-2 (πε-ντε. 5)
1-2 (εξι εφτα. 6 and 7)
1 (οκτω. 8)
1 (εννια. 9)

 

[francescool]

The way his wife did it it does. Below, I put how she counted, and in parenthesis I wrote the Greek numbers that should be counted because you're supposed to count to 9 (some Greek numbers represent 2 beats and some numbers represent 1 beat. The numbers that represent two beats will be separated by a dash to break down the word into syllables, or you will see two numbers next to each other)

1-2 (ε-να. 1)
1-2 (δυο τρια. 2 and 3)
1 (τεσσερα. 4)
1-2 (πε-ντε. 5)
1-2 (εξι εφτα. 6 and 7)
1 (οκτω. 8)
1 (εννια. 9)

Okay this totally makes sense now, thank you!! I'll just use my own count and I think I should be fine. I do need some practice lol

My Greek isn't perfect, so I know they said something about women dancing zeibekiko (In the beginning of the video I think). Its traditionally a male dance right? But women can also dance it? Are there different ways for women to dance?

 

[lalajess]

You can do anything you want as long as you dance on beat. Many people dance zeibekiko wrong because they don't know the beat. You can see Christos and his wife dancing on beat - ironically, despite being famous for dancing, they're counting the beat wrong (it's counted to 9, but his wife only counts to 2). That said, she may only be counting to 2 for simplicity???

I noticed that!!! LOL It drove me crazy a little, but realized they were dancing on the beat. And you're right, there's a notion of "catching the beat" with that dance that not everyone seems to do... For me, that level of understanding of the dance came with experience.

 

[paharo45]

I noticed that!!! LOL It drove me crazy a little, but realized they were dancing on the beat. And you're right, there's a notion of "catching the beat" with that dance that not everyone seems to do... For me, that level of understanding of the dance came with experience.

You're right, I think the more you dance the more you will get the hang of it