Learning Greek Dances in Greece
I am not a natural dancer, invariably I find a rhythm of my own whenever I find myself on the dance floor, but I enjoy it. I have visited this island many times with my Greek husband, coming every summer for 3 months and often Easter too and I have always wished I knew how to join in the dancing competently at family parties and gatherings I always had a go but my own rhythm just didn't seem to fit into this Greek form of line dancing. As I bobbed up, everyone else would bob down, when I went left, they would go right. Eventually, I would give up in frustration and watch on with envy. Now, living here for a whole year, was the perfect opportunity to learn to dance properly.
Shortly after coming here in November last year I discovered a dancing class which was run by the local cultural centre. This isn't any old dance group, the more experienced members of this dancing team give displays every year on the island and frequently tour Europe and America. I have seen them dance many times and always came away awestruck. What fortune for me - to have a marvelous, professional dance teacher who would teach us dances from all over the regions of Greece.
Every week we would have an hour's lesson during which time we would invariably learn a new dance and practice some of the ones we had learnt in previous weeks. The other members of my class are all Greek. Their ages range from their early twenties to mid-40s and they are all school teachers in the local primary or secondary schools on the island. None of them come from this island as the practice in Greece is that public employees are sent wherever they are needed. The only non-Greek dance pupils in this group then, were myself and two English female friends - all in our 50s. As a consequence, we three were faced with an extra challenge. Not only were we learning to dance but all the lessons were taught in Greek and, as this was another subject we were having lessons in, our newly forming linguistic skills were pushed beyond our limits. For many weeks my English friends and I never knew what dances we would do in our lessons until the rest of the class began moving, and then it was a real 'aha' experience as we recognized the steps as a dance we had learnt a few weeks before. Before learning a new dance our teacher,. Niki, would tell the group what it was called and whereabouts in Greece it came from, also explaining a little history of that particular region. All this went completely over our heads and for a long time we did not know that this was what she was talking about. We would look at her earnestly, willing comprehension but all to no avail. She would then start the music and slowly show us the steps, counting them out all the time and advising us as a body how to accomplish the moves. I always watched her with amazement. She made it look so simple and effortless. Her body and legs would move so fluidly and in perfect time to the music. Then it was our turn. I really tried to achieve the same ease and gracefulness that she possessed but, unfortunately, I could only follow the dance if I counted the steps out loud to myself and as a consequence my efforts seemed to me very stilted and wooden. And, I was still having trouble doing that slight bobbing movement that you see in many Greek dances. I felt like some demented puppet but I didn't care, I was keeping up and it was early days.
Out of the three of us, my friend Jane seemed to pick up the steps fairly easily and, most importantly, remember them. For me and my other friend, as soon as we had finished one dance and moved onto the next, the steps of the dance just completed seemed wiped from our memory. Jane suggested that we add in another lesson whereby the three of us would meet at her house on a Saturday morning to go over what we had learnt that week. This was an excellent idea and was further assisted by taking video films of the lessons that we would then use to help us improve. And improve we did. As the weeks went by we began to get used to the rhythm of the music, the steps began to be accomplished with more confidence and our understanding of dancing related Greek words was also whizzing along. I could now understand the command to take small or large steps, to go slowly, or quickly, to kick or stamp or twirl. I still didn't know what the names of the dances I could do were but at least I could now do them.
the post is continue at Greek Dances
VIDEO
Shortly after coming here in November last year I discovered a dancing class which was run by the local cultural centre. This isn't any old dance group, the more experienced members of this dancing team give displays every year on the island and frequently tour Europe and America. I have seen them dance many times and always came away awestruck. What fortune for me - to have a marvelous, professional dance teacher who would teach us dances from all over the regions of Greece.
Every week we would have an hour's lesson during which time we would invariably learn a new dance and practice some of the ones we had learnt in previous weeks. The other members of my class are all Greek. Their ages range from their early twenties to mid-40s and they are all school teachers in the local primary or secondary schools on the island. None of them come from this island as the practice in Greece is that public employees are sent wherever they are needed. The only non-Greek dance pupils in this group then, were myself and two English female friends - all in our 50s. As a consequence, we three were faced with an extra challenge. Not only were we learning to dance but all the lessons were taught in Greek and, as this was another subject we were having lessons in, our newly forming linguistic skills were pushed beyond our limits. For many weeks my English friends and I never knew what dances we would do in our lessons until the rest of the class began moving, and then it was a real 'aha' experience as we recognized the steps as a dance we had learnt a few weeks before. Before learning a new dance our teacher,. Niki, would tell the group what it was called and whereabouts in Greece it came from, also explaining a little history of that particular region. All this went completely over our heads and for a long time we did not know that this was what she was talking about. We would look at her earnestly, willing comprehension but all to no avail. She would then start the music and slowly show us the steps, counting them out all the time and advising us as a body how to accomplish the moves. I always watched her with amazement. She made it look so simple and effortless. Her body and legs would move so fluidly and in perfect time to the music. Then it was our turn. I really tried to achieve the same ease and gracefulness that she possessed but, unfortunately, I could only follow the dance if I counted the steps out loud to myself and as a consequence my efforts seemed to me very stilted and wooden. And, I was still having trouble doing that slight bobbing movement that you see in many Greek dances. I felt like some demented puppet but I didn't care, I was keeping up and it was early days.
Out of the three of us, my friend Jane seemed to pick up the steps fairly easily and, most importantly, remember them. For me and my other friend, as soon as we had finished one dance and moved onto the next, the steps of the dance just completed seemed wiped from our memory. Jane suggested that we add in another lesson whereby the three of us would meet at her house on a Saturday morning to go over what we had learnt that week. This was an excellent idea and was further assisted by taking video films of the lessons that we would then use to help us improve. And improve we did. As the weeks went by we began to get used to the rhythm of the music, the steps began to be accomplished with more confidence and our understanding of dancing related Greek words was also whizzing along. I could now understand the command to take small or large steps, to go slowly, or quickly, to kick or stamp or twirl. I still didn't know what the names of the dances I could do were but at least I could now do them.
the post is continue at Greek Dances
VIDEO
posted by admin at 7:50 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home