How to dance sirtaki youtube
Three Men Put Fun Twist On Zorba Dance
If you’ve seen the film “Zorba the Greek”, you’d recognise the song “Zorba”, and possibly the dance known as Syrtaki (also spelled Sirtaki). The song was composed by Mikis Theodorakis and the dance choreographed by Giorgos Provias for the 1964 film. The song has been used in many films and television series, and is highly recognizable, even if you’ve never seen the film for which it was created. It is often danced even during Greek festivals and performances, and in Greek tavernas (Greek restaurant).
The routine itself is awesome, and looks super fun to do…
…plus it takes no shortage of skill to pull off!
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Agnee/Flickr
This troupe of Polish dancers however, are able to add a unique twist to the routine.
While there are a few traditional moved from the Greek style, there are a few wee Polish additions as well. Their performance is seriously impressive and their dancing capabilities are well suited to such a technical dance.
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Youtube Screenshot
The dance starts off fairly slow.
With a lot of footwork and steady stepping, the lads move around the stage, but perfectly in time. They must have rehearsed for many hours to get their movements so in-sync and so clean. And just because the pace is slow doesn’t make it easier! The dance is still highly technical, with crossing feet over each other and swinging legs back and forth it would be all too easy to trip yourself up!
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Youtube Screenshot
As the song picks up, they move out of their straight lineup position and begin to move around the stage a bit more.
Now we’re really getting somewhere! The first of the boys breaks from the line and takes his time in the spotlight. He starts off his bit by showing off some fancy footwork before turning into some impressive spins. I know I’d be dizzy after two of those, so props to this guy for staying upright after so many revolutions!
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Next is a traditional Greek move.
This next move needs two participants because, well…you’d fall over otherwise! Two people interlock their right legs and spin around each other while leaning back. Again, how they don’t end up falling all over the place will forever remain a mystery to me. This is one seriously cool move, and a good one to pull out at Da Club to wow the crowds… if you’ve got plenty of space on the dance-floor that is!
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Youtube Screenshot
But here’s the Polish move we’ve all been waiting for!
Similar to Russian styles of dance, we might associate this with a Cossack leg kick move. One thing is for sure, it’s super impressive. Put this one in your back pocket for the next dance-battle you end up in, because it’s sure to end the competition right then and there.
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Throughout the song the dance speeds up and gains energy.
The dancers pick up the pace and raise the stakes as they dance as well. The dance gains energy and the moves become more expressive and ambitious.
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Youtube Screenshot
Be sure two get a couple of pals to join you with this one next time you’ve got to top the Macarena!
Watch the full video below to be wowed by these impressive steppers!
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Source: Zajac on Youtube
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Chesney McDonald is a contributor at SBLY Media.
6 Greek Wedding Dance Vids to Inspire Your Reception Moves
Speeches & Traditions
Rompi Rompi to Mavi Mavi, kick off your shoes and get ready to review classic Greek wedding dance moves.
Whitney Teal
HannaMonika Wedding Photography
If there’s one thing you can always anticipate at a Greek wedding, it’s dancing. And then, more dancing.
Oh, and maybe a little more dancing to finish off the night. Whether you’re looking to add some Greek wedding dance to your otherwise modern Greek wedding or looking forward to attending your first Greek wedding as a guest, you will want to have your steps together before busting a move. It’s true that you’ll want to be prepared to hang, rhythmically, at your next Greek wedding, but we promise, none of the Greek wedding dances are too complicated that a few YouTube video tutorials can’t get you straightened out.
Hang back, this bride’s got this Greek wedding dance!
One happy couple embraced Greek wedding dance for their first dance as a couple. Instead of the Western tradition of the couple dancing as guests look on, the bride starts off the dance holding her husband’s hand. The rest of the wedding party and guests all grab hands and, pretty soon, nearly the entire room is joining in the couple’s first dance.
Helping her along was the most perfect song, “Orea Pou 'ne I Nifi Mas, Simera Labi O Ouranos,” which means “The Bride Looks Beautiful, Today The Sky Is Bright” by Kostas Mentzelopoulos.
Not quite Zorba the Greek, but close enough.
So, “Zorbas” (or, formally, Sirtaki) isn’t a traditional Greek wedding dance song, but it’s one of the most famous Greek pop songs. Thanks to its appearance in the 1964 blockbuster movie Zorba the Greek, “Zorbas” is forever imprinted in the minds of Americans (Greek Americans included) as one of the culture’s primary celebration songs. A nod to this song and movie in My Big Fat Greek Wedding didn’t hurt the wedding association, either. All of that to say, don’t feel pressured to learn the moves to this dance before your next wedding, unless you really want to show off for your Greek friends or family.
Non-dancers, this is your time to shine.
You’ve got to love a Greek wedding dance that emphasizes style and enthusiasm over rigid choreography. And, thankfully, the Tsamiko is that dance. If you’ve ever been to a Greek wedding, this is probably the folk dance that stuck out most in your mind. There’s not a lot of form required, and, just about anyone can quickly get the rhythm of this jubilant Greek wedding dance that gets everyone moving. Essentially, dancers link arms at the shoulders and dance around in a huge circle, kicking one leg at a time. The next time you see the entire wedding reception descend on the dance floor at a Greek wedding, know it’s your time to boogie down.
This one’s for the fellas.
Grooms, best men, groomsmen and other menfolk, the Zembekiko is the Greek wedding dance for you.
An enduring Greek wedding tradition, this is another dance typically performed in a circle. Instead of the jovial free-for-all of a Tsamiko or a Zorba’s, though, the Zembekiko celebrates the groom and his buddies. Led by the groom, other men are welcome to join in or kneel alongside the dancers and clap to the beat.
Now, it’s the ladies’ turn for a Greek wedding dance.
Don’t think a Greek wedding could get away with a triumphant moment for the guys and not include the women. Kalamatiano is another folk move often performed as a Greek wedding dance just for the bride and her attendants and family. Similar to the Zembekiko, the bride starts off in the middle with her MOH to the left. Soon, other women at the wedding join hands and encircle the two until the dance floor becomes one big concentric circle of dancers.
Get your dollars ready for the Greek wedding money dance.
Maybe one of the most famous (and most fun) aspects of a traditional Greek wedding, the money dance, or dollar dance, is festive and mainly adhoc. The concept is exactly what it sounds like — the couple starts a dance in the middle of the dance floor and guests circle around them to either shower them with single dollar bills or pin money on the couple. Music for this tradition varies (be sure your DJ knows a few Greek tunes!), but "Psintri Vasilija Mou," a Cypriot classic favored by Greek Americans, is a safe bet.
90,000 Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis dies. It was he who invented sirtaki, which many consider to be a folk dance
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Famous Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis died on Thursday at the age of 96.
Mikis Theodorakis is known as the creator of classical music, as well as folk songs and dance music.
Theodorakis gained world popularity with the music for the film Zorba the Greek by Michalis Kakoyannis (1964). In particular, for this film, he wrote the melody for the sirtaki dance, which is mistakenly considered by many to be a folk Greek dance. In fact, it was created specifically for the film "Zorba the Greek" based on the ancient Greek warrior dance - hasapiko.
Theodorakis also wrote music for several other films by Michalis Kakoyannis and other directors. Among others, he composed the music for Sidney Lumet's Serpico, starring Al Pacino.
Mikis Theodorakis was born on July 29, 1925 on the island of Chios.
During World War II he participated in the resistance movement. After the World War, a civil war began in Greece, in which Theodorakis sympathized with the communist rebels. Because of this, in the period from 1947 to 1949 he was arrested several times, at one time he was in a concentration camp on the island of Makronisos, where he was tortured.
In the following years, Theodorakis also actively participated in the political life of Greece.
In 1964-1967 he was a member of parliament from the United Left Democratic Party. In 1967, after black colonels came to power in Greece, the performance of Theodorakis' music was banned, and he himself was in prison for five months, then in exile.
In 1969 he was placed in the Oropos concentration camp (near Athens) and tortured again. Then, many famous cultural figures came forward with a demand to free the composer, and in 1970 Theodorakis was released. After his release, he was forced to leave for France. He was able to return to Greece at 1974, after the fall of the junta.
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Communist Party and the conservative New Democracy Party, in whose government he served as minister without portfolio.
Mikis Theodorakis is the author of a large number of symphonies, chamber works, as well as popular folk songs. He created the opera The Quarter of Angels, the ballets Orpheus and Eurydice, Antigone, Medea, Lysistrata, Song of the Dead Brother, wrote music for dramatic performances.
How "Sirtaki" appeared - Site about Crete
Cretan dances "Sirtos" and "Pidichthos" were the progenitors of the national Greek dance "Sirtaki". And few people know the amazing story of the origin of the Sirtaki dance. In fact, Sirtaki appeared not so long ago, at 1964 on the set of the film "Zorba the Greek" (Zorba The Greek, based on the novel by famous writer Nikos Kazantzakis). And there was a dance, I must say, very spontaneously.
According to the script of the film, its main character, played by Antony Quinn, was supposed to show the national Greek dance to Basis. The beach scene was supposed to be quite short, about two minutes. Therefore, director Michael Kakoyanis faced a difficult task, to find a musician who would write music for this scene, so much so that in two minutes he could convey all the energy of Greek dance and make him believe that this is really a national dance.
Kakoyanis entrusted such a difficult task to the Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis. And he handled it brilliantly. The dance itself, which, by the way, was called the Zorba Dance, was invented by Anthony Quinn. And to make it as similar to Greek as possible, Anthony Quinn personally trained the dance technique with the local population. And since the film was shot entirely on the island of Crete, Quinn learned to dance the most popular national Cretan dances - Sirtos and Pidichtos.
The dance invented by Anthony Quinn was literally glued together from Sirtos at the beginning of the dance and Pidichthos in the second (fast) part of the dance. From here appeared, which became insanely popular, the accelerating rhythm of the national Greek dance. But, if we compare Cretan dances and Sirtaki, it is clearly seen that they are not quite similar, Cretan dances are energetic, with a lot of jumps and various steps performed by the dancers, which, in fact, is not in Sirtaki. And all this despite the fact that Quinn quite well mastered the technique of local dances and the original version of the dance he invented was very similar to the dynamic Cretan dances, although it was pure improvisation.
The fact is that before shooting the scene on the beach, Anthony Quinn broke his leg, and the crew was in danger of being left without this scene at all. But Quinn convinced director Michael Cacoyanis that he could do the "Zorba Dance" even with complicated leg swings. Naturally, the complex elements in the dance were never realized, but the dance turned out to be original and attractive in its own way. After filming the scene, Anthony Quinn revealed that his leg was so sore that it was impossible to lift it off the ground, let alone jump or swing. But Quinn found a painless way to move his bad leg - he dragged it across the sand. This is where this smooth and sliding step in Sirtaki came from. The name "Sirtaki" was invented by Anthony Quinn himself, and it came from the name of the dance "Syrtos" in a diminutive form. When Michael Cacoyanis asked him what kind of dance it was. Quinn sneered that it was the folk Greek dance "Sirtaki", which he was taught by a Greek. In his answer, Quinn seemed to justify himself that he had danced a dance, which, after all, was very different from what he would like to dance and what he had learned from the locals.
