Abstract:
The ethnographic context of this research is the Syrtos dance, as it is danced in Rethymnon, in the
island of Crete in Greece. Observing at first glance the Syrtos dance, as it is danced in social events in
the area of Rethymnon and in dance performances on stage, some differences can be seen in it. The
aim of this paper is to compare the Syrtos dance in its “first” and “second existence”, in order to
ascertain the differences that took place in it, if any, in order to confirm or reject the empirical
observation, which wants the two existences of Syrtos dance, the traditional and the fakelore to be
different. The collection of ethnographic data was based on the ethnographic method, as it is used in
the study of dance. Laban's notation system was used to record the choreographic compositions of
Syrtos dance, while for the analysis of their structure and form, as well as their codification, the
structural-morphological and typological method of analysis was used, as it is applied in the Greek
Traditional Dance. From the data analysis was found that in Rethymnon, Crete, the Syrtos dance in its
"first" and in its "second existence" presents both similarities and differences, rejecting the empirical
observation that wants the two existences of dance to be distinct. In fact, the similarities are more than
the differences, as there is both a structural and a stylistic relevance between the "first" and the "second
existence" of dance. This refutes the claim that traditional dance and the dance that is transferred to
the classrooms and therefore on stage are two different things. The difference lies, in the case of Greece
we are examining, in the way the dance is transmitted (with or without a dance teacher) and in the
stylized movement used in the dance scene. |
Keywords:
Greek Traditional Dance, Ethnographic method, “first” and “second” existence,
Syrtos, Crete.
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