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Sirtaki

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Related areas Cyprus, Pontus, Constantinople, South Italy
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Sirtaki or syrtaki (Greek: συρτάκι) is a populardance of Greek origin, choreographed by Giorgos Provias for the 1964 film Zorba the Greek. It is a recent Greek folkdance, and a mixture of the slow and fast versions of the hasapiko dance. The dance and the accompanying music by Míkis Theodorakis are also called Zorbá's dance, Zorbas, or "the dance of Zorba".

The name sirtáki comes from the Greek word syrtos - from σύρω (τον χορό), which means "drag (the dance)" -, a common name for a group of traditional Cretan dances of so-called "dragging" style, as opposed to pidikhtos (πηδηχτός), a hopping or leaping style. Despite that, sirtaki incorporates both syrtos (in its slower part) and pidikhtós (in its faster part) elements.

Sirtaki is danced in a line or circle formation with hands held on neighbours' shoulders. Line formation is more traditional. A similar choreography was featured in Just Dance 2015.

Meter is 4
4
, tempo increasing, and often the signature is changed to 2/4 in the fastest part. Accordingly, the dance begins with slower, smoother actions, gradually transforming into faster, vivid ones, often including hops and leaps. The choreographer of the original unnamed dance was Giorgos Provias.

Jean Vassilis (alias Jacques suissa) added to the original choreography to promote the movie Zorba the Greek in France and named the dance Sirtaki.


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