GREEK RITUAL DANCE

An article By Brandy Williams ...for who might be interested:



Ancient Pagans dance across Classical vases holding graceful folds of robes
in their hands, frozen by the artist in a moment of bending and leaping and
twirling. How inspiring they are! Many a modern looks to the vases and says,
"I will reconstruct these dances!" The most famous of these, of course, was
Isadora Duncan, whose simple dances in homemade togas entranced Europe in
her lifetime.

Modern Pagans long to recover the ancient Pagan functions of the dance.
Greeks, of course, never ceased to dance, even while converting to
Christianity. Some of the ancient meanings of the dance remain-certain
dances are performed during the spring with clear fertility symbology. The
social implications have changed little. Dance provides a meeting place for
men and women, an emotional expression of community spirit, a form of
cultural bonding that identifies this person as a member of this village,
this country. But modern Greeks no longer dance in honor of the Gods and
Goddesses, and modern Pagans long to do so. How might we go about this?

In one sense, reconstruction is impossible. Ultimately, lacking actual
videotape of eighth-century dances, it's impossible to say with certainty
that we are performing an eighth century dance.

In another sense, reconstruction is trivial. Modern Greek dance retains a
link to its Pagan origins. The handholds, footsteps, groupings that ancient
writers describe and ancient vases illustrate are alive and well among Greek
traditional dancers. It's a favorite game among folklorists to attempt to
identify an ancient dance with a modern descendent. What we can say is, this
vase represents this ancient dance as having this handhold, and this modern
dance uses that handhold, showing us how to do it.

Most fruitfully, we can say: these are the reasons that Pagans danced in the
past, these are reasons that Pagans wish to dance now, and here are some
dances that fit those functions. In this way dance continues to be a living
part of Pagan religion.

Research and discussion are very important components of reconstructing
Pagan ritual, and dance is no exception. Ultimately though my advice to
Pagans interested in Greek dance is: learn to dance. I can post a syllabus
of a dance, make a reference to a CD that contains the right music for the
dance, but unless you've seen it, held hands with other people to do it, it
won't make a lot of sense. Like any other magical skill, it must be learned
and then practiced. That being said, here are some notes about ancient Greek
dance and modern equivalents.

Ancient Greeks danced in lines, processions, on festival days. The
procession might involve the entire populace, or only a portion of it-only
men, only women, only young women. Some processions were held in honor of a
particular deity, and might involve singing a praise to that deity, walking
to the deity's temple, or strolling before the deity's altar.

The procession is the easiest dance for modern Pagans. At its simplest it
can involve simply walking to a rhythm in a particular direction while
holding hands. Line dances, especially slow ones, are quite popular in
Greece, and any number of these can be adapted to the purpose of procession.
Sta Tria works especially well, adapting to both a slow and a fast rhythm.
In practice modern Pagans use a grapevine step most often-what the Greeks
term the in-and-out step: step right, cross in front, step right, cross
behind. The idea here is more than simply getting from one place to another;
the focal point of the dance will often be an altar constructed to honor the
deity. The dance forms one of the traditional offerings to the gods, along
with incense, meat, and flower garlands.

Modern Pagans are often tempted by Dionysiac dancing, intended to produce an
ecstatic trance. The ancient technique is physically dangerous, involving
snapping the neck, and I have seen a modern teacher substitute a different
movement that posed less risk to the dancers. In practice most modern Pagans
simply bounce up and down in place, or spin.

Other deities might have specific dance requirements. If the deity is
associated with an animal, the animal's movements might be imitated in the
dance. Zeus and other male deities require leaping movements, and the
banging of weapons and shields to make loud noises. (Here's a dance best
done in an isolated place!)

Those wishing to offer a dance to a particular deity do best to research the
deity and collect any writings which describe dances to the deity. That
makes a starting point for figuring out what type of movements to make-slow,
fast, leaping or processional, any special movements of part of the body.
Next, find a modern dance that approximates the basic movement, and use this
as a framework to build the specific movements upon.

There is that in the spirit of modern Greek dance which I believe
encapsulates the spirit of dancing, why we dance, the joy the gods mean to
impart to us and we mean to share with them through the dance. Modern Greeks
call it kefi, a feeling of high spirits, enthusiasm, which is expressed
through the skillful manipulation of the dance, through flair, panache.

Experiencing kefi involves dancing, learning specific dances, finding and
making places to dance them, and dancing them regularly. It's amazing what
understanding, joy, and communion with the gods will automatically follow.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hunt, Yvonne: Traditional Dance in Greek Culture, Centre for Asia Minor
Studies Music Folklore Archive, Athens 1996

Anyone hoping to find Pagan remnants of dance among modern Greek dances must
understand the cultural influences on Greece and Greek dance since the Roman
conquest. Hunt's book catalogues regional styles in exhaustive detail,
making it possible to find the oldest and most Greek dances. The book also
takes a snapshot of traditional dance at a moment when it stands in danger
of dying out and severing the link between modern and ancient dance.

Lawler, Lillian B: The Dance in Ancient Greece, Adam & Charles Black,
London, 1964

Lawler's extensive work catalogues the known types of ancient dance in
geographical and chronological order, quotes the ancient writings describing
the dances, and makes an attempt at defining the dances and with some dances
identifying a modern equivalent. A must-have for the Pagan choreographer.

Stratou, Dora: The Greek Dances Our Living Link with Antiquity, Dora
Stratou, Athens, 1966

Stratou's book gives hints of ancient connections with modern dances. Hunt
covers the same territory, and more clearly, in a single chapter of her
book.

copyright © 1996 Brandy Williams