Tsifteteli

{{Short description|Rhythm and dance of Anatolia and the Balkans}}

{{Music of Greece}}

{{Music of Turkey}}

Tsifteteli ({{langx|el|τσιφτετέλι}}) or Çiftetelli, is a rhythm and belly dance of Anatolia and the Balkans (particularly Greece).{{Cite web |last=Iacono |first=Dr Valeria Lo |date=2024-01-18 |title=10 Countries to visit and learn Belly dancing and dance. |url=https://www.worldbellydance.com/10-countries-for-learning-belly-dancing/ |access-date=2024-08-13 |website=worldbellydance.com |language=en-US}} In Turkish the word means "double stringed", taken from the violin playing style that is practiced in this kind of music. There are suggestions that the dance existed in ancient Greece, known as the Aristophanic dance Cordax, even though such claims have yet to be confirmed.{{Cite news |last=Wichmann |first=Anna |orig-date=February 29, 2024 |title=The Ancient Greek Origins of Zeibekiko and Other Contemporary Dances |url=https://greekreporter.com/2024/02/29/ancient-greek-origins-dances-zeibekiko/ |work=Greek Reporter}} Furthermore, it is historically never spotted in Greece before the Greek-Turkish population exchange of 1923, and no dance in native Greek tradition shows similarities with the specific dance.[http://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&tbo=1&hl=el&q=cordax+tsifteteli&btnG=#hl=el&tbo=1&tbm=bks&sa=X&ei=YFViTpfjA9KM4gSb0LCjCg&ved=0CCgQBSgA&q=%CE%BA%CE%BF%CF%81%CE%B4%CE%B1%CE%BE+%CF%84%CF%83%CE%B9%CF%86%CF%84%CE%B5%CF%84%CE%B5%CE%BB%CE%B9&spell=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=95cd58ce19f03be8&biw=1680&bih=860 Tsifteteli - kordax], Hē Lexē: volumes 21-28 Despite this, it has established itself as the most popular and most common Greek dance together with Zeibekiko.{{Cite web |last=admin |date=2008-05-29 |title=Tsifteteli - Greek form of bellydancing |url=https://5thelement.co.nz/tsifteteli-greek-form-of-bellydancing/ |access-date=2024-08-13 |website=5th Element Dance-Belly Dance Classes in Taranaki |language=en-US}} Nowadays it is found not only in Greece and Turkey, but also in the entirety of the Southeastern Mediterranean region.{{cite journal |author1=Belma Kurtişoğlu |date=2012 |title=ÇİFTETELLİ ON ARTISTIC AND SOCIAL STAGES |url=https://www.academia.edu/7768050/%C3%87iftetelli_on_Social_and_Artistic_Stages |journal=27th SYMPOSIUM ICTM STUDY GROUP ON ETHNOCHOREOLOGY: LIMERICK, IRELAND 2012 |language=en |access-date=29 November 2020}}

The characteristic rhythm is in 8/4 time, arranged as either 3/3/2 eighth-notes followed by 2/2/2/xx (the last beat being silent), or sometimes the first measure is played as 2/2/x1/1x. See [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsEDDcsvB-c], Ciftiteli Darbuka Rhythms for an example of the latter. It is primarily performed by women.{{Cite web |date=2010-10-05 |title=Tsifteteli {{!}} Greek belly dance is tsifteteli |url=https://www.greeksongs-greekmusic.com/tsifteteli-the-greek-belly-dance/ |access-date=2024-08-13 |language=en-US}}