zeibekiko
{{Short description|Greek folk dance}}
{{pp-protected|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Expand Greek|Ζεϊμπέκικο|fa=yes|topic=music|date=September 2022}}
{{Music of Greece}}
Zeibekiko ({{langx|el|Ζεϊμπέκικο}}, {{IPA|el|zei̯ˈbeciko|IPA}}) is a Greek folk dance, similar to Turkish Zeybek dance.{{Cite web |last=Chrysopoulos |first=Philip |date=4 April 2016 |title=Greek and Turkish Folk Dances With Common Origins, Still Popular Today |url=https://greekreporter.com/2016/04/04/greek-and-turkish-folk-dances-with-common-origins-still-popular-today/ |website=Greek Reporter}}
Origin and history
It takes its name from the Zeybeks, an irregular militia living in the Aegean Region of the Ottoman Empire from late 17th to early 20th centuries.{{cite book|last1=Babiniotis|first1=Georgios D.|title=Lexiko Tis Neas Ellinikis Glossas|date=2002|publisher=Kentro Lexikologias|location=Athens|isbn=960-86190-1-7|page=707|edition=2nd}} It was first seen at the end of the 17th century in cities such as Constantinople and Smyrna. Evliya Çelebi mentions in his writings that it was danced in Magnesia and in Aydın at local feasts.{{cite book|last1=Πάλλης|first1=Α.|title=Σελίδες της παλιάς γενιτσάρικης Τουρκίας|date=1941|publisher=Εκάτη|location=Athens|page=231}} Originally a dance for two armed people facing one another, it developed into an improvised dance for a single male.{{cite journal|last1=Tyrovola|first1=V.|title=The evolutionary process of the dynamics of popular urban culture: The case of Zeibekiko dance|journal=Proceedings of the 17th Symposium of the Study Group of Ethnoarchaeology|date=1994|pages=107–113}}
After the population exchange between Greece and Turkey in 1922, the dance became popular also in mainland Greece, in many songs of Laiko music.
Characteristics
The Zeibekiko usually has a rhythmic pattern of {{Time signature|9|4}}Kilpatrick, David. "Ethnomusicology", Vol. 6, No. 3, Canadian Issue (Sep., 1972), p. 577. or else {{Time signature|9|8}}. It is most commonly broken down as:
\new DrumStaff \with{
\override StaffSymbol.line-count = #1
}
\drummode {
\time 9/8 {
cl8[ cl16 cl16] cl8[ cl8] cl8[ cl16 cl16] cl8 cl8 cl8
}
}
or as:
\new DrumStaff \with{
\override StaffSymbol.line-count = #1
}
\drummode {
\time 9/8 {
cl16[ cl8 cl16] cl8[ cl8] cl16[ cl8 cl16] cl8 cl8 cl8
}
}
As a solo dance, it was traditionally performed by men, though it is now common for women to dance the Zeibekiko.{{cite news |last1=Wichmann |first1=Anna |title=When Women Started Dancing Zeibekiko |url=https://greekreporter.com/2022/07/22/women-zeibekiko-movies-greek/ |date=22 July 2022}} Due to the movements of the dancer, it is sometimes known as the "eagle dance".{{cite book|last1=McGinnis|first1=Maura|title=Greece : a primary source cultural guide|date=2004|publisher=Rosen Pub. Group|location=New York|isbn=978-0823939992|edition=1st}} The dance has no set steps, only certain figures and a circular movement. It takes place in an area little surpassing one square metre and mostly consists of improvised movements.{{cite book|last1=Holst|first1=Gail|title=Road to rembetika : music of a Greek sub-culture : songs of love, sorrow, and hashish|url=https://archive.org/details/roadtorembetikam00hols/page/268|url-access=registration|date=1994|publisher=D. Harvey|location=Athens|isbn=978-9607120076|page=[https://archive.org/details/roadtorembetikam00hols/page/268 268]|edition=Reprinted with amendments 1994.}}
Occasionally dancers perform feats such as standing on a glass of wine or a chair or fireplace, or picking up a table, adding a sense of a little braggadocio and humor.{{cite web|last=Many authors|script-title=el:Ζεϊμπέκικος|url=http://www.dance-pandect.gr/pds_cosmos/pop/pop_lhmma_gr.php?oid=E-F198C&ActionP=Play&mode=Med&Obj=T&eid=E-F198C&aa=1|work=Pandect: The World of Greek Dance|access-date=19 June 2013|language=el}}
See also
References
{{Reflist|2}}
{{Greek dances}}
{{Music of Southeastern Europe (the Balkans)}}
{{Authority control}}