Different manifestations of dance education in modern Greece

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The article below was originally written as an undergraduate assignment for the Greek Open University in 2008, during a period when the author’s academic skills were still developing. Although the quality of this article does not match that of later examples of the same author’s work, it is written in a thorough manner and contains useful information for students and other readers with non-specialised knowledge; therefore, it has been proudly included on this website.

The reader needs to be warned that the original assignment, on which this article was based, was written in Greek and was intended to be read by specialised academics. Despite the author’s best intentions to present his essay in the clearest way possible, some points and arguments might still be lost in translation. The author recommends that readers consult the web for additional information on any unfamiliar words or specialised vocabulary.

The author admits that the bibliography for this article is limited, as required for an undergraduate assignment of this level. The author did not include any additional bibliography during the translation of his work into English due to time and access limitations. It must also be noted that the original bibliography for this article was studied from translated copies in Greek; therefore, the page numbers suggested in the citations below match the page numbers of the translated copies and not the original volumes.

Introduction

This article discusses the different manifestations of dance education in Greece during the transition to the 21st century. Here, the term dance education is not limited to private dance schools, athletic unions and competitive dance events. Dance education is discussed through multiple perspectives that focus on dance as a broader social practice, including theatrical plays, cinema, music festivals, folk celebrations, nightlife, and television broadcasts. All these media contribute to the transmission of dance education in modern Greek society.

The paper is divided into four sections. The first section examines the contribution of dance schools and dance institutions in Greece during the last decades of the 20th century. Their contribution is noted in four dance genres: ‘artistic’, urban-folk, traditional and foreign. The second section discusses the importance of dance as a form of social expression. It explains how dance is transmitted to audiences and other participants in music festivals, theatrical plays, and folk celebrations. The third section discusses the social, yet mimetic, character of dance practice in nightlife and youth entertainment. Such entertainment is associated with younger generations and contributes to the dissemination of new ideas in dance practice, often tied to specific social ideologies. The fourth section discusses the contribution of modern media in the spread of dance education in modern Greece, with particular reference to television. This spread is mostly tied to the commercial exploitation of dance practice in line with market strategies promoted by the media industry. At the end of the paper, a final section presents a summary and brief conclusions regarding the modern dance education system. The summary also compares some social factors that enhance or distort the assimilation of dance practice in modern Greece.

Modern dance schools in Greece

The first independent dance instructors and dance schools appeared in Greece during the 1920s; however, their official recognition as state-regulated art schools came much later. In general, the legislation and official framework for the operation of such schools, as well as the networks of official support, were never in place until the 1980s. The first dance schools in higher education were established in 1983; they were placed under the supervision of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, which established specific operational guidelines, teaching materials, and exam schedules (Tsatsou-Symeonidi 2003, 156-70).

According to official guidelines, Greek dance schools are primarily expected to teach Western ‘artistic’ dance, associated with important modern dance movements in Europe. Unfortunately, nowadays there is a general misconception about ‘artistic’ dance in Greece, which is broadly described as ‘ballet’. The term ‘ballet’ in modern Greece has become synonymous with higher education and is associated with the economic and social elites. The popular perception of modern ‘ballet’ is a series of dance exercises that are part of rhythmic gymnastics and differ little from the Olympic sport.

In its historical course, ballet was developed in 19th-century Europe and was directly associated with opera. At the beginning of the 19th century, there were two styles of ballet: Russian and German. The latter was highly influenced by Romanticism and was also the first to be introduced in the early Greek state. The evolution of 19th-century ballet led to modern ballet and several other forms of Western artistic dance, such as expressive dance, the ‘American’ dance, German Tanztheater (or dance theatre), and American post-modern dance, which characterise the last few decades (Tsatsou-Symeonidi 2003, 156-70).

In practical terms, modern dance schools and dance unions in Greece tend to mainly teach traditional folk dances, followed by foreign dances, which are the aforementioned developments of classical ballet. The teaching of artistic dance in Greece has always been rare due to a number of historical reasons: firstly, due to the absence of formal dance practice during the Byzantine era; secondly, due to the loss of contacts with the West during the Ottoman occupation period; thirdly, due to the sudden intrusion of foreign artistic dances in the newly founded Greek state; fourthly, due to the political divisions between ‘traditional’ and ‘artistic’ dance styles in modern Greece; fifthly, due to the broader neglect of artistic dance by the mainstream media; and finally, due to the non-existence of an updated higher education framework concerning dance practice in modern Greece. The above reasons probably caused a delay in the development of artistic dance in Greece, which was not noted in other genres of dance practice (Tsatsou-Symeonidi 2003, 179).

The greatest efforts to promote artistic dance in modern Greece are made primarily by State Dance Institutions and, secondarily, by a few private and independent dance groups. The National Theatre and the Lyric Scene of Athens strongly promote plays of ‘classical’ art until nowadays, which attract a significant number of viewers. An important innovation of the National Theatre was the integration of artistic dance in modern adaptations of ancient Greek drama. Particularly after the 1980s, artistic dance classes have been introduced in most drama schools in the country, allowing younger generations of actors to perform choric parts in ancient Greek tragedies and comedies. Other dance institutions, such as the Centre of Classic Ballet, the Aenaon Dance-Theatre and the State Theatre of Northern Greece, promote a variety of artistic dance styles. A supplementary role in the spread of artistic dance in Greece is played by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, which often sponsors young dancers' studies with state grants. Additional publicity for artistic dance is provided by the local municipalities, which sponsor dance competitions and other events. An example is the annual competition for young choreographers, which was introduced in 1989 by the Municipality of Athens (Tsatsou-Symeonidi 2003, 174-8).

Although there have been significant efforts over the last three decades to cultivate and promote artistic dance genres in Greece, consumer preferences have varied. Most Greek audiences attend private dance schools to study traditional folk dances, which are combined with other urban folk styles. Such genres have been closely linked to a social demand for the preservation of Hellenicity, which is part of Greek cultural identity (Koutsouba & Lekkas 2003, 35). Traditional folk dances have been heavily modified and formalised for teaching; in fact, one can claim they have almost lost their originality, so that they are no longer traditional but only seem traditional on the surface. Such genres are often called ‘folk-like’. Their transformation is due to the disengagement of dance practice from the social occasions, social context and social requirements, which once served the needs of traditional communities within their confined geographical boundaries (Gyftoulas 2003, 228). If this situation were described in simpler terms, one would imagine a traditional dance brought into an urban art studio to be taught to students from diverse social, cultural, geographical, and economic backgrounds. The formalisation required for the teaching of this specific dance would have undermined the special symbolism it once projected in rural societies, defining its original context.

Regarding urban-fork dances, which are the zeibekiko, the karsilamas, the chasapiko, the chasaposerviko and the chifteteli, these stand between traditional and popular dance types (Tyrovola, 2003, 127). They were originally associated with the rebetiko music genre, which prevailed in the entertainment of the ‘urban-folk’ social groups of the late 19th century (Tyrovola 2003, 131). At the time this paper was written in 2008, the above dances were the most popular in contemporary entertainment and nightlife. According to the author’s personal view, the popularity of such urban-folk dances in the early 2000s was due to the commercial exploitation of urban-folk music, which defined the popular culture of that period. This commercial exploitation generated interest in the study of urban-folk dances in private dance schools, as well as in the practical mimicking of such choreographies with random improvisations, which was a popular trend amongst amateur dancers in the nightclubs of the early 2000s.

As with traditional dances, the social changes that have accompanied the evolution of urban-folk dances from the early 19th century to today have produced significant modifications in their choreographic structure. The zeibekikos was a warlike dance originally performed by two dancers who faced each other, each carrying knives or other weapons. In the modern context, it evolved into a highly improvisational dance, performed by a single male dancer (Tyrovola 2003, 132). The karsilamas used to follow the same origins and structure as the zeibekikos; however, nowadays, there is no difference in their dance moves. The only practical distinction between the two concerns the rhythm of their music (Tyrovola 2003, 134-6). The chasapiko and the chasaposerviko have both evolved into a popularised form of syrtaki, which was internationally established through the film Zorba the Greek by Michael Cacoyiannis in 1964 (Tyrovola 2003, 139). The chifteteli is nowadays characterised by numerous variations, which are based on a plethora of improvisations built on specific dance moves. The most popular form of modern chifteteli is heavily mixed with elements of belly dancing and is the simplest form of urban-folk dance, still carrying unstructured choreographic features from numerous historical periods. At the same time, the blending between the chifteteli and the rhythm of the mainland syrto has led to another variation of popular urban-folk dance known as ‘syrto-chifteteli’ (Tyrovola 2003, 144).

It is the author’s personal view that such lesions in the structure of urban-folk dance genres are due to the social multiplicity of the modern Greek society, in which the broader umbrella term ‘urban-folk’ does not represent specific social strata. For example, the ‘lumpenproletariat’ identity, if adopted within a Marxist framework, does not necessarily characterise rebetiko culture in modern Greece. In fact, it expresses the needs of different social groups through a simple form of rebetiko, constructed specifically for night-time entertainment, which has already discarded its original social codifications and norms. In the same sense, nowadays there is no need for the guild of modern butchers to identify through the secret codes of the chasapiko dance (Tyrovola 2003, 138). There is also no need for the mystic symbolisms of specific behaviours, such as the knife-flashing of the ‘efe’ (master or ‘efendi’ in Turkish) in the zeibekikos dance (Tyrovola 2003, 132). Interestingly, modern Greek society is under the false impression that such dance codes and symbolism constitute traditional ‘Greek’ trademarks. The linguistic roots of such dance-names (e.g., zeibeck, karsi, kasap, and chiftetelli) most likely reveal something entirely different.

Western dances in Greece are grouped under broader umbrella names, primarily related to their geographic origins (e.g. ‘European’, ‘Latin-American’, etc.), or their chronological context (e.g. ‘modern’, ‘contemporary’, etc.). They all associate with entertainment and its social norms, and they all became popular during the 1960s. Although such dances are commonly promoted as ‘modern’, in reality, they bear no resemblance to modern artistic dances. They are characterised as ‘modern’ because of their differences from traditional dances and their popularity amongst urban youths (Koutsouba & Lekkas 2003, 187-90).

‘Modern’ dances are popular for a number of reasons. First of all, they promote eroticism due to their confined grips, which are more evident in ‘European’ dances. Secondly, they are renowned for the freedom of motion and expression offered by their open grips, particularly in ‘Latin-American’ dances. Finally, they support improvisation and innovation through the use of multiple grips, steps, and moves, which have become the trademark of all ‘modern’ dances after the 1960s. The teaching of such foreign dances led to the development of competitive modern dance. This began with informal dance competitions in 20th-century ballrooms, and has now evolved into a series of athletic dance styles taught by modern private schools, gyms and other institutions (Koutsouba & Lekkas 2003, 187-90).

Nowadays, the most popular ‘European’ dance in Greece is tango, which is taught in both its European and Latin American forms (Koutsouba & Lekkas 2003, 192-4). Tango competitions are also popular, while older ‘European’ dances, such as waltz and foxtrot, have fallen out of fashion. The modern Greek audience is particularly interested in ‘Latin-American’ dances, such as rumba, samba, mambo, cha-cha-cha and bayo. In recent years, elements from the above dances have been incorporated into popular folk-urban songs that are not necessarily ‘Latin-American’ in execution, e.g., the so-called ‘Chiotis Mambo’, which carries the particular signature of the composer Manolis Chiotis (1921-1970). The infiltration of ‘Latin-American’ dance forms is also evident in some typically traditional Greek dances, such as the syrtos, which remains subject to constant modification. A typical example of this amalgamation is the syrto-roumba (Koutsouba & Lekkas 2003, 199-205). The most recent import in 21st-century Greece is salsa, which is a typical ‘Latin-American’ dance. As for the ‘modern’ dances, these are of North American origins. They are associated with modern entertainment and are performed as a series of improvisations, often without specific choreography. Some impressive dances, such as the twist and the rock-and-roll, are still taught in Greek dance schools (Koutsouba & Lekkas 2003, 207).

Dance practice as a social manifestation

Traditional dance is the most popular genre in modern Greece, and it is associated with a wide range of social events. In rural areas, traditional dance is a customary or even ceremonial practice tied to important social activities within geographically confined communities (Zografou 2003, 33-7). Traditional dances are performed in public during important religious festivals, such as the name days of patron saints, or during important social occasions, such as baptisms and weddings. In both cases, traditional dances are part of popular or ceremonial events, which strengthen the identity of local or regional communities. During such events, the communities also promote their local character and local cultural autonomy, which contribute to the preservation of local cultural identity (Zografou 2003, 33-7).

In the author’s view, the urbanisation of the last five decades in Greece, along with the spread of popular culture through television, has produced a rupture between tradition and the dance practices of rural Greek communities. In the past, for example, the rural celebrations following religious festivals were dominated by traditional dances; nowadays, however, such festivals seem to have a rather ‘Pan-Hellenic’ dance character. The participant is likely to listen to island-style music and dance ‘traditional’ island dances, even in weddings that take place in the Greek highlands. This homogenisation of ‘traditional’ dances is also likely to be an official state policy in favour of a constructed ‘Pan-Hellenic’ cultural identity, which would override all other local (rural or urban) cultural identities.

In modern rural communities, the celebrations tied to religious festivals or other cult events tend to take place during the summer. This is due to large numbers of people visiting their hometowns and villages during their summer holidays, rather than a few local inhabitants. Furthermore, such celebrations, when held during the summer, tend to generate significant income for local communities through tourism. ‘Traditional’ dances are usually performed during folklore or ‘traditionalised’ festivals, which differ from those during religious festivals. Folklorism is not limited to the exploitation of tourism; it also extends to a form of local revival-cult, during which the members of rural communities maintain the feeling (or perhaps the illusion) that their communities are not alienated (Gyftoulas 2003, 230-1).

The promotion of artistic dance through various social events is almost entirely funded by government initiatives. In recent years, the Athens Festival, promoted by the Hellenic Tourism Organisation, has attracted famous artists and art groups that have captured the attention of a wide urban audience (Tsatsoy-Symeonidi 2003, 174). The prestige and the official character of such dance events are further strengthened by the use of preserved archaeological monuments, such as the Herodian Theatre at the slopes of the Athenian Acropolis.

The carnival is another important social occasion, which promotes dance, although not systematically. Greek carnivals are characterised by a joyful festive atmosphere, during which ‘Latin-American’ music is combined with the choreographies of Brazilian samba. Such events adopt foreign customs and are totally unrelated to the Greek-Orthodox religious context of the Apokria, the traditional equivalent of the Greek carnival. The spread of carnival culture in Greece is also assisted by the presence of foreign dancers, particularly samba performers from Brazil, during celebrations in the country’s most prominent municipalities (e.g., Patra, Drama, Moschato, etc.). At the same time, Greek dancers have the opportunity to practise or even copy the choreographies of Brazilian carnival dancers, thereby strengthening their dancing skills and enriching their knowledge (Koutsouba & Lekkas 2003, 205).

Dance practice in modern entertainment

Entertainment is probably the most popular industry through which dance is communicated to the modern Greek audience. In many Western consumerist societies, such as Greece, entertainment and nightlife are connected to the human need for social contact, through which people seek comfort from daily difficulties, financial worries, and work-related stress.

The specialisation of labour in production, the focus on economic growth in contemporary societies, the rules of the market and the strong competition amongst production units have led modern humans to a form of conscious isolation to assist their professional development, which is expressed as an esoteric form of individualism. This way of life, which characterises modern Westerners, is also evident in Greek society, despite its historical, religious and linguistic idiosyncrasies. Within this context, entertainment serves as an opposing force to social isolation and meets the human need to step outside the boundaries of individuality in favour of social contact. The choice of entertainment is defined by two parameters: first, the availability of free time to go out, and second, the financial resources to pay for it (Gyftoulas 2003, 226-8).

The most popular dances in modern Greek entertainment are urban folk, most often either zeibekikos or chifteteli. As explained in the first section, such urban-folk genres have nowadays lost their original character and social symbolism. Zeibekikos, for example, has evolved into a solo, highly improvisational dance, during which the dancer seeks to exaggerate his ego and stress his position or role within a group of homogeneous consumers. This attitude reflects the broader social isolation of the late 20th century and the promotion of people’s individualities to a point of social reference. In the author’s view, during such events, the dancers attempt to show off through deeply personal solo dances that mirror the broader social agony of modern humans, who wish to escape the dead ends of their own individual quests. This wish becomes desperate and pointless when combined with alcohol or drug consumption, which happens to be the case in modern nightlife.

The second most popular dance genres in Greece are imported and consist mostly of simplified versions of Western rock and pop hits. Such songs and their dances, which are also improvisational, are widely welcomed by the younger generations, particularly due to their ‘rebellious’ or ‘radical’ mentality. From the 1980s onwards, youth entertainment in disco bars, music halls, and nightclubs has become mainstream. Such entertainment follows the most popular, if not most commercial, trends of Western-style entertainment (Koutsouba & Lekkas 2003, 212-3). In the author’s personal opinion, modern dance practice in nightlife and entertainment is combined with other features of Western consumerist identities. Modern entertainment not only promotes the recycling of music and dance styles, but also supports the fashion industry, the consumption of pseudo-ideologies (e.g., anarchy and anti-social behaviour in punk music), and, finally, the consumption of legal or illegal substances, which ‘assist’ dancers in their performance. Unfortunately, in the popular urban culture of our times, intoxication and drug abuse have been welcomed as means which liberate the dancers from the constraints of modern isolation; in reality, this liberty is only a temporary illusion. The above norms are likely to have characterised the Greek context up until the early 2000s. From 2010 onwards, the prolonged economic recession of the new millennium has probably collapsed most of the Greek society’s entertainment codes.

It is important to note that, even today, the most popular dance styles in Greece are characterised by complete freedom of movement and improvisation. This free mobility is absent in other expressions of Greek daily life, probably due to a prolonged economic recession and the failure of open-market capitalism, which, in my opinion, is the result of government corruption and institutionalised favouritism. In this context, modern Greeks are forced to work longer and earn less, creating ongoing economic uncertainty and social disappointment. Although dance was once seen as a form of relaxation and a means of de-escalating social pressure, this condition cannot be satisfied any longer, at least in relation to entertainment.

Another problem is that modern societies are almost entirely defined by the relationship between the production and consumption of services and material resources. The satisfaction of this relationship does not allow the luxury of conscious free time, during which people can study something new. In modern Greece, dance studies are heavily neglected by the public and are often seen as an expression of elitism. In this context, dance schools have almost been replaced by nightclubs, where visitors can notice a modern paradox: the dancers are desperately trying to express their individuality, but in reality, they are only mimicking the expressions of individuality of the person dancing next to them!

Again, it is the author’s personal view that modern social isolation, which triggers selfish behaviours and a shift towards individualism, always comes at a cost, particularly in a heavily consumerist society. For example, participation in nightlife and entertainment in modern Greece depends on various economic factors, such as adhering to the proper dress code or booking a table at a popular dance hall. These requirements create another form of socio-economic stratification within the entertainment zone. In modern dance clubs, one often sees people who do not dance but prefer to observe the dancers as passive viewers. This phenomenon is likely to depend on a plethora of psychological, social and economic explanations; however, this needs to be analysed in a different paper.

Dance education in the popular media

When people talk about the spread of dance education through popular media, they mostly mean television broadcasts. Television broadcasts of dance events are powerful because they combine motion, music, and picture.

In Greek television, there are two distinct tendencies regarding the promotion of dance education. The first tendency is supported by state television networks, which have followed the same approach since the 1980s. The main goal of state television is to promote dance practice as a cultural process: it sponsors the production of entertaining and educational broadcasts designed to promote local culture. In practice, state television offers a plethora of broadcastings for the wide audience, which primarily focus on traditional/demotic dances and could be seen as a form of ethnographic research; they promote Western dances as expressions of ‘high’ culture; they broadcast popular dances related to the convoluted genre of Greek ‘artistic-folk’ music; they broadcast popular events from the ‘re-vie piste’ night-life (or dance-floor events); and finally they support journalism that produces theoretical concerns on modern dance activities (Mitropoulou 2003, 236-7).

The second tendency in Greek television is mainly driven by private networks, which promote dance as entertainment, restricting its role to amusement and recreation. More specifically, private television often does live ‘revie piste’ broadcasts, which copy the live music shows of contemporary nightclubs. On other occasions, private television networks broadcast music shows featuring dance performances that juggle between various ‘folk’, ‘traditional’, ‘modern’ and ‘Latin’ genres. A separate category of popular shows focuses on folklore dances and promotes dance as a tourist attraction. These shows are usually broadcast during national celebrations or important religious festivals. The form of dance education promoted by private television is, unfortunately, lacking originality. Such broadcasts are professionally directed by experienced choreographers, and the dances are executed by well-educated and trained performers (Mitropoulou 2003, 237).

In general, private television networks play a dynamic role in modern market economies by meeting consumer demand. In that sense, they cannot be seen as transmitters of cultural activities, but rather as promoters of commercial exploitation that focuses solely on profit. The main source of income for private television networks is product advertising, the effectiveness of which depends on the number of viewers who tune in to a specific broadcast. A show on artistic dance, for example, is likely to have fewer viewers than a show on folklore dance; therefore, the latter is likely to sell better and attract more advertisements for the television network. This rationale shows that television will mostly promote commercial dance genres. A paradox is perhaps the promotion of athletic (competitive) dance events by sport-related broadcasting, probably because of their popularity. Athletic dance is based on artistic dance forms; therefore, without being aware of this, private television promotes a form of camouflaged kinetic artistry. Such sport broadcasts are likely to change the habits of the Greek audience in relation to their appreciation of artistic dance (Mitropoulou 2003, 239-40)

At this point, one needs to consider the latest theories regarding television's influential role on its viewers. In recent years, television was seen as a distortion of reality and a danger to its audience, while viewers were treated as a manipulated mass. Nowadays, social studies accept that the viewers are active receivers of messages, who perceive and interpret them in different ways through a series of complex psychological mechanisms, based on personal experiences and other perceptions (Mitropoulou 2003, 238). In the author’s view, television's role in modern Western societies is to provide entertainment for viewers shaped by individualism and rising social isolation. In reality, modern viewers are still seeking to satisfy their need for socialisation, which is restricted to nightlife and popular entertainment. It is likely that television offers a cheaper form of such popular entertainment, which, in other circumstances, would have been defined by a combination of free time and money dynamics.

Summary and conclusions

Dance education in modern Greece is not only offered by public institutions but also state-recognised private schools; furthermore, dance is practised and communicated to the public in other ‘educational’ fields, such as theatres (e.g. the National Theatre of Greece and the Lyric Scene of Athens), official dance festivals, folk celebrations, nightclubs and other popular media (e.g. television). The so-called traditional dances have, in reality, been transformed into dances that reflect broader economic and social distortions in Greek rural areas. Traditional dances are primarily promoted as folklore events to boost local tourism and maintain a distinct, if not entirely invented, local cultural identity. Even small-scale local religious celebrations, such as baptising events, weddings and name-days, have nowadays adopted a ‘pan-Hellenic’ dance character. During such events, urban folk dances are the most popular, particularly those which are repeated in nightclubs and other forms of popular entertainment. Modern entertainment, on the other hand, expresses the people’s wish to escape the constraints of individuality. Individuality has already diminished the nature of urban folk dances, which have evolved into highly improvisational, egocentric forms of expression. The second most popular dances for the Greek audience are foreign, most likely due to their ideological impact on the youths. In the current education system, foreign dances are divided into artistic, ‘European’, ‘Latin-American’ and ‘modern’. The latter are usually competitive dances, such as the athletic artistic dance, tango and salsa. In nightlife, the most popular foreign dances are based on improvisational forms of Western rock and pop.

The lack of free time for recreation in modern Greece, due to long working hours, professional insecurity, and economic recession, has turned local nightclubs and other entertainment venues into dance schools. In such places, self-projection and show-off, which are seen as expressions of individuality, become group-mimicking features of mass culture. The promotion of dance by mimicking others has also become the norm in many social occasions, such as the Apokreo festivals, which copy Brazilian carnivals with samba processions. Finally, television and other popular media follow market trends and prefer to promote commercial dance genres, such as urban folk and ‘revie piste’. Athletic dance is an exceptional case, as its origins are artistic, yet it remains a commercial genre with high viewing rates. Although state television used to promote the cultural nature of dance practice in Greece, over the last ten years, there has been a change of policy. Regarding the promotion of dance practice on television, the Greek audience is generally receptive; however, the current conditions of extreme consumerism and individualism, combined with a demand for non-intellectual entertainment, have restricted the role of dance practice to recreation. Furthermore, recreation and entertainment still follow the law of production and consumption, which governs the global market and has no quality standards.

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