1. The Countries

1.1. Greece (Ελλάδα)

I think everyone knows that Greece is viewed as the cradle of Western culture. Many of the dominant themes in Western philosophy, political structures, science, and the arts originate in this country. So, I’ll spare you the long lesson on the ancient Greeks and focus on relatively recent events.

Greece is in the southern part of the Balkans. It shares land borders with Albania, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Türkiye (Turkey). In addition to the mainland peninsula, the country includes several islands in the Ionian and Aegean Seas. These islands have dance and music cultures different from those on the mainland.

Until the middle of the 19th century, Greece was part of the Ottoman Empire, so one finds important Turkish cultural influences. Don’t get a Greek or a Turk on the topic of whether the specialized coffee of the region should be called “Greek coffee” or “Turkish coffee”. But Greece largely retained the Orthodox Christian religion that emerged from the Eastern (or Byzantine) Roman Empire that preceded the Ottomans. The Greeks were widely recognized as the merchant class of the Ottoman Empire, and prior to World War I, they had significant communities in what is now Türkiye and Bulgaria.

After a war of independence from the Ottomans and after being on different sides during World War I, the Greek populations of Türkiye and the Turkish populations of Greece were forcibly exchanged. This resulted in several musical and dance traditions in Greece that look more Turkish than Greek. The people of Pontos, who left Türkiye for Greece, brought the dance styles of Türkiye’s Black Sea region with them. Similarly, Greek populations who lived in Bulgaria were forcibly relocated to what is now Greece. Greece has had its fair share of recent political upheavals. It has been ruled as a fascist dictatorship by a junta of generals and as a parliamentary democracy. There are ongoing tensions with Türkiye, especially over the island of Cyprus, and until very recently, with North Macedonia.

1.2. Albania (Shqipëria) and Kosovo

Until relatively recently, Albania was a total mystery to most Westerners. This happened because, like North Korea now, Enver Hoxha’s Marxist dictatorship tightly controlled Albania, closing the country completely to the West.

The Albanians speak a language very different from that of their neighbors, and the region is highly mountainous and isolated. But in terms of dance culture and costume at least, Albanians have a great deal in common with the Greeks in the nearby province of Epirus. Unlike the Greeks, many Albanians converted to Islam under the Ottomans. However, under the Marxist regime in the 20th century, religion was highly suppressed. If you look at a map of Albania, you’ll see that it’s actually very close to southern Italy. There are significant Albanian communities in Italy who fled the communist regime in their home country, and these communities continue to perform the dances and songs of their homeland.

In the last 30 years or so, Albania has been in conflict with many of its neighbors. There have been riots and battles between Slavs and Albanians in North Macedonia. But the most famous conflict has been over the new country of Kosovo. Traditionally, Kosovo was part of Serbia, but today it is majority Albanian. At the end of the 20th century, Serbia and the local Albanians fought a brutal war, which included genocide and terrible human rights abuses. The war, after intervention from the USA, the UN, and the EU, resulted in a highly divided independent state called Kosovo. Even today, different ethnic populations live within the same cities, but do not interact with each other at all. All groups fiercely cling to their ethnic identities. The Albanians of Kosovo have a strong music and dance tradition that closely mirrors that of their compatriots in Albania. The Serbians in Kosovo have a similar relationship with the dances of southern Serbia. In addition to these two communities, one also finds significant populations of Roma and other minority ethnic groups, each with their own music and dance.

Albania is roughly divided into two major cultural zones. In the south, there are the Tosks, whose dance and music are closely related to those of their neighbors in Greek Epirus. In the north, there are the Ghegs, whose music and dance reflect the influence of their neighbors in Kosovo, Macedonia, and southern Serbia.

2. Folk Costumes

The costumes of Albania and northwestern Greece (in particular Epirus) are very similar. The women wear long ankle-length dresses with red embroidered vests. An important distinction between Albanian and Greek women’s costumes lies in their headdresses. Albanian women wear headdresses that cover their hair. The men from both countries wear short puffy kilts called fusteanellë/foustanélla (φουστανέλλα) and white leggings. One striking feature of both Greek and Albanian costumes is the shoes (tsarouhi/τσαρούχι) with giant pompoms on the toes.

There are other regional Greek costumes. Two that are particularly notable are the men’s costumes from Pontos (now part of Türkiye), which are nearly identical to those from the Black Sea region of Türkiye, and the men’s costumes from Crete, which are strikingly blue.

3. Music

3.1. Greece

The most iconic instruments in Greek music are the bouzouki (μπουζούκι) and lauto (λαούτο), which give Greek music its distinctive sound. Other common instruments are the tsampouna bagpipe (τσαμπούνα), zourna (ζουρνάς), clarinet (κλαρινέτο), violin (βιολί), lyra (λύρα), and oúti/oud (ούτι).

• Typical Greek Taverna music
• Taverna music
• Island/Cretan music
• Cretan music
• Music from Epirus
• Pontic music
• Pontic music

3.2. Albania and Kosovo

By far the most prominent instrument in Albanian music is the clarinet. In Albanian Kosovo, the singing tradition is strong. Very traditional songs are polyphonic (meaning multiple voices). Polyphonic songs involve several different drone singers and people singing simple melodies at the same time,^[1] Popular Albanian music retains many of these traditional elements, but often adds electronification to the music. Other traditional instruments include the daire, the sharki, and the zumare.

• Albanian clarinet playing a Kaba followed by a Valle
• Polyphony
• Irini Qirjako
• Gezim Kaso
• Rexhip Sinaj

4. Dance

4.1. Albania

If you go to a wedding in Albania, you will almost certainly do one dance for most of the evening. This is the valle (which means “dance”), also known as Pogonishte. It is a simple two-bar figure that fits most Albanian popular recordings. The dance is identical to the dance done in nearby Greek Epirus, called the Pogonisios or Sta Dhio. A dance performed to impress visitors is the Valle Devolliçe, in which dancers perform large leaps and lifts. The lead dancer in Valle Devolliçe performs a move in which they fall backward onto the next few dancers, who hold them up.

• Acrobatic Valle Nga Korça
• Albanian Pogonishte/Valle
• Valle Devolliçe

4.2. Kosovo

In many Albanian villages, the men do a complex cycle of dances called Kallaqoja. What’s particularly interesting about this dance cycle is that several parts of it are rubato, meaning that there is no fixed meter. Instead, the musicians (usually a zurna player and a drummer) hit the beats based on what the lead dancer is doing. This style of dance is noteworthy for its slow pauses and balance. Leading the dance is a sign of leadership in the village.

Women’s dances from the region are typically associated with weddings. Since women are expected to leave their home village and move to their husband’s village, weddings are considered sad times for the bride and her family, as she will be very unlikely to see them again soon and will be moving in with a bunch of strangers. So many of the women’s dances are rituals of mourning for the soon-to-be departed bride. One such beautiful dance is Moj Hatixhe, which has the following translated lyrics (from Steve Kotansky):

My Hatixhe with the red scarf,
Your mother will color your hair with henna.
Your hair will be red and charmed by the spirits.
Does it pain you to leave your father and mother?
Father, mother, and two brothers?
I go to my husband, and old age will come to me.
I go to my husband, and old age will follow,
And the children will hang by my aprons.
The children will hang on my aprons,
And the workers will ask for food.
The workers will ask for food.
How I long to be a bride again!

• Kallaqoja
• Moj Hatixhe

4.3. Greece

There are many iconic dances done both nationally and regionally in Greece. Here is a selection: the Syrtos/Συρτός (2/4) and the Kalamatianos/Καλαματιανός (7/8) are essentially the same 4-bar dance. You find the basic dance and variations throughout the whole country. The Tsamikos/Τσάμικος is the dance meant to imitate the Cham people of southern Albania. The Zonaradikos/Ζωναράδικος is largely limited to the far northeast of the country in Thrace. It is nearly identical in music and structure to the Pravo Trakijsko of the Bulgarians to the north across the border. The Serra/Σέρρα is a fast-moving men’s dance typical of the dances of the Pontic people who were forcibly moved from Pontos in Türkiye. The dance is characterized by fast, quick, almost jerky movements and extremely fast, small steps. Hasapikos/Χασάπικος is a “butcher’s dance”; it comes in both slow versions and fast versions (sometimes called Hasaposervikos/χασαποσέρβικο). When you combine the fast and slow hasapikos together, you get a Syrtaki/Συρτάκι. The most famous syrtaki on film was the dance on the beach done by the lead characters in the movie Zorba the Greek.

Some dances are limited to just the islands. Pentozali/Πεντοζάλης is a fast but largely stationary dance characterized by fast foot movements from the islands. Another is the Island syrtos (also known as Syrtos Haniotikos, Syrtos Rodou, or Kritikos Syrtos), a variant of which is danced to the famous tune Misirlou.

One of the oldest and most interesting dances done by the Greeks is the Zeibekikos/Ζεϊμπέκικο. A version of this is also done by the Turks (who call it Zeybek). It may well have its origins in ancient shamanistic rituals. During the dance, the community gathers in a circle, kneels, and claps. A solitary dancer (historically, only men, but now women do it too) enters the center and assumes the role of an eagle, flying over the valleys and hunting below. In ancient times, the dancers may have been intoxicated and visualized themselves in the air. In modern times, the dancers are often impaired by alcohol, and it’s not clear that they think they are turning themselves into eagles, but they are still expected to demonstrate control and elegance.

• Syrtos/Kalamatianos
• Zonaradikos (Thrace)
• Tsamikos from Epirus
• Hasapikos (Syrtaki)
• Serra: Pontic dance from the Black Sea
• Pentozali Cretan dance (notice the very militaristic dance costumes)
• Syrtos Haniotikos (Kritikos)
• Zeibekikos
• Greek Pogonisios/Sta Dhio

Further Reading

• Cowan (1990), Crosfield (1948), Friedberg (2005), Hunt (1996), Karras (n.d.), Pappas (2011), Petrides and Elfleida (1961), Shetuni (2011), Stratou (1966). Full citations can be found in the References at the end of the book.
• https://www.albanian-folklore.com/dances/

Some Suggested Dances for Teaching

The following links take you to descriptions and instructions from my website, Folk Dance Musings, for dances appropriate for teaching to new dancers.

Albania:

• Valle
• Koritsa
• Çobankat
• Vallja E Dardhës

Albanian Kosovo:

• Kcim
• Vallja Hasan Aga

Greece:

• Ais Giorgis
• Sta Dyo
• Hasaposervikos
• Hasapikos
• Kalamatianos
• Syrtos
• Tsamikos
• Sampson
• Chala Chala
• Chiotikos
• Island Syrtos
• Zonaradikos

Discussion Question

Dances performed by Albanian communities in Prizren, Kosovo, are traditionally performed in gender-segregated lines, with men in the “lead” line and women following. By contrast, the almost identical dances done by members of the Roma communities in Gnjilane, Kosovo (only 25 miles away from Prizren) are done in mixed-gender lines where the sexes are allowed to touch each other. Reflect on the reasons why there might be such a significant difference between the two communities. In the context of an American folk dance class, is it okay to do the Prizren dance in mixed lines?