Chasapiko
Chasapiko , Hassapikos ( Greek Χασάπικο ) or Makelarikos ( Greek Μακελλάρικος ) is a Greek folk dance - originally the dance of the butchers' guild . Chasapis (Greek: χασάπης - from the Turkish Kasap ) and Makelaris (Greek Μακελλάρης - from the Italian) mean butcher in Greek.
The dance comes from Constantinople ( Istanbul ), from the Byzantium period , and was danced at special festivals of the butchers' guild. It is danced in a 4/4 rhythm by one or more people next to each other with shoulder setting. The dance is a free dance that has no set sequence of steps and is danced in a stationary manner. The musical phrase generally has 8 bars, with some songs a 6-bar phrase is inserted. The step combinations of the dance phrase are strictly to match the musical phrase. Although there are no prescribed step combinations, so-called basic step sequences and basic figures have emerged as the standard. These are then planned in advance to match a song or lined up in an improvising way.
Similar dances are popular under various names across Southeast Europe and the Mediterranean . For example in Turkey as Kasap Havasi, in Bulgaria and Serbia as Kasapsko or in the Arab world as Debka .
In Michael Cacoyannis ' film Alexis Sorbas , Anthony Quinn danced a sirtaki to the music of Mikis Theodorakis , which became the most famous form of Greek dance internationally. The Sirtaki was created especially for the film and is an implementation of the Chasapiko. In Sirtaki the slow Chasapiko changes into the fast Chasaposerviko . Because of its popularity, the Sirtaki - actually a Chasapiko - is very common at celebrations and folk dance evenings in the tourist area of Greece.
There were variants of Chasapiko depending on the location. E.g. Navtiko (of the Navy) or the Koulouriotiko from Salamis .