DK Travel : Crete : Top 10 Traditional Songs and Dances

Crete : Top 10 Traditional Songs and Dances

No one has rated this yet.

Rate it

1. Haniotis

The haniotis is a dignified line dance for men and women that comes from Chania.
2. Pidiktos

The pidiktos , a dance from eastern Crete, involves great athletic leaps and bounds.
3. Pentozalis

The pentozalis’s sprightly rhythms are reminiscent of the jigs and reels of Irish and Scottish folk music.
4. Sousta

A flirtatious dance for the young, and a favourite at weddings and festivals.
5. Hasapikos (“Zorba’s Dance”)

The hasapikos or “butcher’s dance” provided inspiration for “Zorba’s Dance” in the film Zorba the Greek .
6. Siganos

The dignified siganos for groups of men and woman is a dance for any festival.
7. Mandinades

The traditional rhyming couplets – usually love songs – are typical of Crete’s rich oral tradition, which comes to the fore in local festivals.
8. Rizitiko

The rizitiko is Crete’s warrior dance, in which male performers act out scenes of combat and heroism.
9. Syrtos

Performed all over Greece, the syrtos is the best known of the Greek circle dances.
10. Rembetika

The Greek version of the urban blues, brought to Greece by refugees from Asia Minor in the 1920s, is popular with young Cretans.