Letting go, looking good and holding on: Discovering a new tradition in Greek dance.

Note: This article was written by Alex and featured in the Winter 2009 edition of Greek Circle Magazine. Reprinted with permission.
Most people have heard the phrase “dance like no one is watching.” It encourages a person to let go of inhibitions, disregard surroundings and enjoy dancing for dancing’s sake. For us Greeks, however, dancing in private may be a little difficult. We dance in front of crowds at the local church festival, among hundreds of friends at the annual dinner-dance and even before entire villages. The tradition of dance is an important part of a Greek celebration because it joins all the elements of a great party—good food and drink, great friends and lively music. Visualize, if you will, the first dance steps of a bride and groom at their wedding reception. The bride traditionally leads the first dance, usually a Kalamatiano, followed by the groom, the parents and then the entire bridal party. Most of the time, the bride and groom are familiar with the steps. However, as Greeks increasingly marry non-Greeks, a Greek bride is likely leading a non-Greek groom who is trying to follow his wife’s dance steps while the bridal party cheers him on with shouts of “yasou,” and his father-in-law tosses handfuls of dollar bills into the air, which shower the couple with wishes of health and success as they go twirling to the floor. As the number of cross-cultural marriages increases, the wedding dance is adapted and a new tradition is born. While the dance continues to be a celebration, it now serves as a way to welcome the in-laws and friends into the quintessential “big fat Greek” family. As we invite others to grab hands and join in the dance, we ask those who are not Greek to be a part of the fun and become, shall I say, Greek by choreography. About ten years ago, I began giving dance lessons to couples and individuals who were preparing for their first Greek dance at their wedding reception. Most of the time one of the couple is Greek and the other is not, but both of them want to look good at their event. Whatever the skill level, my message to them is consistent—let go of inhibitions and enjoy the dance for yourself. The best way to look good while dancing, in my opinion, is to let go.

Learning the Tradition
I remember one of my first experiences teaching one-on one Greek dance lessons. My new student was a macho Italian guy engaged to a Greek girl. I showed up at the door with my boombox and music discs. He and his fiancée welcomed me in. We moved the living room furniture and rolled up the rug to create a practice space. Then he closed the blinds. “Someone might see,” he said cautiously. As the lessons continued, my student became more familiar with the dance steps and eventually the blinds stayed open. He no longer cared if anyone was watching— he was dancing for himself, and for his wife-to-be. His steps looked good but, more important, he was having a great time. He had let go of his inhibitions and, at the reception, truly danced like no one was watching. It’s easy to tell when someone becomes comfortable enough to “let go” during a dance—their steps go from practiced to playful. For instance, I had another student who, after several lessons, showed up with a CD of Kentucky bluegrass music. He popped in the disc and demonstrated how the Kalamatiano step fit the rhythm of the bass and the twang of the banjo. To anyone else, it may have seemed odd, but to him it made sense. He let go, and he looked great. That was my last lesson with him. My work was done.

Spreading the Tradition
I continued to teach one-on-one dance lessons until the summer of 2007. My friend Harry G. approached me at a summer Greek food festival and suggested we produce an instructional dance DVD. After weighing the possibilities and obstacles, we decided that while the challenges of the project offered were huge, the project was necessary. If there were Greeks in Chicago who were looking for a resource to teach them how to dance, how many others in remote and isolated Greek communities had a similar need? Harry and I moved forward with the idea. We spent the remainder of that summer in pre-production, shot the footage later that fall, and plunged ourselves into a two-year-long adventure that resulted in the two-disc DVD series titled Now You Can Dance–Greek. We released the DVD online in June 2009. The day after its release, we received our first order—from South Africa. If we ever doubted the demand for these discs, that doubt was erased. Now You Can Dance – Greek is for everyone, whether you’re a guy who wants to polish up his Zeïmbekiko moves and Tsamiko kicks, a group of students who want to perform a Hasapiko at their school talent show, or a bride who wants to impress her in-laws. We’re encouraged to know that people worldwide can make their Greek celebration a time when everyone can join in the circle and become, even for just a few hours, Greek by choreography. As they take hands and move in a continuous spiral, inhibitions are let go. By letting go, they look good, and hold on to a rich tradition of Greek dance that is easily passed on to others anxious to grab hold of the white handkerchief and dance for themselves… no matter who is watching.
by Alexander Kapotas
www.NowYouCanDance.com