Heritage in Motion: Greek Folk Dances as Cultural Memory and Resistance

About My Project

I recently had a conversation with one of my friends who expressed her interest in Turkish and Greek folk dances. As a Greek and a dancer myself, I was surprised, as I have purposefully distanced myself from Greek folk dances because it feels “too Greek” or old-fashioned for me. Even though I am very passionate about the contributions of dance in culture and history, when it comes to my own identity, I experience shame instead of pride. Having lived outside Greece for the past 5 years, I sometimes see the Greek diaspora connecting traditional folk dances to a more conservative Greek culture. As a result, many people –including myself– might relate folk dances to conservatism, while their history is in fact linked with resistance movements and community building.

This project will explore the transformation of different folk dances into expressions of everyday life, storytelling, celebration, and community from ancient Greece to modern day festivals named “πανηγύρια" (panigiria). I will explore the common themes that songs talk about including unity, love, romance, highlighting traditional Greek values. Greek folk dances have also played a crucial role in preserving Greek identity, serving as a counter-narrative to assimilation or erasure. I will also draw comparisons internationally of other traditional dances developed during times of oppression, such as Capoeira and Pantsula.

Overall, this project aims to propose a new perspective that will allow me to reconnect with my roots by reframing cultural dances from being rooted in nationalism to an expression of freedom, equality, and independence.

Cretan dancers #5 is a photograph by Manolis Tsantakis which was uploaded on May 31st, 2012.

About the Gould Center

To enhance CMC's mission to educate leading minds, the Gould Center for Humanistic Studies provides opportunities for research, study, and experience in art, literature, history, philosophy and other fields as a means to understand and develop the power and use of the imagination. The Gould Center provides mutual research opportunities for students and faculty in the humanities and emphasizes the relationship of the humanities and the moral imagination through special programs in a range of fields including music, art, and literature. The Gould Center accomplishes its goals by sponsoring research and visiting fellowships, lectures, seminars, artistic and musical performances, and traveling fellowships.

Humanities Passion Projects

Over winter break, students pursue their passions by participating in our Humanities Passion Project Initiative. These are all short-term “passion projects” connected in some way to humanistic inquiry. We are grateful to the Keck Center for International and Strategic Studies for partnering with us on this initiative.

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