View source for Zeibekiko

{{Short description|Greek folk dance}}
{{pp-protected|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Expand Greek|Ζεϊμπέκικο|fa=yes|date=September 2022|topic=cult}}
{{Music of Greece}}

'''Zeibekiko''' ({{langx|el|Ζεϊμπέκικο}}, {{IPA|el|zei̯ˈbeciko|IPA}}) is a [[Greek dances|Greek folk dance]], similar to Turkish [[Zeybek (dance)|Zeybek]] dance.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chrysopoulos |first=Philip |date=4 April 2016 |title=Greek and Turkish Folk Dances With Common Origins, Still Popular Today |url=https://greekreporter.com/2016/04/04/greek-and-turkish-folk-dances-with-common-origins-still-popular-today/ |website=[[Greek Reporter]]}}</ref>

==Origin and history==

It takes its name from the [[Zeybeks]], an irregular militia living in the [[Aegean Region]] of the [[Ottoman Empire]] from late 17th to early 20th centuries.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Babiniotis|first1=Georgios D.|title=Lexiko Tis Neas Ellinikis Glossas|date=2002|publisher=Kentro Lexikologias|location=Athens|isbn=960-86190-1-7|page=707|edition=2nd}}</ref> It was first seen at the end of the 17th century in cities such as [[Constantinople]] and [[Smyrna]]. [[Evliya Çelebi]] mentions in his writings that it was danced in [[Manisa Province|Magnesia]] and in [[Aydın Province|Aydın]] at local feasts.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Πάλλης|first1=Α.|title=Σελίδες της παλιάς γενιτσάρικης Τουρκίας|date=1941|publisher=Εκάτη|location=Athens|page=231}}</ref> Originally a dance for two armed people facing one another, it developed into an improvised dance for a single male.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Tyrovola|first1=V.|title=The evolutionary process of the dynamics of popular urban culture: The case of Zeibekiko dance|journal=Proceedings of the 17th Symposium of the Study Group of Ethnoarchaeology|date=1994|pages=107–113}}</ref>

After the population exchange between Greece and Turkey in 1922, the dance became popular also in mainland Greece, in many songs of ''[[Laiko]]'' music.

==Characteristics==

The Zeibekiko usually has a rhythmic pattern of {{Time signature|9|4}}<ref>Kilpatrick, David. "Ethnomusicology", Vol. 6, No. 3, ''Canadian Issue'' (Sep., 1972), p. 577.</ref> or else {{Time signature|9|8}}. It is most commonly broken down as:

<score>
  \new DrumStaff \with{
    \override StaffSymbol.line-count = #1
  }
  \drummode {
    \time 9/8 {
      cl8[ cl16 cl16] cl8[ cl8] cl8[ cl16 cl16] cl8 cl8 cl8
    }
  }
</score>

or as:

<score>
  \new DrumStaff \with{
    \override StaffSymbol.line-count = #1
  }
  \drummode {
    \time 9/8 {
      cl16[ cl8 cl16] cl8[ cl8] cl16[ cl8 cl16] cl8 cl8 cl8
    }
  }
</score>

As a solo dance, it was traditionally performed by men, though it is now common for women to dance the Zeibekiko.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wichmann |first1=Anna |title=When Women Started Dancing Zeibekiko |url=https://greekreporter.com/2022/07/22/women-zeibekiko-movies-greek/ |date=22 July 2022}}</ref> Due to the movements of the dancer, it is sometimes known as the "eagle dance".<ref>{{cite book|last1=McGinnis|first1=Maura|title=Greece : a primary source cultural guide|date=2004|publisher=Rosen Pub. Group|location=New York|isbn=978-0823939992|edition=1st}}</ref> The dance has no set steps, only certain figures and a circular movement. It takes place in an area little surpassing one square metre and mostly consists of improvised movements.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Holst|first1=Gail|title=Road to rembetika : music of a Greek sub-culture : songs of love, sorrow, and hashish|url=https://archive.org/details/roadtorembetikam00hols/page/268|url-access=registration|date=1994|publisher=D. Harvey|location=Athens|isbn=978-9607120076|page=[https://archive.org/details/roadtorembetikam00hols/page/268 268]|edition=Reprinted with amendments 1994.}}</ref>

Occasionally dancers perform feats such as standing on a glass of wine or a chair or fireplace, or picking up a table, adding a sense of a little [[wikt:braggadocio|braggadocio]] and [[humor]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Many authors|script-title=el:Ζεϊμπέκικος|url=http://www.dance-pandect.gr/pds_cosmos/pop/pop_lhmma_gr.php?oid=E-F198C&ActionP=Play&mode=Med&Obj=T&eid=E-F198C&aa=1|work=Pandect: The World of Greek Dance|access-date=19 June 2013|language=el}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Antikristos]]
*[[Bouzouki]]
*[[Greek dances]]
*[[Hasapiko]]
*[[List of dances]]
*[[Rebetiko]]
*[[Kamilierikos]]
*[[Zeibekiko of Evdokia]]
*[[Zeibeks]]
*[[Zeybek dance]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{Greek dances}}
{{Music of Southeastern Europe (the Balkans)}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Greek dances]]