Greece Culture: Roumeli Music and Dance

This region is basically the same as what is called Sterea Ellada, or Central Greece, the area bordered by the Gulf of Corinth in the south, Thessaly in the north, the Ambracian Gulf on the west, and the Aegean on the east. As with the Peloponnese, the best known dances here are the Sta Tria, Syrtos/Kalamatianos, and the Tsamikos. There are two local dances, however. One of these is the Kangeli, danced either in a line or free style. The step is that of the mainland syrtos /kalamatianos, as the dance begins with the kalamatianos rhythm and moves into the syrtos. Near Ipati in the region of Lamia, there is a local Easter dance found in the villages of Neohori and Loutra known as 'klistos'.

The name means 'closed', and refers to the handhold, where linked elbows or hands close the spaces between the bodies of the dancers. The rhythm is that of the tsamiko and performed to the antiphonal singing of the dancers. It is danced on the afternoon of Easter Sunday at Loutra and led sometimes by the pappas (Orthodox priest) as is the custom with many Easter dances in various parts of Greece. Men and women dance in separate lines, the women's line on the inside of the circle. In the village of Neohori, rather than at Easter, it is danced on three specific saints' days in late July , and with men and women in the same line, but with the men first, and is never led by women.