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Music
Music has always been an integral part of life in Greece. Cycladic figurines holding musical instruments resembling harps and flutes date back to 2000 BC. The Greek equivalent to the American blues are the rembetika. Rembetika was made popular in Greece by refugees from Asia Minor. Themes of rembetika centre on life, love and joy. Composers performing this style of music were Markos Vamvakaris, Vassilis Tsitsanis, Apostolos Kaldaras, Yiannis Papaioannou, Yiorgos Markopoulos, Dionyssis Savvopoulos, Yiannis Xenakis and Vangelis. Singers popular in Greece today include Yiorgos Dalaras, Stelios Kazantzidis, Dimitris Mitropanos, Eleftheria Arvanitaki amongst others.
Dance
Each region of Greece has its own dances, but the most common traditional dance around Greece is the kalamatianos, originated from Kalamata in the Peloponnese. Tsamiko, also popular, originated in Epirus. The Dora Stratou Dance Company and Hellenic Lyceum are two dance organizations dedicated to researching and presenting Greek folk dances.
The Greek lifestyle
The tourist image of Greeks as plate-breaking, souvlaki-swiveling people is fading away. Look beyond the stereotypes and you will notice Greece in terms of economic prosperity and organization. For the most part, Greeks differ little from their European partners in their living conditions and day-to-day functions.
Traditional gender roles have been broken and women enjoy an egalitarian status, socially and in the employment sector. Recent waves of foreigners drawn by the Greek lifestyle and refugees have made Greece a multicultural society.
Even so, it is nice to know that some things have not changed. Despite a rising divorce rate, family bonds are still close and act as a life support system on many occasions. The isolating effects of urbanization have not curbed traditional Greek hospitality. Greeks continue to be extremely extroverted and sociable, and celebrations (such as weddings) are highly festive occasions. Nightlife entertainment continues to be a thriving industry, and Greeks need entertainment options to express their joy of life, for the Greek capacity for enjoyment of life is innate and immediately evident.
A place of constant activity, day and night, one may wonder whether Greeks sleep at all. Climatic conditions make a midday nap necessary for many people and most offices run from 8am to 3pm (without lunch break) rather than 9am to 5pm. Shops have a broken timetable with morning and evening times to also allow for this break.
Greeks continue to cling to their traditions tenaciously, for it was this tradition and religion that ensured the survival of the Greek nation through hundreds of years of foreign occupation. Greeks today remain well aware of the hardships their forebears endured. Even hip, young Greeks defend these traditions and enthusiastically participate in many of them.
Christmas
St. Nicholas is important in Greece as the patron saint of sailors. According to Greek tradition, his clothes are drenched with brine, his beard drips with seawater, and his face is covered with perspiration because he has been working hard against the waves to reach sinking ships and rescue them from the angry sea. Greek ships never leave port without some sort of St. Nicholas icon on board. To members of the Eastern Orthodox Church, as are most Greek Christians, Christmas ranks second to Easter in the roster of important holidays. Yet there are a number of unique customs associated with Christmas that are uniquely Greek. On Christmas Eve, village children travel from house to house offering good wishes and singing kalanda, the equivalent of carols. Often the songs are accompanied by small metal triangles and little clay drums. The children are frequently rewarded with sweets and dried fruits.
After 40 days of fasting, the Christmas feast is looked forward to with great anticipation by adults and children alike. Pigs are slaughtered and on almost every table are loaves of christopsomo ("Christ Bread"). This bread is made in large sweet loaves of various shapes and the crusts are engraved and decorated in some way that reflects the family's profession.
Christmas trees are not commonly used in Greece. In almost every home the main symbol of the season is a shallow wooden bowl with a piece of wire is suspended across the rim; from that hangs a sprig of basil wrapped around a wooden cross. A small amount of water is kept in the bowl to keep the basil alive and fresh. Once a day, a family member, usually the mother, dips the cross and basil into some holy water and uses it to sprinkle water in each room of the house. This ritual is believed to keep the Killantzaroi away from the house.
There are a number of beliefs connected with the Killantzaroi, which are a species of goblins or sprites who appear only during the 12-day period from Christmas to the Epiphany (January 6). These creatures are believed to emerge from the center of the earth and to slip into people's house through the chimney. More mischievous than actually evil, the Killantzaroi do things like extinguish fires, ride astride people's backs, braid horses' tails, and sour the milk. To further repel the undesirable sprites, the hearth is kept burning day and night throughout the twelve days.
Gifts are exchanged on St. Basil's Day (January 1). On this day the "renewal of waters" also takes place, a ritual in which all water jugs in the house are emptied and refilled with new "St. Basil's Water." The ceremony is often accompanied by offerings to the naiads, spirits of springs.
Modern theatre
During the summer season presentations of ancient plays at ancient open-aired theatres are common. However, Greece has an impressive modern theatre scene as well. Some of those who have shaped the modern theatre scene are playwrights Iakovos Kambanellis and Bost, directors like Karolos Koun (founded the Theatro Technis), Spyros Evangelatos (founded the Amphi-Theatro) and many more. Actors who are well-known on the modern theatre scene include Katina Paxinou, Irene Pappas, Anna Synodinou and Lydia Koniordo. Younger actors are abundant, making theatre a thriving art in Greece.
Cinema
Greeks consider cinema as a choice entertainment, with a fostering Greek film industry. One of Greece's most acclaimed film directors is Theodoros Anghelopoulos, whose films have often received awards at both national and international film festivals. Recently, his film «An Eternity and a Day» won the Palme D'Or prize at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. Other well/known Greek film directors are Michael Kakoyannis and Nikos Koundouros. Local outdoor summer cinema theatres make film-watching under the stars a magical experience. Multiplexes like Village Center are beginning to also gain popularity.
Dances
Have a look at this pdf-file for information about the dance Syrtos
To read the file you need the free software Adobe Reader from Adobe or another pdf-viewer.
The Adobe Reader you can find on the homepage from Adobe under Support - Downloads.National Anthem
To listen the national anthem click here.