About the Greek Dance

By Alkis Raftis
Author  &  President  of Greek Dances Theatre “Dora Stratou” in Athens as well president of the INTERNATIONAL DANCE COUNCIL OF UNESCO

In the study of cultural phenomena of various societies, past and present, dance is one of the most neglected areas. Greek scholars are by no means the only ones culpable since this is the case all over the world. Anthropological studies in Greece, such as psychology and sociology, are still in their infancy, while related disciplines such as history and folklore studies have an overtly philological bias. Thus it is hardly surprising that there are no studies on the social aspects of Greek dance, indeed this subject has not even been dealt with descriptively.

In recent years, however, there has been an encouraging trend abroad towards the holistic study of dance. That is, it is not only regarded as a creative expression, an art, but as a social phenomenon, the focus of study for diverse disciplines including choreology, which is to dance the equivalent of musicology to music.

For more read the books:
The Greek Dances (book)
ORCHESIS-Texts on ancient Greek dance