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Dances of Leros
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| Dancing is of extreme importance in the Lerian society, at weddings, christenings, engangements and other happy occasions music, singing and dancing are of primary importance to Lerians. The most important dance is ISOS (straight) a slightly slow dance it is also called Lerikos or Stavrotos because the dancers have to cross hold hands. Other dances are Sousta (a springy dance) Ballos (couples facing each other) Mechanikos (mainly a Kalimnian dance but is also celebrated in Leros) it is the story of the sponge diver that has lost function of his legs due to the sea pressure. It is not a sad dance because the dance carries the story of hope, were the Mechanikos (sponge diver) barely manages to pull his own weight the one moment but springs onto a great dance the next! Other dances are called Piperi (pepper) Skoupa (broom) to name a few.
Of course all other dances such as Zeimpeikiko, Karsilamas, Xasaposerviko etc are seen danced in the island. |
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Here I must mention the Instructive and Cultural Lerian Youth Society "Artemis". Founded in 1978 its mission is to raise the cultural levels in Leros and preserve Lerian customs. Its subgroups include drama, chess, music, photography, literature to name a few. But the most important contribution in my opinion has been in the representation of the Lerian Dances in the surrounding islands and abroad as well as teaching the younger generations to appreciate the dances and the customs of the island. I remember many years ago as a youngster I participated in the subgroups and found many friends who shared the same passion of learning and preserving our customs. Their base is at Platanos and they often participate in festivals during summer with their dance groups or will have some theatrical production delivered by their drama groups. You may wish to visit their website: http://www.artemisleros.homestead.com/ |
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Artemis cultural group dancers
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| Listen to an extract of"Isos" or "Lerikos" dance. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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