Syntazontai Avgerines – The Nymphs Gathered Syrtós Sta Tría dance song from Thessaly, Greece

Track 2 from the CD Limani: Traditional Music from Greece and Asia Minor (Lavra Music 2016), available as a single or album from cdbaby.com cdbaby.com/cd/kostantiskourmadiasnikolasange
or you can order the CD from www.laurashannon.net

This exquisite Greek folk song about the dance of the nymphs was chosen as one of three worldwide link-up dances for World Circle Dance Day 2018.

Syntázontai Avgerinés is a very old traditional song, played in the old way, on the old instruments. The dance Sta Tría or Syrtós Sta Tría is one of the most widespread and ancient dances in Greece, in the family of three- measure dances which are found wherever circle dances still survive. It often serves a ritual purpose, as when danced to this song at Easter celebrations in villages near Karditsa, Thessaly.
Thessaly is known for its ‘nature-worshipping mysticism’ and its enduring mythology; many place-names and dance-songs refer to the Nymphs or Muses, female spirit beings associated with water, fertility, music, and dance. The ‘Avgerinés’ of this song are the Nymphs associated with the dawn star, o avgerinós (Venus). These sacred female beings are often referred to in Easter dance songs, hinting at a collective memory of spring mysteries of resurrection from pre-Christian times.
Traditional music and dance emphasise community, connection, and mutual support, ancient values which may be rapidly disappearing in the modern era but are still alive in Greece. The sacred hospitality famous in antiquity can still be found here: everyone is welcome to the dance circle, which is both hearth and harbour, a shelter for travellers to gather together around the warmth, light and shared joy of the dance – in this case, the sacred monastery or temple built by the dancing nymphs as they join hands and dance in the circle.... Come and dance with us!

свернуть