The Dance of Osman Taka ( sq, Vallja Çame e Osman Takës); el, Οσμαντάκας or Σαμαντάκας) is a traditional dance in Albania and Greece. In Albania it is mainly danced by

Cham Albanians Cham Albanians or Chams ( sq, Çamë; el, Τσάμηδες, ''Tsámidhes''), are a sub-group of Albanians who originally resided in the western part of the region of Epirus in northwestern Greece, an area known among Albanians as Chameria. T ...

. The dance bears the name of

Osman Taka Osman Resul Taka (died 1887) was a Cham Albanian dancer and unclear personage from 19th century. The Dance of Osman Taka is named after him. His early life is not clear. He belongs to the Taka clan of Filiates, also known for Alush Taka, an Albani ...

, a 19th-century Muslim Cham Albanian guerilla fighter who fought against Ottoman forces. It is a famous variation from the Albanian Cham repertoire of the older ''Çamçe'' dance.

Background

Osman Taka was jailed in Yanina and was sentenced to death. When he was asked to give his final wish, he wanted to dance. The folk tradition says that his dance was so beautiful that the local Albanian gendarmes of the Ottoman army, did not execute him. After some days he was caught again and was killed in

Konispol Konispol ( sq-definite, Konispoli) is the southernmost town in Albania. It sits one kilometer away from the Border crossings of Albania, Albanian-Greek border. The settlement is inhabited by Muslim Cham Albanians. Konispol is the modern centre of t ...

while fighting against Ottoman authorities .

Performance

The dance follows a strict tempo with emphasis in the "attitude, style and grace" of the dancer. It is a meter with steps "slow-quick-quick". The dance is a row dance, with a lead dancer performing skillfully executed steps. He then drops to his knees, arches his back and extends his chest upward, forming a bridge. The other dancers then step forward onto the lead dancer's stomach and dance on top of his stomach. The dancers hold each other from the hands, bend 90 degrees upwards at the elbows. It takes a sturdy hand, especially if you are supporting the first or last person of the line. This symbolizes the strength and centrality of the lead dancer as he forms a bridge with his body for the other men to cross over.

In Albania and Greece

The dance is part of the repertoire of Epirote music in Greece and of the Cham music in Albania. "In the case of a dance known in Southern Albania as "dance of Osman Taka" and in northern Greece as "Tsamiko. 3... Footnote " 3In some parts of northern Greece also termed "Osman Taka" and Samantaka."; p. 375. The Dance of Osman Taka is a Cham dance well known throughout Albania and has been performed at some number of national occasions.

Albania

The dance is performed alongside instrumental accompaniment of

lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...

with

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

alongside vocals. It is famous variation from the Albanian Cham repertoire of the older ''Çamçe'' dance.

Greece

In Greece the dance is called "Osmantakas" or "Samantakas" and it is danced in

Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinrich ...

. It is one of nine basic dancing genres (the other being Tsamikos, Syrtos in 3 steps, Syrtos in 2 steps, Pogonisios, Zagorisios, Kleftes, Fezodervenagas, Berati) of Epirus. The Osmantakas dancing genre has its distinct dancing style, it's exclusively danced in the correspondent song and it's not to be confused with any other dancing genre in Epirus. Apart from the traditional 8-measure motif, today it is also performed in a 4-measure motif, very similar to the Pogonios. In the typical fashion in the music of Epirus the specific song may sometimes be interrupted at the end and end up in Syrtos or Tsamikos rhythm. A general classification of the dancing genres in

Zagori Zagori ( el, Ζαγόρι; rup, Zagori), is a region and a municipality in the Pindus mountains in Epirus, in northwestern Greece. The seat of the municipality is the village Asprangeloi. It has an area of some and contains 46 villages known as ...

region of Epirus can classify Osmanatakas, as well as the Berati, Kleftes, Perdikomata, as variations of Tsamiko. This dance is supposed to have been the dance of the

Souliotes The Souliotes were an Orthodox Christian Albanian tribal community in the area of Souli in Epirus from the 16th century to the beginning of the 19th century, who via their participation in the Greek War of Independence came to identify with the ...

References