The Tsifteteli ( el, τσιφτετέλι; tr, ), is a rhythm and

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

of Anatolia and the Balkans. In

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

the word means "double stringed", taken from the violin playing style that is practiced in this kind of music. There are suggestions that the dance existed in ancient Greece, known as the

Aristophanic Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Kydathenaion ( la, Cydathenaeum), was a comic playwright or comedy-writer of ancient Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. Eleven of his fo ...

dance

Cordax The cordax ( grc, κόρδαξ), was a provocative, licentious, and often obscene mask dance of ancient Greek comedy. In his play ''The Clouds'', Aristophanes complains that other playwrights of his time try to hide the feebleness of their plays b ...

, even though such a thesis is not fully evident. Furthermore, it is historically never spotted in Greece before the Greek-Turkish population exchange of 1923, and no dance in native Greek tradition shows similarities with the specific dance.Tsifteteli - kordax
''Hē Lexē'': volumes 21-28 Nowadays it is to be found not only in Greece and Turkey, but also in the whole of the Southeastern Mediterranean region..

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsiftetelli European folk dances Arabic music Folk music genres Armenian dances Armenian music Assyrian dances Balkan music Belly dance Greek music Greek dances Macedonian music Middle Eastern dances Turkish dances Turkish music Turkish words and phrases

See also

References