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

rhythm Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular re ...

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 repertoire ...

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

and the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

. In Turkish the word means "double stringed", taken from the

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 regu ...

playing style that is practiced in this kind of music. There are suggestions that the dance existed in

ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity ( AD 600), that comprised a loose collection of cu ...

, known as the Aristophanic 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