The first ever Zeibekiko festival will be held in Sydney, with dance master of Zeibekiko dance, Christos Shakallis coming from Cyprus on July 1 to July 10.
The event is curated and organised by Sophia Ventouris, of Ventouris productions. Zeibekiko festival offers kids and adults the opportunity to dance and take part in taverna nights that include a feast of mezethes, as well as show off their skills in dance shows and competitions. It also includes seminars and workshops on the history of Zeibekiko,
“I wanted the community to understand the history of Zeibekiko. I didn’t want, especially the kids, to think of Zeibekiko as a dance where you just kneel down, at the end of a wedding celebration. I wanted them to truly understand its roots and the history it carries,” said Sophia Ventouris to Neos Kosmos.
Zeibekiko has its origins are in Constantinople and Smyrni, and it was brought to Greece by Asia Minor refugees in 1922.
“Others consider it to be an ancient Thracian dance, or an ancient Greek dance,” adds Mrs Ventouris saying that “there are many different versions” about where the dance came from.
Sophia, has taught Greek dance and culture for 30 years in Sydney, and she wants “the kids to understand that Zeibekiko carries the history of an entire population that migrated to Greece after the Asia Minor Catastrophe in 1922,” forming “a new layer of people” who experienced deep sorrow, and loss.
Through these hardships Rebetika songs were born, and that music with dance expressed feelings associated with the tragic experiences of defeat, sadness, and despair.
Over time, “just like everything else in life,” Zeibekiko evolved, to suit the needs of different groups of Greeks. Even though it is performed solo and was traditionally danced by men, women have broken gender stereotypes, and take part actively in Zeibekiko.
During the festival there will be a workshop focusing on Zeibekiko movements suitable for women.
Ventouris focuses on the importance of “remembering the beauty of this dance’s history” and explains how it started from a “more traditional kind of dance, and somehow became this more laiko type of Zeibekiko dance that we know today.”
A movement was created by Thomas Kolovos in Elefsina, who recently managed to “include Zeibekiko in the national index of cultural heritage,” recognising its cultural and historical significance.
Sophia says Christos Shakallis is a true “ambassador of Zeibekiko,”who goes to a “different country every two or three weeks,” to spread Zeibekiko.
Ever since she saw him dancing, 10 years ago, she was struck by his dancing skills, thinking that one day they would work together. And as it turns out, she was not wrong.
The festival begins on July 1, with a meet and greet with Christos Shakallis who also performs Cypriot and Zeibekiko dancers.
The event includes Cypriot dance and Zeibekiko workshops and seminars, historic explorations of different forms Zeibekiko, and will culminate in a show spectacular July 8. It will includes some of Greek cinema’s most iconic Zeibekiko music and songs that have embedded themselves in Greek culture.
Sophia says that even though the festival started off as a small-scale event, it has grown into something a bigger than she expected. She has already arranged to visit Adelaide with Christos.
Ventouris’ hope is that the festival serves as an “enlightening” experience, for the Greek children of Diaspora, and that it reignites a passion for Hellenic history and traditions.