Karsilama
Encyclopedia
Karsilamas is a Turkish folk dance spread all over Northwest Asia Minor and carried to Greece by Asia Minor refugees. The term "karsilamas" comes from the Turkish word "karşılama" meaning "face to face greeting"
The dance is still popular on Northwestern areas of Turkey, especially on wedding parties, festivals and so on.
In Greece
and Cyprus
there is a similar dance named, Antikrystos
. Antikrystos, translates also, as "anti-face", i.e., face-to-face.
Karsilamas is a couple dance that is still danced in what was the Ottoman Empire, from Persia to Serbia
, and in the Macedonia
and Thrace
regions of Northern Greece.
Figures of the dance may, vary from region to region but main theme is two people face each other, and music rythmically controls their next moves. Traditionally people dance without any figure on their minds, just figures they have seen from their elders.
The meter is 9/8, and the basic move is danced in four small steps with durations 2,2,2,3 respectively. The style and mood (bouncy, smooth, lively, etc.) vary depending on the region.
Cyprus
Antikrystos
- Καρσιλαμαδες, Rumeli Balkan karsilamas, Thrace
(Greece) Antikrystos
, Merzifon
Karsılaması, Edirne
Karsılaması, Komotini
(Greece
) Karsilamas - Aptalikos, Giresun
Karsılaması, Taraklı Karsılaması, Bilecik
Karsılaması, Old Karsilamas (Παληός Καρσιλαμάς), Pigi Karsilama (Πιγκί), Ayşe Karsilama (İskender boğazı)(Αϊσέ) (Η Αγάπη Είναι Καρφίτσα), (Aptalikos Karsilamas (Απτάλικος), Asia Minor Karsilamas (Melinos karsilamas), Mastika
.
The dance is still popular on Northwestern areas of Turkey, especially on wedding parties, festivals and so on.
In Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
there is a similar dance named, Antikrystos
Antikrystos
Antikristos is a Greek, Armenian and Assyrian folk dance Antikristos is a Greek, Armenian and Assyrian folk dance Antikristos is a Greek, Armenian and Assyrian folk dance (αντικρυστός in Greek language translates as "αντικρύζω" ("anti-face", i.e., face-to-face). Antikristos, has similarities...
. Antikrystos, translates also, as "anti-face", i.e., face-to-face.
Karsilamas is a couple dance that is still danced in what was the Ottoman Empire, from Persia to Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, and in the Macedonia
Macedonia (Greece)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of Greece in Southern Europe. Macedonia is the largest and second most populous Greek region...
and Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
regions of Northern Greece.
Figures of the dance may, vary from region to region but main theme is two people face each other, and music rythmically controls their next moves. Traditionally people dance without any figure on their minds, just figures they have seen from their elders.
The meter is 9/8, and the basic move is danced in four small steps with durations 2,2,2,3 respectively. The style and mood (bouncy, smooth, lively, etc.) vary depending on the region.
Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
Antikrystos
Antikrystos
Antikristos is a Greek, Armenian and Assyrian folk dance Antikristos is a Greek, Armenian and Assyrian folk dance Antikristos is a Greek, Armenian and Assyrian folk dance (αντικρυστός in Greek language translates as "αντικρύζω" ("anti-face", i.e., face-to-face). Antikristos, has similarities...
- Καρσιλαμαδες, Rumeli Balkan karsilamas, Thrace
Thrace
Thrace is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe. As a geographical concept, Thrace designates a region bounded by the Balkan Mountains on the north, Rhodope Mountains and the Aegean Sea on the south, and by the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara on the east...
(Greece) Antikrystos
Antikrystos
Antikristos is a Greek, Armenian and Assyrian folk dance Antikristos is a Greek, Armenian and Assyrian folk dance Antikristos is a Greek, Armenian and Assyrian folk dance (αντικρυστός in Greek language translates as "αντικρύζω" ("anti-face", i.e., face-to-face). Antikristos, has similarities...
, Merzifon
Merzifon
Merzifon is a town and district in Amasya Province in the central Black Sea region of Turkey. It covers an area of 970 km², and the population is 69,237 of which 52,947 live in the town of Merzifon, the remainder spread throughout the surrounding countryside...
Karsılaması, Edirne
Edirne
Edirne is a city in Eastern Thrace, the northwestern part of Turkey, close to the borders with Greece and Bulgaria. Edirne served as the capital city of the Ottoman Empire from 1365 to 1453, before Constantinople became the empire's new capital. At present, Edirne is the capital of the Edirne...
Karsılaması, Komotini
Komotini
Komotini is a city in Thrace, northeastern Greece. It is the capital of the region of East Macedonia and Thrace and of the Rhodope regional unit. It is also the administrative center of the Rhodope-Evros super-prefecture. The city is home to the Democritus University of Thrace, founded in 1973...
(Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
) Karsilamas - Aptalikos, Giresun
Giresun
Giresun is the provincial capital of Giresun Province in the Black Sea Region of northeastern Turkey, about west of the city of Trabzon.-Etymology:...
Karsılaması, Taraklı Karsılaması, Bilecik
Bilecik
-External links:* http://www.eksisozluk.com/show.asp?t=bilecik%20diye%20bir%20yerin%20asl%C4%B1nda%20olmamas%C4%B1%20 Bilecik Conspiracy* http://www.bilecikaktuel.com* * http://www.voyagerbook.com/eng/iller/11/11.asp*...
Karsılaması, Old Karsilamas (Παληός Καρσιλαμάς), Pigi Karsilama (Πιγκί), Ayşe Karsilama (İskender boğazı)(Αϊσέ) (Η Αγάπη Είναι Καρφίτσα), (Aptalikos Karsilamas (Απτάλικος), Asia Minor Karsilamas (Melinos karsilamas), Mastika
Mastika
Mastika , mastícha; is a liquor seasoned with mastic, a resin gathered from the mastic tree, a small evergreen tree native to the Mediterranean region...
.
See also
- GreeceGreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, AntikrystosAntikrystosAntikristos is a Greek, Armenian and Assyrian folk dance Antikristos is a Greek, Armenian and Assyrian folk dance Antikristos is a Greek, Armenian and Assyrian folk dance (αντικρυστός in Greek language translates as "αντικρύζω" ("anti-face", i.e., face-to-face). Antikristos, has similarities... - GreeceGreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, Kamilierikos - AiseAiseAise ,an instrumental dance tune common throughout the eastern Mediterranean. Sections of its melody are found as part of “Selanik”, a tune from Macedonia; in apiece by the Ottoman Armenian composer Tatyos Efendi; and in the song, “Love’s Like a Pin,”from Asia Minor and Propontis...