Dance - Horos, is a very old tradition in Greece, being referred to by Plato, Aristotle and Plutarch.

Traditional dancing has a primarily social function.

It brings the community together at key points of the year, such as Easter, the grape harvest or during social events such as weddings.

There are different styles and interpretations from all of the islands and surrounding mainland areas.

Island dances have more of a "watery" flow to them, while Pontic dancing is very sharp.

Although there are over 4000 traditional dances that come from all regions of Greece, there are also pan-Hellenic dances, which have been adopted throughout the Greek world.

These include syrtos, kalamatianos, sousta, tsamikos, hasapikos, zeibekiko and sirtaki.

Syrtos and kalamatianos are line dances, done with the dancers in a curving line holding hands, facing right.

The dancer at the right end of the line is the leader.

He may also be a solo performer, improvising showy twisting skillful moves as the rest of the line does the basic step.

While he does this, the next dancer in line stops dancing and holds him up with a twisted handkerchief linking their hands, so he can turn and not fall down.

Sousta is the name of a folk dance in Cyprus andCrete which is danced in Greece.

The music is generally played with a lyre or violinand mandolin.

There are elements of eroticism and courtshipacted out in the dance, which is usually performedby pairs of men and women dancing opposite.

Another form is where all the dancers in a rowfollow the first dancer who moves in complexpatterns.

Almost every island of Aegean has a sousta dance.

Tsamikos is folk dance, done to music of 3/4 meter.

The dance follows a strict and slow tempo not emphasising on the steps, but more on the "attitude, style and grace" of the dancer.

In the past, it was danced exclusively by men, but in modern times both men and women take part.

The dancers holdeach other fromeach other'shands, bent 90degrees upwards atthe elbows.

It takes a sturdyhand, especially ifyou are supportingthe first or lastperson of the linewho will lean onyou to performhigh acrobaticleaps.

The name is derived from Zei, as a derivative of Greek God Zeus.

According to this etymology, it symbolizes the union of the spirit with the body.

It is of free choreographic.

Occasionally dancers perform feats such as standing on a glass of wine or a chair or fireplace, or picking up a table, adding a sense of humor.

Syrtaki is a popular dance of Greekorigin, choreographed by Giorgos Provias forthe 1964 film Zorba the Greek.

It is also called Zorba's dance.

The name Syrtaki comes from the Greek word:syrtos which means "drag (the dance)"), acommon name for a group of traditional Cretandances of so-called "dragging" style.

Syrtaki incorporates both syrtos (in its slowerpart) and pidikhtós (in its faster part) elements.

The Pentozali is the trademark folk dance of the island of Crete.

The name can be translated as "five-jumps", its typically Greek wordplay implying that dancing it can make one jump five times over.

Also in the spirit of wordplay, ζάλη zali means dizziness, and the name of the dance can also be understood ("five-dizzy") as one that can make the dancers dizzy five times over.

The Pentozali is a war dance, vigorous, with high jumping movements and allows for much improvisation.

It starts at a moderate pace and accelerates progressively. The dancers hold each other by the shoulders and form

an incomplete circle, which rotates counterclockwise very slowly, or sometimes not at all, because most of the lively steps are semistationary.