Cyprus Dancing Cyprus has some of the oldest dances in the Greek world. Men and women dance separately, or in couples facing each other, as in the Antikristi. Cyprus was once well known for it's weaving and embroidery, two of the women's dances reflect this in the use of the hands to mimic sewing. Women dance demurely, men are more lively and showy; dances include Zeimbekikos Aptalikos, Karsilamades Zeimbekikos Koftos, and Syrtos. General Characteristics The traditional Greek dances fall into two distinct categories: The restrained "shuffling" or "dragging" dances and the lively "leaping" dances.. The shuffling dances get their name from the fact that the dancers move to the right or to the left with light steps, without leaping. The shuffling dances provide the greatest variety regarding steps, figures, names, melodies and rhythms. They also seem to be the most ancient. The most important of the shuffling dances include: Haniotikos (from Hania in Crete), Kalamatianos (initially from Peloponnesus and Roumeli, now a Panhellenic dance), Syrtos in three or in two (Epirus and Macedonia), etc. The leaping dances are named after the leaps that characterize the movements of the dancers, especially the leader who displays his dancing technique with a series of dazzling leaps, turns, and fancy maneuvers. These dances, originated on the ragged mountains of Greece, require strength, lithe movement and are ap-propriately danced mainly by men, though women take part in them as well. The most important ones include: Pentozali, Malevyziotikos and Sousta in Crete,Tsamikos (or Klephtikos) in mainland Greece, Epirus, and Thessaly, etc. For the most part the steps of the Greek dances are simple: stepping to the side, followed by a closing of the feet together or a passing of the foot in front or behind the other, hopping, pointing of toes, and occasionally a swing of the legs through the various positions in the air accompanied by a hop or bend and stretch of the supporting leg. The leader embroiders these simple steps and works up excitement by increasing either the speed of the dance or the number of jumps and turns. Until recently men and women seldom danced together, although chains of men and women danced at the same time, the women's chain often being led and terminated by a man. The few women's dances are very simple and most dignified. The men's dances are often punctuated by feats of strength. The few couple dances were probably introduced by the Venetian and other Crusading Knights during the Holy Wars, and particularly at the time of the Fourth Crusade. Most of the dances are performed in open circles thereby precluding individual arm movements except for the leader who waves the inevitable kerchief. The most important characteristic of the Greek dance is its intimate relationship to the phrasings of the words which accompany it. This intimate relationship was one of the great features governing the expressive activities of the dancing chorus of the famous Greek tragedies. Many Greek dances have time signatures of 7/8 or 5/4; others of 3/8 and 2/4. But the dancer never takes 7, 5, 3, or 2 steps to the bar. Instead the series of steps (or enchainement) is phrased with varying patterns of quick and slow steps which match the exact rhythm of the words. For example, if the syllable or the word occupies 3, 1 1/2, or even a 1/2 beat, the step will take that amount of time to perform. This phenomenon is explained by the fact that the Greek language relies on the varying length of the syllables in order to get the correct inflation and rhythm of the sentences. If the syllable or word is stressed, then the step is correspondingly emphasized. The second unusual feature is the rapidly changing position of the dancers in relation to the line of dance. The dance usually starts with the right foot and moves counter-clockwise. In the slower dances this change usually occurs with every step, as in the Kalamatianos, in which the dancer begins facing the center, turns his back to the line of dance and then faces it, when performing his first three steps. In quicker dances these changes are not so frequent. To achieve these quick changes of directions, the dancers� bodies are held extremely upright and the weight of the body is moved directly forwards with the foot movement. This gives a very smooth and frieze-like quality to the line of dancers. The slow step is usually large, allowing the dancers to progress, whilst the quick ones are mostly done in place. The foot is held almost flat to the ground; and in hopping steps, the women tend to slide the feet along the ground, whilst the men�s feet move upwards.