Volume 2, Issue 5
November 2009
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Imagine Yanni’s Bar, long before it became ‘Big Ben’, a tiny narrow café with a counter and two small tables, a concrete apron frontage surrounding a solitary tree whose branches overhung scattered tables & chairs. For sure, an unlikely venue for one of the most popular late-night ‘cabarets’ in Roda but, every night, scores of tourists would watch, enthralled, whilst Yanni and his long-time buddy & waiter, Tassos, would hurl themselves into an exhibition of athletic, unorthodox and more than a little flash traditional dance, complete with fire circles and tables laden with glasses & bottles, gripped in clenched jaws and whirled around to the delight of the audience.
Just down the esplanade, in ‘Skouna’, you might have been lucky enough to be present when ‘Spiros the Taxi’ decided it was time to dance. A large muscular man with pitch black hair & impressive moustache, his ‘piece de resistance’ was, in perfect time to the bazouki accompaniment, to lightly spring on to a taverna chair, transfer his substantial weight to the backrest thereby gently tipping it over and gently glide off the fallen
Just down the esplanade, in ‘Skouna’, you might have been lucky enough to be present when ‘Spiros the Taxi’ decided it was time to dance. A large muscular man with pitch black hair & impressive moustache, his ‘piece de resistance’ was, in perfect time to the bazouki accompaniment, to lightly spring on to a taverna chair, transfer his substantial weight to the backrest thereby gently tipping it over and gently glide off the fallen
chair with not a break in his rhythm.
Nikos Family Taverna was very unusual in that the daughters of the family would entertain the customers while Nikos, and his dad Yannis, would sweat it out in the kitchen. Marianna, Angeliki & Sophia, every night, put down their order pads, link arms and give a charming rendition of ‘sirtaki’ for the slowly-clapping guests then happily get their customers up to dance with them, turning the evening into a big family party.
Half a mile away, in the beach bar of the Roda Beach Hotel, every now & again, the glowering Adonis of Roda Riding School and the elegant Eugene of the Water Sports would respectively put down the small Amstel & the black & gold cigarette holder, slowly and with false resigned modesty stroll to the centre of the dance floor to commence a sublime display of perfect Greek dancing. These two guys had danced, by invitation, all over the island for years (Adonis never danced with anyone else), two ‘old bulls’ showing the young steers how it was done.
In all these cases, the dancing wasn’t a clockwork-like
Nikos Family Taverna was very unusual in that the daughters of the family would entertain the customers while Nikos, and his dad Yannis, would sweat it out in the kitchen. Marianna, Angeliki & Sophia, every night, put down their order pads, link arms and give a charming rendition of ‘sirtaki’ for the slowly-clapping guests then happily get their customers up to dance with them, turning the evening into a big family party.
Half a mile away, in the beach bar of the Roda Beach Hotel, every now & again, the glowering Adonis of Roda Riding School and the elegant Eugene of the Water Sports would respectively put down the small Amstel & the black & gold cigarette holder, slowly and with false resigned modesty stroll to the centre of the dance floor to commence a sublime display of perfect Greek dancing. These two guys had danced, by invitation, all over the island for years (Adonis never danced with anyone else), two ‘old bulls’ showing the young steers how it was done.
In all these cases, the dancing wasn’t a clockwork-like
performance of stereotyped moves & steps, but a passionate celebration of feeling – the Greek will dance when he is sad or joyful, thoughtful or worried, he expresses his mood of the moment through dance – Anthony Quinn came close to portraying this characteristic in ‘Zorba’ & ‘The Greek Tycoon’. The Welsh will sing and the Greek will always dance, no matter what – and long may it continue!
Let’s Dance by Des Nouvel
Picture by Des Nouvel
