There is something so magical about seeing a culture through it’s dance and music! I think it is actually right up there with food as a way of having an authentic experience of a different culture! It has become one of my favorite activities when I travel to try to find some local music and dancing, if possible, in the place that I am visiting. Sometimes this is easier said than done, you might not be in town on a night where there is music and dancing, or you get the music but the dancing not so much. Or maybe the thought of now knowing any of the steps gives you massive anxiety. I get it. But I have to say the Joy, even of just watching, may be well worth the effort. And who knows, the pursuit might lead you to some serendipitous moments and wonderful memories.
We have just returned from our amazing (dare I say once in a lifetime?) Sailing trip in the Greek islands. And when I say just returned I mean, yes, we were stuck in an airport when the crazy Microsoft “glitch” grounded more than 5000 planes, closed banks, and shut down financial markets all over the world less than a week ago. We are still recovering from the jetlag.
I have so much I want to share about this trip that it will take me several weeks and several posts just to unpack the experience (pun intended). I also snagged some wonderful local recipes for authentic fare that I’ll share, so stay tuned for all of that coming soon.
Today though as I was reflecting on how wonderful and special this trip was it hit me very strongly how much of an impact a couple of moments had on taking the vacation from a fun and relaxing trip with a bit of sight seeing, to a heart warming and human connection making adventure that gives you the sense you really experienced a place rather than just checked the box .
I’m not sure where I picked up the impression that Greece had a strong culture around dance, maybe it was all those years of attending the Greek food festival in Sacramento to visit my friend from camp? I remember watching the young men in their blue tops and black pants with knee high black boots moving around in circles and displaying acrobatics as the young women my age were dressed in beautiful flowing dresses and floating along rhythmically to the music. All this while I sat eating fried cheese covered in honey and grape leaves with rice. This is way before my own personal dance journey. Needless to say the impression was made on me deeply, and I was very much hoping to find some traditional Greek dancing while we were on this vacation. But as the trip began I confess I was a little bit distracted by the other fun activities we were experiencing, sailing, swimming, eating, shopping, exploring ancient ruins. Maybe it’s because we were jet lagged or maybe its because this trip was planned as a 40th birthday celebration for most of our group, but we didn’t get out on the town much in the evenings, also we weren’t really in a port town most of the time (see the image of the cove with other ships anchored). Needless to say my opportunities for finding Greek dancing were slim at best.
Fate takes a hand….
We had tried earlier in the trip to get our mostly Greek crew to warm to our enthusiastic group. Two people had taken it upon themselves to learn to speak some Greek prior to embarking on our adventure, and that was getting us somewhere. Several of our group are avid sailors and thought they might be able to bond over that. But what finally cracked the ice was a sudden bout of sea sickness that culminated with yours truly loosing my lovely lunch over the side of the boat. After this “spectacular” moment, which I am happy to say was the only one for anyone on the trip (lucky me) the crew really seamed to warm up to us. Nothing like bonding over caring for someone who is green in the gills, happy to help guys 😉 They started swapping stores of seasoned sailors they knew who had spent days in their bunk because they refused to admit they were seasick. At least i had had the good sense to “let it out” as the captain told me to do. Everyone seemed to loosen up after that and things continued to get more relaxed and easy between us the rest of the trip. I think this moment and a fun night of good old fashioned sea shanties on the back of the ship (I’ll share more about this in a future post) opened the door for the 1st mate and I to start chatting about dance. I told her how much I loved dancing and would love to find some traditional Greek dancing. As it turns out she had grown up going to classes and festivals for the traditional local dances!!! WHAT LUCK! She was so excited that I was excited that she immediately found some music and began showing us some steps! We were all tripping over our feet and each other, but it didn’t really matter. Hand in hand, kicking and stepping and twirling around the rigging on the stern of the ship, we laughed and laughed and carried on for almost an hour. I think I slept with a huge smile on my face that night.
After that night we found other ways to fill our evenings, one night asking around at a local port about live traditional music, sadly we would miss a big Sponge diving festival by just 1 week, where there would be lots of music and dancing. Coincidentally, just prior to coming into this port, one of our group had found a video of a local dance to honor the Sponge divers of that island. Long story short Sponges were a huge trade at the turn of the last century, we are talking like porous gold here, make your fortune in the new world with a pocket full of sponges, valuable! BUT Sponge divers at the turn of the century did not know about decompression sickness and subsequently (in pursuit of this precious commodity) almost all of the old men of a certain generation on this island had wound up paralyzed from repeatedly getting the bends. It was a tragic story, and a heart wrenching and beautiful dance full of dignity and sadness. Had we not had our dance encounter with our ships crew, I’m not sure we would have found this fascinating slice of history. To bring it home even further, some of our group took a cooking class with two, lets call them grandmas, on the island, who shared that their grandfathers had been some of those very men who were depicted in the dance! It was a very real part of their personal history and the culture of this specific island.
On our last night on the ship as we were starting to feel that pull back to reality that sets in, the same way the last days of summer roll on relentlessly to the start of school, we danced again. This time with more joy and exuberance and even less care for the steps, but also with much more respect and understanding for the richness and breadth of what dance means to the people we visited. At some point the 1st Mate handed me a napkin and told me to lead the line of dancers and I did my best impression of a confident Greek woman strutting my stuff. Head held high, full of joy and appreciation, and a longing for the night to last just a few more hours the last song trailed off and that was it.
One last moment of connection:
On our final morning we hauled our bags off the boat and back to shore. After a frenzy of trying to get all of our things together, wrap up any final loose ends and get off the boat we had just a moment to stay goodbye to our lovely crew who had shepherded us through an amazing voyage. The hugs were deeply meant and there was sadness in saying farewell to our newfound friends. My last hug was from the captain of the ship who, while not joining in the dancing, had watched from a distance with a bemused look. As he gave me a genuine squeeze and as he pulled away he looked at me and said “you dance like a Greek!” My jaw dropped and my eyes warmed with the heat the comes just before a little tear “oh wow, that is high praise indeed, Thank you, I’m honored!”
So take this as a sign to give dancing a try the next time you travel! You might be surprised by where it leads you. (oh what the heck, yes pun intended!)
p.s. This doesn’t just go for international travel, There are TONS of regional dances and music styles right here in the states! A little creative Googling with surely find you some fun adventures. What is that saying about “if you want to know a person, walk a mile in their shoes?” Well, why not dance it instead?
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