![]() The pentozali, one of the most popular and also most dynamic of the dances, is said to stem from the ancient Greek Pyrrhic War dance. Even now, when dance schools have, to a large extent, become the guardians of Crete’s heritage, imposing a uniformity on these arts that is not part of their natural character, the island’s traditional dances continue to constitute a colorful mosaic that lacks nothing of the force, passion and joie de vivre of yesteryear. This is why some of the most iconic dances performed on these occasions evoke such passion and intensity – dances like the pentozali or the maleviziotis, also known as the pidichtos in some parts of the island. The Cretan glendi is linked to the past, but it’s also all about having joy in the present. We have ancient references to men dancing in full battle gear and accounts of such festivities taking place even in tough times like the Nazi occupation, of dancing that expressed the brutality of war together with the tenderness of love. These things don’t happen anymore, but they are indicative of just how important the glendi – a word which describes both an event and a state of mind – is to the Cretans. The words of two very prominent musicians – Iraklis Stavroulakis, an incredible fiddle player from the village of Episkopi in Irakleio, and the multi-instrumentalist and composer Stelios Foustalieris, from Rethymno – who spoke to me in the mid-1980s are especially memorable. I was fortunate enough to meet almost all of the leading protagonists of Crete’s legendary glendia, those musicians who left such an indelible mark on the island’s heritage of music and dance. This is what a Cretan village looks like in festive mode. ![]() Further away, others still are getting a spot of sleep soon they will wake up to do it all again. ![]() A few people are dancing, some are singing, others are pouring out wine and passing around platters of roasted goat. Two bleary-eyed musicians struggle to stay awake and yet continue to play: for two days, three days, four days… a week. There’s been a wedding and the party ( the glendi or glendia in the plural) is in full swing and shows no sign of winding down, as the hours turn into days. ![]() Let’s go back in time a bit – to Crete in 1930 – to a village in the Sfakia highlands in the northwest of the island. ![]()
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