Giannis Megalakakis is guest on “Voices and Music”, curated and presented by Alexis Kostas at 6:00 pm Greece local time.
According to ancient Greek tradition, dance first appeared in Crete, where it developed as an art form, under divine inspiration and guidance, and from there spread to the rest of the Greek world. It was believed that the most ancient dances were those of the Kouretes, who were the first in the world to be taught by Rhea herself, the mother of Zeus. According to ancient Greek literature, Kouretes’ most famous dance was “Pyrrhikhos” and the general name “pyrrichi” was used to characterize all war dances of antiquity. Sources tell us that, over the years, the dance spread throughout Greece and each city where it began to be danced in and which also gave it a different name of their own, aspired to call it their own. From 300 AD onwards, women also began to perform the “pyrrhic” dance and since then some variations of it take on the character of a dance of love.
Giannis and Giorgos Megalakakis are two dancers from Chania, who travel with the aim of disseminating the Cretan tradition throughout Greece and Europe, through their art. They have presented their work in hundreds of festivals and events, while their participation in the closing ceremony of the 2004 Olympic Games is also one of their great moments.