Searching for the best syrtaki… like you’ve never seen it before (8 videos)

The popular syrtaki (from the word syrtos, meaning dragged), initially choreographed by Giorgos Provias for the 1964 film Zorba the Greek is not a traditional Greek folk dance but a mixture of slow and fast versions of the Greek hasapiko dance. Accompanied by Mikis Theodorakis’ music, the dance has come to embody all that is Greek.
Here’s the original:

The Guinness for the Syrtaki was initially set in Cyprus on September 16, 2007, when 268 dancers created the world’s longest syrtaki chain until then at Agia Napa. Their aim was to promote tourism.

The record was broken on August 31, 2012, when 5,614 people aged from 14 to 89 years danced the syrtaki in Volos, Greece. Enthusiasts from Volos, Larisa, Athens, Thessaloniki, Trikala and even from the Greek islands joined the regional union of blind people, the national synchronized swimming team and many ordinary citizens, who decided to lock arms and make like Anthony Quinn dancing on the beach of Crete. The idea came from a Volos resident, Alexia Halvatzakou, who suggested it to the municipal services as an alternative way to promote the area. The President of the Association for Social Impact and Culture, Costas Halevas, liked the idea and set about organizing the event.

Dutch violinist Andre Rieu always includes a syrtaki performance on his tours, here’s what happened when he played at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Greece’s Eurovision winner Elena Paparizou dancing the syrtaki in Sweden.

A man wishing to advertise his Greek restaurant in Canada made his local community dance syrtaki.

A Birmingham flash mob.

The Hellenic and Cypriot Society of Huddersfield University also dances Zorba’s syrtaki…

The Slovenian Tower Pancers dance a different tribal-based Maori-inspired Greek syrtaki…