Kόtsari – Greece/Pontos [Traditional]
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| Greek: | Κότσαρι |
| Pronunciation: | KOH-tchah-reeh |
| Translation: | ankle bone/raising the heel/limping (“nomad” translation is for Turkic languages) * Atypical of Greek dances, Kόtsari is danced on the heels. |
| Region: | Pontos/Kars |
| Alias: | Kochari, Kotchari |
| Dance Category: | Village Traditional/Living Dance |
| Format: | Open Circle |
| Skill: | Intermediate |
| Energy: | Lively |
| Hand Hold: | Shoulder |
| Meter: | 2/4 |
| Phrasing: | 4 bars: 2 movement groups (limp & travel/step behind), Greeks vs. English-speaking swap which comes first in counting 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 |
| Music: | Any Pontic Lyra Kόtsari |
| Date Taught: | 9/5/2023 |
| Teacher: | Sophia |
This is a Pontic Greek war dance once used in preparation for battle and to intimidate the enemy. Kόtsari is one of the most popular and well-known of the Pontian Greek dances. The underlying Kochari style originated over 1,000 years ago in the Armenian Highlands and then spreading throughout Eastern Anatolia and the Caucasus. Kochari now comes in many ethnic and regional flavors. The Pontic Kόtsari has its origins in the 19th century in Kars in the border area between northeastern Turkey and Armenia. Read all about the different Kocharis at Folkdance Footnotes. Scroll down 3/5ths to get to the Pontian version.
What’s a Pontic/Pontian Greek and where the heck is Pontos/Pontus? Don Buskirk (with help from Wikipedia) gives you more history than you want and links to more. QUICK History: 3,000 years ago, ancient Greeks explored the coasts of the Black Sea, which they called Pontos Euxeinos (“Hospitable Sea”), and built the Kingdom of Pontus. Wars, conquests, genocides, and other nastiness, happened, and there is no more Kingdom or country of Pontus. The area is now mostly Turkey and some of Georgia & former Soviet Union, and most ethnic Pontic Greeks emigrated to/were exiled from Turkey to Georgia, the Caucasus, or Greek Macedonia.
Joe Graziosi RIFD dance notes PDF
It is assumed that the name of the dance comes from the way it is danced. In particular, the two lame steps (kotsa) are performed in the first four [counts] of the dance by hitting the heel (in the Pontic kots’) on the ground while the other leg is lifted at the same time (that is, the dance lifts the kots’, thus resulting in the Kotsari.
Press-tap the left leg in place and simultaneously lift the right to the side with a bend-bend of the knee (step 1) press the right foot on the ground while simultaneously lifting the left leg with a bend from the knee (step 2) press-tap the left foot in place and simultaneously lifting the right side to the side with a bend-bend of the knee (step 3) kicking the right leg obliquely to the left towards the center of the circle in front and over the left (step 4). Step right foot to right and slightly in front of left (step 5) step left foot behind right (step 6) step right to dimension right (step 7) and close left next to right (step 8).
From the Tasos Kokovidis teaching video
NOTE: These videos the same general form of the two limping steps. HOWEVER, the version of Kotchari that Sophia (trained in California) and Storm Mountain Folk Dancers in Fort Collins know does a heel stamp with the right foot. I haven’t found any videos of this version. The Joe Graziosi dance notes from 1989 mostly describe the dances in the videos when following his note that it is popular with the kids and performance groups to move the start of phrasing by one count (and get rid of the touch in meas. 2, count 1 and run the four steps straight with no “&”). Dunav in Israel, one of my go-tos for IFD videos, dances Kotsari as in the videos below.