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https://theconversation.com/politics-flashmobs-yolngu-dancers-the-australian-story-of-mikis-theodorakis-legendary-song-zorba-167282>
"For those with only a cursory familiarity with Greece and Greek music, the
name of Mikis Theodorakis, who died last week aged 96, may conjure flashbacks
to the 1964 film
Zorba the Greek. That moment on a Cretan beach when Alexis
(Anthony Quinn) teaches Basil (Alan Bates) how to dance the sirtaki, now
universally known as the “Zorba dance”, is etched into our collective memory.
Born in 1925, Theodorakis began writing music when he was a child. During his
lifetime, he was a political figure as much as a composer. Under the Greek
junta (1967-1974) the dictatorship banned his music. Theodorakis was jailed,
tortured, put under house arrest and, from 1970 until 1974, lived in exile. His
Journals of Resistance (1973) was a statement of defiance to the military
regime.
As a composer he fused poetry and popular musical idioms, achieving wide appeal
at home and abroad. Reworking Greek folk rhythms, he incorporated past
tradition with present inspiration and future hope. His
Mauthausen Trilogy, a
cycle of four arias composed in 1965, is credited as a standout composition on
the Holocaust.
His composition of the Zorba is one of the most recognisable sounds of the 20th
century. Its accompanying dance — with its slow, smooth actions that gradually
transform into faster, more vivid movements in unison with the metallic sound
of the bouzouki — is both loved and despised."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
