Sousta

[4] Men working with medicine on Ancient Crete sometimes danced the Sousta to appease the earth goddess Rea.

[5] The dance's swaying motion, with two steps forward and one back, re-enacted boats at sea pushing against large waves.

[5] Prior to independence, and under the control of Italy, Dodecanesian villages had separate rooms across from monasteries as a space to celebrate the dance.

[5] Between 1925–1940, the southern coastal village of Kattavia performed the Sousta to strengthen their social unity with emphasis on courtship.

[5] It relates to the ancient war dance of the Pyrichi group, and was implemented as a means of training and testing one's agility and stamina.

[5] Greeks in war combat followed the rhythm and patterns learnt for the Sousta dance, as an offensive and defensive strategy.

[1] More prominently in the twentieth century Greece, females carried with them the image of the family and home life, as well as religion.

[1] While young women would learn the three steps to the basic dance, the men would spend time practising their own versions.

[3] As of the late twentieth to twenty-first century, the villages and Dodecanese islands of Greece dance the Sousta less frequently.

[6] This is due to the Sousta not being taught in island or village school curriculum, whereas the Syrto has continued as a staple national dance.

[1] As well, members of the village Church body would walk around with bottles or glasses of alcohol, often Ouzo, to offer the lead dancer when a donation was made.

[1] The money received from donations to the bowl during the dance would be delivered to the Church, funding construction, salaries of priests and public events.

[1][5] As a result, the level of improvised dance practised by the males outside of formal events was necessary to present talent and grace, which in turn attracted spectators to donate and praise the lead dancer.

[4] However, there are officially acknowledged versions of the dance, which range from Crete, Rhodes, Halki, Leros, Kalymnos, Karpathos, Kos, Tilos, Samos and Symi.

[8] As a part of the fame of the dance and cultural significance it carried up until the mid-twentieth century, each village would often present one key instrument player as their best.

[8] The songs were often vocally driven, sung predominately by women and accompanied by other folk instruments such as the clarinet and drums.