DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.65890#0270
212
of Theseus by it through the windings of the
labyrinth. As to the gracefulness of the performers
much cannot be said, no more than perhaps of any
other rustic dance; it is, however, much more light
and agreeable than the boisterous Scotch and Irish
performances, by the same class of people, or the
cumbrous English dance*. That the Greeks are
still capable of moving gracefully to time is clearly
evinced in the masquerade dancing which is some-
times seen upon the stage at Corfu during the car-
nival, as also at the public balls given occasionally
by the Governor, and by the British garrison.
Waltzes and quadrilles, with select English country
dances, are as elegantly gone through, if not more
so, than they are at much more fashionable towns
than Corfu.
The taste of the Greeks for music, is not less
remarkable than their fondness for dancing. In
the larger towns the Italian music is preferred to
* The author was singularly amused one night at Argostoli by a
patty of young fellows, Greeks, who, like the Italians, parade the
streets at night, singing to a fiddle and guitar. It was of a beautiful
moon-light night in December; the party took it into their heads to
mimic the English dancing; they romped, and stamped, and roared,
burlesquing the noisy reel, gig, and English country dance of our
soldiers and soldiers’ wives, of which they had a little before seen a
specimen at a serjeant’s ball, in honour of St. Andrew. This
farcical ballet was, however, performed to a sort of musical cadence,
which, without any particular tune or figure, bore a certain resem-
blance to what it was intended to represent, and was exceedingly
droll and laughable.
of Theseus by it through the windings of the
labyrinth. As to the gracefulness of the performers
much cannot be said, no more than perhaps of any
other rustic dance; it is, however, much more light
and agreeable than the boisterous Scotch and Irish
performances, by the same class of people, or the
cumbrous English dance*. That the Greeks are
still capable of moving gracefully to time is clearly
evinced in the masquerade dancing which is some-
times seen upon the stage at Corfu during the car-
nival, as also at the public balls given occasionally
by the Governor, and by the British garrison.
Waltzes and quadrilles, with select English country
dances, are as elegantly gone through, if not more
so, than they are at much more fashionable towns
than Corfu.
The taste of the Greeks for music, is not less
remarkable than their fondness for dancing. In
the larger towns the Italian music is preferred to
* The author was singularly amused one night at Argostoli by a
patty of young fellows, Greeks, who, like the Italians, parade the
streets at night, singing to a fiddle and guitar. It was of a beautiful
moon-light night in December; the party took it into their heads to
mimic the English dancing; they romped, and stamped, and roared,
burlesquing the noisy reel, gig, and English country dance of our
soldiers and soldiers’ wives, of which they had a little before seen a
specimen at a serjeant’s ball, in honour of St. Andrew. This
farcical ballet was, however, performed to a sort of musical cadence,
which, without any particular tune or figure, bore a certain resem-
blance to what it was intended to represent, and was exceedingly
droll and laughable.