• Balkan Times

    Tradition is an action—a way of passing on knowledge, customs, or practices from one generation to the next, whether through speech, writing, gesture, or rhythm. The appropriate Greek term is Parádosi [Παράδοση], which literally means “that which is given” or “handed down.” This applies equally to traditional music and song, as well as to dance, all of which are encompassed by the rich repertoire known in Greece as Dimotikó [Δημοτικό]—in other words, a genre of music that stems directly from what has been transmitted by the démos, or the people.

  • Kalarrýtes, village in Epirus

    In Greek, Epirus primarily means “mainland.” But to the Hellenes, the term more specifically evokes their vast, mountainous region—a territory that, since ancient times, has proudly occupied the western slopes of the Pindus mountain range, extending down to the Ionian Sea. Italy lies just across the way, in a sense.