The Ritual of "Kanilitsa" in the Greek Community of Neavyssa
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
American Journal of Humanities and Social Science (AJHSS) Volume 14, 2021 Dance, symbolism and Pythagorean philosophy: The ritual of "Kanilitsa" in the Greek community of NeaVyssa Filippidou Eleni, Postdoctoral researcher, School of Physical Education and Sports Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece Koutsouba Maria, Professor, School of Physical Education and Sports Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece Tyrovola Vasiliki, Emeritus Professor, School of Physical Education and Sports Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece Abstract Klidonas is one of the most known Greek dancing rituals, which is also celebrated in the Thracian community of NeaVyssa under the name Kanilitsa. Though symbolism and dance have been examined in various ways, yet their relationship through the Pythagorean philosophy does not appear in the dance literature. This relationship constitutes the aim of this paper. In particular, the aim of the paper is to study dance and symbolism in Kanilitsa through the dimension of Pythagorean philosophy, and particularly, its dance forms in relation to the musical and dancing tradition of NeaVyssa, as well as their symbolic function within the ritual. Data was gathered through ethnographic method as this is applied to the study of dance, while its elaboration with the comparative method. The dances of Kanilitsa ritual was recorded and analyzed using the Laban notation system and the morphological method. Finally, the symbolic function of the Kanilitsa dances was interpreted on the basis of the Pythagorean philosophical tradition. From the data analysis was found that the dances of the ritual do share common characteristics both in their form and in their way of performance, and function in a symbolic way within the ritual that ratifies the magic-religious ritual process. Dance within the ritual of Kanilitsa, in the base of symbolism through the dimension of Pythagorean Philosophy, acts as a mean for preventing the evil, but also for protecting the magic divination ceremony, through the protection of the sacred centre from the evil eye and the devils. Keywords: dance, symbols, Pythagorean philosophical tradition, Greece, Thrace. Introduction Ritual is the performance of an established sequence of standard acts (Paradelis, 1995), which repeated periodically, linking them to a metaphysical order of existence (Erickson &Murphy, 2008) and through which they are transmitted messages in symbolic ways (Chronaki, 2012). The concept of ritual has monopolized the research interest of many scholars from various scientific fields. Initially, the concept of ritual attracted the interest of scholars of religion (Durkheim, 1915; Frazer, 1890; Fustel de Coulages, 1963; Gluckman, 1963; James, 1955, Smith, 1894), who assigned a secondary role to the ritual, giving a primary role to religious faith. However, later on, the concept of ritual began to be of interest to sociologists and anthropologists alike (Bloch, 1975; Geertz, 2003; Leach, 1968; Levi Strauss, 1977a,b, 1981), who, in recent years, recognize its symbolism dimension (Crumrine&Crumrine, 1977; Douglas, 1970; Rodríguez, 1991; Turner, 1967; 1969; van Gennep, 1960; Wilson, 1954). 30 As constant channels of communication, symbols reflect the tactics by which ritual renders or subverts social reality. On this basis, and according to Geertz, the importance of the symbols in the meaning of human civilization is unquestionable (Geertz, 2003). Scholars therefore consider symbols to be an important element of ritual, as the meanings in the ritual act become meaningful through the use of symbols. Thus, they use symbols to reveal the particular meanings of rituals and in addition they approach dance as a component of ritual practices with emphasis on its symbolic dimensions (Broker, 1995; Buckland, 1995; Dunin, 1995; Grau, 2001; Hieb, 1974; Kaeppler, 1995; Lange, 1995; Snyder, 1986). However, although researchers have dealt with the symbolism of dance in the context of ritual practices, either at a purely theoretical approach or at an ethnographic level, is noted the absence of their involvement with the symbolic dance through Pythagorean philosophical tradition. This fact attempts to negotiate this study through the analysis of a dancing ritual that performed throughout Greece at the birth day of Saint John the Prodromos (the Forerunner) on the 24th of July. In particular, one of the most known dancing rituals, which is celebrated on that day in various versions in many regions of the Greece and is associated with the summer solstice, is that of Klidonas. The word Klidonas has existed since the Homeric era and significated the hearing of an omen or prophecy, as well as the combination of random or incomprehensible words or acts during a divination ceremony, in which a prophetic significance was attributed (Megas, 1963). The ritual of Klidonas is celebrated also in various communities of Thrace prefecture in northern Greece. One of these communities is NeaVyssa, situated on the north- eastern plain area of the Province of Evros and inhabited by refugees coming from Bosna of Turkish Thrace, after the exchange of population between Greece and Turkey in 1923. In NeaVyssa the ritual of Klidonas is known by the name Kanilitsa, which probably is a version of the word Kalinitsa derived from Kali nifitsa (good bride), as on that day, young girls used to dress up like a bride (Papachristodoulou, 1929; Thrakiotis, 1994). Kanilitsa is a female dancing ritual, which is celebrated on the 23th, 24th and 29th of June in various neighbourhoods of NeaVyssa and consists of a sum of symbolic actions that aim to the revelation of the identity of the future husband of single women through magic-religious rituals (Filippidou, Koutsouba, &Tyrovola, 2009). Till the 1980s, the inhabitants of the community associated the birth day of Saint John the Prodromos with the summer solstice on the 21st of June and practiced water divination attributing to Saint John a divinatory capacity. Nevertheless, many of the NeaVyssa customs were devised for a way of life very different to the one lived today. So, after the 1980s, the ritual of Kanilitsa has not the same significance. After then, according to the inhabitants‟ comments, perform the ritual of Kanilitsa for keeping past memories alive, as well as, for pleasure and entertainment. The review of literature related with the Thracian dancing ritual of Klidonas, showed that a number of researchers have studied it (Apostolidis, 1962; Kavakopoulos, 1959; Kiakidis, 1960; Kourtidis, 1897; Loukatos, 1978; Megas, 1963; Papachristodoulou, 1929; Papaioannidis, 1929; Thrakiotis, 1994; Vozaklis, 1956; Vrachiologlou, 2000). However, the majority of these studies have looked at the ritual as a survival of ancient religious practices or as folklore, while reference to the accompanying dancing is only general and fragmentary, while in some cases, there is no reference in dance at all. Moreover, as far as we know, the study of dance symbolism in the Kanilitsaritual from a Pythagorean philosophical point of view has not been found in the existing literature. 31 Based on the above, the present study attempts to transcend the mere description of the ritual and to render value to the role of dance within it. Thus, the aim of the paper is to study dance and symbolism in the ritual of Kanilitsa, through the Pythagorean philosophical tradition, in order to define the dances performed during it and their particular characteristics in relation to the overall musical and dancing tradition of NeaVyssa, as well as their symbolic function within the ritual. Methodology In order to examine the aforementioned, the methodological process consisted of three steps, namely data collection, analysis and interpretation. Data were gathered through the ethnographic method as this is applied to the study of dance (Buckland, 1999; Sklar, 1991) and based on primary and secondary sources. Primary sources refer to data gathered through fieldwork that was carried out at the region of Thrace, and particularly at the community of NeaVyssa from December 2000 up to June 2019. Oral history was used as a method, through which everyday memory is projected as a quest of social history (Thomson, 2002). The overall course of field research was performed by the dual experience of the local culture with reference both to the habitants of this particular community (carriers of the local culture), as well as to the researchers (Erixon, 1967). Secondary sources refer to the review of the related bibliography (Lampiri-Dimaki, 1996) that had been collected through archived ethnographic research (Gefou-Madianou, 1997; Stocking, 1992) and includes analysis, evaluation and integration of the published literature (Thomas & Nelson, 2003). Collected data were classified according to the van Gennep methodological model (1960), which can be implemented in all the manifestations of social life that function as custom processes or rituals. In more detail, van Gennep was the first to describe three phases in all rites of passage, underlining the importance of symbols in phase delimitation. In this way he set a new direction in the approach of rituals, which until then were regarded as a simple practice of traditional societies. According to the model, all rites of passage dispose of a threefold structure and include three phases (van Gennep 1960): a) phase I: the preliminal rites (rites of separation), b) phase II: liminal or threshold rites (rites of transition)