The article below was written by Dennis Boxell and John Hertz in 1990
as an introduction to the syllabus on Greek Macedonian dances. Dennis
Boxell was an early ethnologist who did much to popularize Macedonian
dances among American folk dancers. I include this to show the high
regard that Macedonian dances occupy in the folk dance scene.

GREEK MACEDONIAN DANCES

Dennis Boxell

The ethnic region known to folklorists as Macedonia extends today
into three modern States. About three-fifths of it lies in northern
Greece, about one-third in southern Yugoslavia, and the rest in the
southwest part of Bulgaria.

In this region, political boundaries have intersected and
re-intersected ethnic communities for centuries; political events have
prompted or forced people to resettle. Today towns and dances may have
different names in Greek and Slavic, sometimes as similar as Kostur
(Slavic) and Kastoria (Greek) for a Macedonian town in Greece, or as
distinct as Levendikos (Greek) and Pousteno (Slavic) for a Macedonian
dance done near Lake Prespa on both sides of the Yugoslav-Greek border.
Some names are common everywhere, like ΓÇ£gaidaΓÇ¥ for the Macedonian
bagpipe. Some prove to be of Turkish origin, since Turks ruled Greek and
Slav alike for 500 years – – such as for the butchersΓÇÖ dance called
Kasapsko (Slavic) or Hassapikos (Greek), from a Turkish word meaning
ΓÇ£butcherΓÇ¥.

Through the end of the 1980ΓÇÖs, most American folkdancers saw only
dances or choreographies in the style of Skopje, the capital of Yugoslav
Macedonia. But this neighborhood, rich in folklore as it is, sits at the
north and can hardly be characteristic of the whole. The dances
described in these notes are mostly from the vicinity of Kastoria,
Edessa (ΓÇ£VodenΓÇ¥ in Slavic), and Florina (Lerin), in Greek Macedonia.

Macedonian dances, whatever they are called, and regardless of
political arguments about whom they belong to, are among the jewels of
the Balkans. The Macedonian style of movement is a rare combination of
strength and grace. The Macedonian sense of rhythm is probably unique.
Those who love these dances grow used to hearing them called first
strange, then fascinating, then inexhaustibly delightful. May you enjoy
them too.