DANCE AS A DEDICATIVE PRACTICE IN ANASTENARIA RITUAL
Keywords:
Anastenaria, Dancing icons, dedicative practiceAbstract
The present paper deals with dance of Costilides in Aghia Eleni (St. Helen) in Serres (Northern Greece) and, more specifically, with anastenaria ritual. Approaching dance as local people’s votive offering to Saints (i.e. Saints Constantine and Helen) during which anastenaria dancers seek for Saints’ reciprocal assistance, we draw upon concept of patronage organization as a complex relation between ‘protectors ’and ‘followers’, and argue that an anastenaria dance is a much more than a mutual exchange; it’s rather a means of challenging complex social relations. Ethnographic data was collected in fieldwork. The conclusions drawn from analysis show that people dance to establish social relations in order to be empowered while being in situations such as conflicts and negotiations, inclusions and exclusions.
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