Hasapiko

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title: "Hasapiko" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["cultural-history-of-greece", "greek-dances", "music-of-greece"] description: "Type of Greek folk dance from Constantinople" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasapiko" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Type of Greek folk dance from Constantinople ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Fast_Hasapikos.webm" caption="Fast Hasapikos in the atrium of the [[Zappeion]] on March 3, 1926."] ::

The hasapiko ( ; , ; ) is a Greek folk dance from Constantinople. The dance originated in the Middle Ages as a battle mime with swords performed by the Greek butchers' guild, which adopted it from the military of the Byzantine era. During the Byzantine era in Constantinople, it was called the el (μακελλάρικος χορός), also meaning 'butcher's dance'. Some Greeks, however, reserve the latter term only for the fast version of the dance.

The slow version of the dance is called the el (χασάπικος βαρύς; ) and generally employs a meter. The fast version of the dance—variously called el (γρήγορο χασάπικο or the el (χασαποσέρβικο)—uses a meter.

Sirtaki, the modern staple Greek dance, is a relatively new, choreographed dance, based on hasapiko.

References

References

1. ''Sword dance'' [https://www.britannica.com/art/sword-dance] in Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 14 April 2022, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online
2. Leontis, Artemis. (2009-04-30). "Culture and Customs of Greece". Greenwood Press.

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