Logline:
War, fire, heroism, and a dance just moments before Death. The story of the Pentozali dance—the most famous dance of death!
Synopsis:
The “fifth zalo” (step) was the secret code preparing the fifth uprising against the Turks. Roughly 700 men against an organized army of 15,000. And so it began with a single stroke of the pen. Before the first fires of war, twelve men danced what is now the most famous dance of death, rising up to shake off the Ottoman occupier from the island of Crete. From then on, whenever war approached, men would dance the tune with the fifth zalo before every battle. This work presents the history of the Pentozali dance, which hides the most bloody and heroic tales…
The Story…
It is a war dance whose “creation,” according to legend, is inextricably linked to the Cretan Revolution and its leader and hero, Yiannis Daskalogiannis.
This dance of death and rebellion was named Pentozali not because it consists of five steps, but because it symbolizes the fifth zalo (meaning step)—as the fifth hopeful attempt of the Cretans to liberate Crete from the Turks was named.
The composer of the first Pentozali, which was danced for the first time in 1770 in Anopolis, Sfakia, is said to be Stefanos Triantafyllakis or Kioros, from Lousakies, an extraordinary violinist who flourished between 1740 and 1790.
And suddenly, darkness. Everyone prepares for the uprising.
Daskalogiannis and his men are barricaded in Anopolis, Sfakia. In a letter, he summons Triantafyllakis to join them:
“Friend Kioros, I await you in Anopolis to play us the 5th step.”
…he told him in code, meaning that the fifth uprising against the Turks was being prepared. Because he referred to a dance, he used the word “zalo“, which means step, thus concealing the message lest it fell into enemy hands.
Kioros arrives in Anopolis and stays for six months until the outbreak of the revolution and the first fires of war.
Kioros composed the music for the new war dance, which, according to Daskalogiannis’s instructions, had to feature twelve musical variations (tunes)—in honor of the twelve leaders of the revolution—and ten steps, commemorating the decision made by the people of Sfakia to launch the revolution on the 10th day of the tenth month (October) in 1769.
Only men danced to the rhythm composed by Kioros, locking arms shoulder-to-shoulder to symbolize their cooperation, mutual support, mutual respect, and trust. They named this dance “Pentozali”.
Before the unequal battle against the Turks, 11 lieutenants together with Daskalogiannis himself—12 leaders in total—danced the Pentozali for the very first time, right before hurling themselves into battle against the Turks. In fact, a distinct musical variation accompanied each lead dancer, while the remaining 11 following behind shouted his name.
The 12 musical variations in the Pentozali are devoutly observed to this day as a tribute to Daskalogiannis’s 12 brave men.
Myth or reality? Whichever it may be, Pentozali became world-famous as the dance of death.
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