PENTOZALI (Two-Figure) Greek
PRONUNCIATION:	pen-toh-ZAH-lee
TRANSLATION:	Five steps
SOURCE:	Dick Oakes learned this dance from members of the Greek community of Los Angeles and in Greek night clubs across the United States. He also danced it with Athan Karras at the Intersection folk dance coffeehouse in Los Angeles.
BACKGROUND:	The men of the Greek islands, such as Crete, often became sailors in the Greek and Byzantine navies, necessitating practicing fast and tricky footwork that might be required on the pitching deck of a ship. Pentozali was originally a warlike dance used to test men's agility. In western Crete, Pentozali (also spelled Pentozale or Pendozali) is often preceded by a Siganos (slow) Pantozali in which the dancers, holding hands, sing as they dance two step-swings forward and two step-swings backward as the line moves slowly to the right. Pentozali, with its small, rapid foot movements and leaps, is one of the most characteristic and most popular dances of Crete, its island of origin. The "five steps" of the dance refer to the five "dizzying" movements: 1) forward, 2) backward, 3) left, 4) right, 5) up.
MUSIC:	Kefi Records (45EP) KER-101 Panhellenion (LP) KT-1001, side B, band 8
FORMATION:	Mixed lines of M and W holding adjacent neighbors' shldrs in "T" pos. If lines are segregated, M may make higher, larger, and more intricate steps.
METER/RHYTHM:	2/4
STEPS/STYLE:	PAS-DE-BASQUE: Step LR swd (ct 1); step RL across in front of LR (ct &); step LR back in place (ct 2). Pentozali may be danced calmly or with greater energy as dictated by the music and the leader's movements. When danced vigorouosly, steps often become small leaps and leaps become larger leaps. Infrequently, a leader may add variations, such as, scissor-kicks on one or both Pas-de-Basques in Fig I (meas 2, ct 2 through meas 4, ct 1) or a high scissor-leap and back brush on the second Pas-de-Basque. The other dancers may follow the leader with these steps. At other times, the leader may dance solo leaps with leg or shoe slaps at which time the other dancers do the basic steps.
MEAS	MOVEMENT DESCRIPTION
	INTRODUCTION
	Dance starts at beg of any musical phrase, although some Greeks tend to start on the second meas of the phrase.
I.	TRAVELING STEP
1	Step L swd (ct 1); hop L, swinging R across in front with slightly bent knee (ct 2);
2	Leap R swd, swinging L across in front with leg almost straight while bending suporting knee (ct 1);
	Pas-de-Basque Step: Step L swd (ct 2); step R across in front of L (ct &);
3	Step L back in place (ct 1);
	Pas-de-Basque: Step R swd (ct 2); step L across in front of R (ct &);
4	Step R swd (ct 1); hop R, swinging L across in front with slightly bent knee (ct 2).
	Repeat action of meas 1-4 until leader changes the Fig.
II.	TRAVELING STEP
1	Step L fwd twd ctr (ct 1); hop L, bringing R ft up behind L calf (ct 2);
2	Small leap R diag bwd, swinging L bwd (ct 1);
	Step L in back of R (ct 2); step R swd (ct &);
3	Step L across in back of R (ct 1);
	Step R swd (ct 2); step L next to R (ct &);
4	Step R swd (ct 1); hop R, swinging L across in front with slightly bent knee (ct 2).
1	Repeat action of meas 1-4 until leader changes Fig.
Copyright © 2003 by Dick Oakes