Dark clouds came over Athens on this night when EU is deciding for the future of the Greek debt...

weekend wanderings

Away from the noise in the city center.... some strange conversations 

... and some silence by the sea

A night walk

A brief night walk around Psiri, downtown Athens. Psiri is one of the gentrified neighborhoods... and I promise a longer post on gentrification in Athens this week ....

When protesting in Athens

Ups.. after a really long break, a new post :) I've also been active on my other, more daydreaming blog rinistic , so you can give that one a go as well...
This past week Athens and the Athenians were drowning in protests. I was explaining how protests start, culminate and end to so many people that in the end my editor and I decided to turn it into a news article. I felt it's too long to use it in a blog post, so I decided to put together some non-sensational photos and reveal some other angles of the protests in Athens... so, here we go :)

Protests in Athens, or should I say violent protests in Athens are a normal thing. Leaving aside the debate of accepting such violence as a common thing because the audience has been numbed by daily TV broadcasts, protests start off as a mass-even though angry on the inside- party with thousands of protesters, loud music, singing of songs and dancing to their seriously addictive tune.

They start off relaxed under the sun…

..and with some funny umbrellas…

… and coffee, ice, cold coffee to keep them alert….

There are always people guided by the business sense. Because hey, people need gadgets to improve their protesting skills…

….they might get hungry …

and thirsty…. In the middle of the riots I asked one of the guys that have migrated to Greece, selling bottles of water if he is afraid of the riots and violent incidents. I tried talking to him in Greek, but he just said he is from Bangladesh and doesn’t speak Greek, but he knew some English. Pointing his finger to Syntagma, the central square in the center, he said he always tries to keep a safe distance from the violence. “Syntagma is a problem. But I am here, far from the problem. I stay safe”, he tells me, adding that this is one of the ways he tries to earn his living.

….10 minutes later these scenes of party and serenity turn into a terrifying violence, which in turn leaves the following marks and scenery around Syntagma…

… however the next day is a brand new day… life goes on, and protests will do, too..

Tavern lovers?

Food. I dare you not to like Greek food :) After a successful propaganda trick- yes talking about wanting to go to a tavern by the sea while it's cold and rainy in Athens does wonders- finally a bunch of fun and crazy Athenians and I managed to synchronize schedules and get to a (drumroll) tavern! :)

This was the last weekend before the start of the Easter fasting period, so I guess it was a perfect opportunity. As I'm writing this, the big Athenian market is opening it's doors for last-minute shopping for sea food – yes, as strange as it sounds, the market opened at 10 p.m. Sunday and it will close at noon on Monday. People tell me the market is crowded with Athenians buying fresh and frozen sea food at 3 a.m and will spend half of their day preparing the big Clean Monday lunch for the whole family. Kite flying is also on the agenda, provided the weather conditions allow it. But, please keep your fingers crossed for cold weather,  I'd like to see some snow in Athens and weather forecast says there are big chances for snow even in the center of the city.

Back to the tavern. I strongly recommend the place we went to called Kapari – ΚΑΠΠΑΡΗ in Greek- in Ano Petralona. You can get there on foot if you get off at the metro station Petralona. The address is Dorieon and Troon 36, Ano Petralona ( Δωριέων & Τρώων 36).

The place is simple and charming, clean, modern, yet traditional design,white chairs and tables in the garden. It is very comfy and with a good company you will even forget that you are at a restaurant and will have the feeling you are in some friend's back yard.

As for the food, the word amazing comes to mind. The menu has things beyond your average expectations from a tavern. Delish sea food and fish , fresh salads in such vivid colours and creative combinations you will turn vegetarian in a split second. If you are into meat there is a variety of dishes from wild rabbit, coq au vins, boar, caramelised pancetta and so on. Don't forget to try the creamy beet-root salad!!! The taste is even better than the crazy hot-pink colour. 

And the sweet treat at the end, oh it's heavenly. Ice cream over the most delicious chocolate-brownie-like cake..... and it's on the house. I loved it! You have to try it :)

Salad lovers don't miss the one with fresh mixed vegetables with haloumi cheese  and balsamic vinegar

Exarcheia, the rebellious heart of Athens

I compare Exarchia to a huge art canvas. Everyone that has passed through Exarcheia has left a mark there, on the walls, streets or just in the air, regardless of how long or brief their stay. My first time in Athens I was staying in a charming hotel in Exarcheia, so it was a love at first sight. The air is full of music, love, people, this strange feeling that there is so much life in this world, big philosophical discussions over beer and small chit-chat while you eat ice cream or pancakes on the small central square around the statue of Eros. This small neighborhood is like a unique masterpiece, it is everything but socially passive and peaceful and you can bet that it will get under your skin without even noticing. 

It's the alternative place in Athens, the home and refuge of modern revolutionaries, home of the bohemians, students, politicians, anarchists, well known professors, artists, you name it- it's there for sure. You will run into old people walking slowly with their pet dog and leaving food for the stray cats and dogs on the street, young people wandering around with their cameras trying to capture simple, yet priceless moments of love, sadness, solitude, girls that sleep during the day and perform at blues bands at night, sad images of homeless people sleeping in their sleeping bags on the pavements. Or a couple in love that stands under the street light kissing under the rain for one hour. And young artists in their rented studios, half of the space taken by a dusty old piano, and to the left a huge red wall with a Guernica reproduction.... the floor is covered with paint, paint brushes, and when you take a peek through the balcony door you see their neighbors have a bicycle hung on the wall... and just across the narrow street a purple old building, where the shutters are always closed as it just happens to be a brothel. 

From hip modern and very comfy bars and cafes to old, abandoned and dark ghost-houses, Exarcheia is the small and the grand, the ugly and the beautiful, the enthusiasm and initiatives, a mirror-image of the beginning and end of hope.

The media present it as the dodgy place in Athens, especially during protests-season as some of the heavy protests will start and end in Exarcheia. It is without the shadow of a doubt the rebellious heart of Athens. It was marked as such since the first clash of students with the police in 1985. Most of the faculties were around Exarheia so it is no wonder they sought and still seek for their refuge after harsh protests.

Exarcheia is constantly transforming through projects and actions by the citizens. You don't really need a museum here, just a simple stroll through the streets will give you and idea of the place and a conversation with the people on the squares and parks will teach you everything you need to know about the history and present of the place. Prepare to fall in love with the street art that varies from simple tags to actual works of art, love letters and poems written on the walls of the 4-floor buildings. Ah, and did I mention there are numerous open-air cinemas showing old movie classics and relaxing roof-bars where you can go to forget about the unbearable the summer heat?

Athens, the Little Great City

I love this  video by Emmanouil Papadopoulos on Athens so charming... I wish the city could be as peaceful as it is on this video, but I guess a good book and some music can do magic when you need to escape from all the noise...

Lindy hop against the Greek crisis

Farewell to big clubs! Optimism in Greece is making a comeback in the small charming bars with the passionate dance moves in the rhythm of swing

Americans in the 30s and 40s used swing dancing as an escape from the reality of Great Depression. Greeks nowadays use it pretty much in the same way.. For the past two years, Lindy hop as a specific style of swing dancing, has turned out to be not only a popular trend and a way of  forgetting about the dreary grayness of political and economic problems in daily life, but a passion and a way of life for many in this Mediterranean country. Every Wednesday Lindy hoppers put on their authentic 1930s and 1940s dresses, suits and pants, men smartly dressed with immaculate hair styling, women wearing happy-colored dresses and vivid red lipstick, and turn themselves over to the irresistible dancing madness in the tunes of swing. If you are ever in Athens and accidentally step into a bar with Lindy hop dancers get ready to be dazzled and completely immersed by the positive energy in the air. Needless to say, you will be dancing along within minutes, and a day later singing up for your first Lindy hop lessons.

The Athens Swing Cats

Josephine and Ben are the founders of one of the first Lindy hop dance groups in Athens, named the Athens Swing Cats. If you are in Athens you can join their parties every Wednesday either in Floral in Exarheia or Blue Fox (Aisklipou 91, Exarheia). They say the reason behind the dance company is plain - they wanted to dance in Athens. “Ben and I have been living abroad for years. Because of our professional careers in music we knew a variety of dance styles, in particular swing dances. Well, about three years ago we went to a concert in Athens, all dolled up, appropriately dressed and in the mood for dancing. However, when we got to the concert we were shocked. There were like 100 people just standing there with their drinks in hand and just nodding along to the music. No one was dancing. So, this was a defining moment for us and we decided that we want to do something that would inspire people to dance when going out”, says Josephine. As she explains, Athens Swing Cats started out with about 8 people that were interested in swing-dancing, the number gradually went to 15. Now their group is over a hundred people and the number is continually increasing. 

Josephine is a musicologist. She completed her studies and PhD in Edinburgh. Joss has been dancing since the age of 5 and has tried out several different dancing styles, varying from classical do jazz-ballet. Her two partners in Athens Swing Cats are another instructor, Christina, and Ben who apart from his dedication to jazz and swing dancing has a significant experience in breakdancing and Kung Fu. Joss and Ben were acquainted with Lindy hop as a style - Joss even remembers watching her mother swing dancing. “One day I just randomly ran into a Lindy hop group dancing on the streets of Edinburgh. They had such positive energy that I said to myself 'Ok, this is it' and signed up for Lindy hop lessons the very next day at the college club. Ben and I started Lindy hop lessons at different periods, but as time passed by the teachers told us we had the talent for this kind of dancing”, Joss adds with a smile, saying that they overcame the student phase and are now able to teach it to swing-dance enthusiasts.

Lindy hop trivia

Lindy hop has developed as a dance style in the 1930s, having as its predecessors the Charleston, Fox-trot, jazz and a variety of African dances. This dance style was living its best years in the club Savoy in Harlem, which from the 1920s to 1950s was the dance sanctuary where the “black and whities” could dance together free, without boundaries. There was a special place in the Savoy club for Lindy hop dancers known as the Cat's club. The popular Frankie Manning is considered the coolest cat and the father of Lindy hop.

Lindy hop is a mix of several dance styles that in time developed a faster pace that turned into Lindy hop the way it is today - crazy quick and fun, both for dancing and observing. As a style Lindy hop has two variations - the Savoy style which is quicker, livelier, crazier and involves more acrobatic movements, and the Hollywood style, which has a slower, calmer pace.

“When you mention Lindy hop, swing, the first thing that comes to mind is the economic crisis, the Great Depression, World War 2. All of these historical events are crucial for the development of Lindy hop. If this kind of dancing appeared in the 70s maybe it would have gone unnoticed. However, in the 30s and 40s people were under such pressure due to political and economic circumstances that they were bound to explode and this explosion was the birth of Lindy hop. Music and dancing are revolutionary, liberating, give you the freedom to escape from reality”, comment Joss and Ben.

In their opinion the current economic crisis is the key to explaining the overwhelming popularity of Lindy hop in Greece. As Joss says, people are searching for something more than the daily problems and political headaches, they are tired of the same old places where one just sits, drink in hand, sometimes not even leading a decent conversation. “Our generation grew up hanging out in big companies and dancing in discotheques. And all of a sudden this is gone. People are constantly alienating. And Lindy hop jumps in this situation and helps in creating smaller or bigger groups of people that want to spend time together. People come to the dance lessons on their own and after 2-3 classes they are a part of the big Lindy family”, Joss points out to me. There is no age-limit for Lindy hop dancing. Athens Swing Cats' students vary in age, from teenagers that are still in high-school to 60-year olds. Regardless of their age, the dance students support each other constantly, both about dance and daily-life problems.

Students often comment that Lindy hop made a tremendous change in their life. “They come to class and say we have changed their lives. However, I don't think that we, the three professors have made this change. I think it is the whole group that caused the actual change, all the energy and support created within the group changes people. It has certainly changed us. We started the Athens Swing Cats for fun, because we wanted to dance, then it turned to a hobby and now it's our entire life”, say Joss and Ben, explaining they are devoting their time to practicing both with the students, but also working on their dance skills and focusing on improvements of the dance group the rest of the time. Joss is even considering to put her academic career in Scotland behind her and devote herself full-time to working with the Athens Swing Cats.

The fashion

Apart from the positive dance energy that immediately takes over anyone joining an Athens Swing Cats' party, another catchy detail is the dress-code. Almost all Lindy hoppers are dressed following the fashion of the 1930s and 1940s. According to Joss, it is surprising that men are paying more attention to the way they are dressed than women. “It's striking how much they pay attention to detail and how many of them are showing up dressed up all elegant and smart. As if they missed this elegant manner. In the US in the 30s people were dealing with poverty, but they were always decently dressed for the parties. Whereas now we have a financially comfortable life, but our style is more casual, we don't always pay attention to how we look in public.”

It was actually the increasing interest of the students and Joss' attempt to persuade them all to wear authentic outfits for their annual Snowball dance that inspired the Athens Swing Cats' professors to start designing and manufacturing clothes. Somewhere in between dance rehearsals, academia and teaching the Lindy hop moves, Joss is also designing dresses, skirts, pants and other Lindy hop appropriate accessories for their fashion line Swing Kitty. She says the ideas come from various old movies that include big swing and Lindy hop dancing scenes. The studio organizes open days and bazaars so that the students can choose the pieces to their liking. The fashion merchandise was another big surprise on the way for the Athens Swing Cats' founders, as the fashion line Swing Kitty turned out to be popular not only in Greece, but also in the UK and the US.

Lindy hoppers in the world unite

Even though to some it may seem that swing dancing communities dwell in the dusty past, they are in fact blossoming. Lindy hop lovers are constantly starting new dance groups, one may even say that the wave of the Lindy hop revival that started in the 1980s is slowly turning into a dance tsunami. International Lindy hop communities are collaborating, and some of the most active communities are the ones in the UK, Sweden, the US, Italy and Greece is also hopping on board. As Joss tells us, wherever a Lindy hop dancer goes if he/she finds the local Lindy hop community and tells them he/she is a dancer too the community will immediately accept them and try to assist them in all ways possible.

One of the most interesting characteristics in the international Lindy hop cooperations is the Lindy hop exchange, when for example the Athens Swing Cats invite Lindy hop dancers from the Balkans, US or UK and organizes a Lindy hop festival. The exchange lasts for several days and it is filled with non-stop concerts and workshops for the local and guest Lindy hop dancers.

“Lindy hop is not only the dancing style of the 30s. It belongs to us as well, here and now. We are trying to become more open to the new swing music they are creating now, but we also do enjoy the music from the 30s and 40s, and in my case, even the 60s and 70s, the big bands music and especially the way they sound on the old records. It's not only about the past - it's current, it's now as well. And it's about everyone”, says Ben, as a small sweet battle arises between him and Joss about different music preferences. Ben is a fan of 60s swing, Frank Sinatra and New Orleans jazz while Joss is particularly fond of Glen Miller, Benny Goodman, Jonny Cooper and The Royal Crown Revue. And when it comes to films, “Swing Kids” and “A Day at the Races” are absolutely essential.

Everybody wants to be a cat...

All throughout the conversation I have the catchy tune from “Aristocats” – Everybody wants to be a cat - echoing in my head. It seems that for Joss, Ben and their studio the cat is indeed a holy symbol, starting from the name Athens Swing Cats, inspired by their pet cat Sasha, to the often repeated “cool cat” phrase from the 1930s, the Cat's corner in the Savoy club, and finally a very friendly chubby cat named Tito that lives in the building where the dance studio is located. “Tito, the former Yugoslavian president...”, Joss says and I immediately respond by giggling. “It's actually sad that many people nowadays don't know how Tito was, they don't know about the history of our neighbors. I've made this joke about the cat's name and the ex Yugoslavian president so many times and in many cases people just look at me puzzled”, Joss adds.

Joss and Ben say they are open to a collaboration and workshops with dance groups from Skopje and would be more than happy to see some of them during the three-day Athens Lindy hop festival they are working on at the moment. “I know you have great musicians, great jazz musicians and Jazz festival, but I am not acquainted with the swing-dancing scene in Skopje. I remember this amazing band Anastasia I saw perform live in Athens in the 90s”, Joss points out to my great surprise. Both of them say that if an opportunity comes up they would be more than happy to come to Skopje and have some workshops or perform at a festival, or have a Lindy hop exchange with the local swing dance groups.

I tell them there are a few tango dancing groups in Skopje, but no Lindy hop dancers yet, and explain the enthusiasm of my friends that are big fans of swing dancing and would love to dress up 1930s style and do the shim sham. Josephine smiles and with a positive tone of a Lindy hop dancer just says: “I am sure there is someone in Skopje that knows everything about Lindy hop, knows how to dance but is just waiting for the right moment to start and make it really big there. I believe than in Skopje, just as in Athens, right now is the right moment for the music, dance and cultural revolution”.

Published in Utrinski Vesnik, 8^th January, 2011