What can we do? We Dance.

Here in Greece the recession is biting, in Crete the tourist numbers have dropped. Many people have lost their jobs. So what does a Cretan do? They dance.

Last weekend the people of Crete got together along the 200 Kilometres of National Road that stretches the length of the island, and they danced. Just like that. It cost nothing and people felt better. Now the Guinness Book of Records has accepted this dance as the world’s longest dance, so we may even be famous.

Here’s a movie of the dance:

In a way this reminds me of Zorba, from the book by Katzanzakis who was born here in Crete.

Here is the quote: “It was the dancing. When my little boy Dimitri died…and everybody was crying… Me, I got up and I danced.  They said, “Zorba is mad.” But it was the dancing — only the dancing that stopped the pain.”