Labyrinth Dance
Our arms are twined,
our bodies tight.
In wonder we lean into the line.
Our arms are twined.
Our bodies tight,
we move as one,
threading now towards time's ancient home.
Our arms are twined.
We rock as with the same spine,
drawn back to love's secret shrine,
together in the moon's glow we wind.
Our arms are twined
so close we flow in the light.
We wander far without fright,
such clear vision we've no need of sight,
our bodies tight.
Our arms are twined,
our bodies tight.
Our dance leads deeper into the night.
Our arms are twined.
– judith laura
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The Greek name for this dance is Tsakonikos, after the town of Tsakonia. The meter of this poem is identical to that of the music used for the dance. This dance was described by Plutarch, may go back to Minoan Crete, and is related to the Ariadne labyrinth myth. Danced in a line of mixed genders, Tsakonikos has an unusual handhold -- elbows bent and lower arms wrapped around other persons' and held tight against the upper body -- that brings sides of the dancers' bodies against one another so that line seems to move as one body.