Siganos (East Crete)

Slow, slow-moving, walking dance with various forms of the dance found in the prefectures of Rethymno, Heraklion and Lassithi.

One tradition states that the siganos was invented by the Cretans during the Ottoman Empire, because the Turks invited Christians to their feasts, to get the women to dance. However, they smeared the floor with a robe so that they would slip and fall. The Cretans invented the dance and asked the lyre players to play siganos slowly to avoid accidents.

Another story states that the Siganos was invented by the Cretans when the Turks forbade them from dancing jumping-revolutionary dances. The Cretans invented the Siganos so as not to forget the Pentozali, which they resemble.