history
Plate smashing and the dances: where they come from
Sirtaki is younger than most guests assume, and plate smashing has a real history in Greek nightlife — here's where both actually started.
Find a free night ↗Two traditions, two very different ages
| Tradition | Origin |
|---|---|
| Sirtaki | Choreographed for the 1964 film Zorba the Greek |
| Plate smashing | Greek nightclub custom that peaked in the 1960s–70s |
A dance built for a film set
The dance that everyone now expects at a Greek night out started life as choreography for a 1964 film, Zorba the Greek — Giorgos Provias built the steps, Mikis Theodorakis wrote the score now known separately as Zorba's Dance, and the routine stitches together three existing dances (syrtos, hasapiko, hasaposerviko) rather than reviving a single old one.
How it's built to be danced
Dancers link shoulder to shoulder in a line or circle, in 4/4 time, starting slow and speeding up as the piece goes — some of the footwork echoes the motion of crushing grapes, a nod to its Greek roots even though the dance itself is modern.
From cinema to every Greek celebration
What started on a cinema set has since worked its way into weddings, tavernas and shows across the country, to the point where the film's invented routine is now the first thing most people picture when someone says 'Greek dancing' at all — a piece of choreography that outgrew the movie it was written for.
Smashing plates on purpose
Plate smashing as celebration took off in Athens nightclubs through the 1960s and 70s, after an entrepreneur named Babavea opened a cabaret near the Odeon of Herodes Atticus where the custom caught on.
A custom that got regulated, then relaxed
During Greece's military-junta years, breaking plates carried real legal penalties; the law later softened, allowing it where everyone present was on board with the celebration.
Plaster, not ceramic, today
Modern venues, this one included, favour lighter plaster plates over ceramic ones to cut both the cost and the mess — the tradition's spirit survives even where the material has changed.