Greek Folk Dance Group ‘Eleni Tsaouli’

Founded in 1954 by Eleni Tsaouli and a small group of people, that made it their primary goal to study and promote the Greek folk dances.

The Group has taken part in more than a thousand performances in Greece and abroad. It operates as a non-profit society and has more than two hundred members. It has a dancing group of about forty-five people, a childrens’ dancing group, over 150 authentic clothes from all over Greece, most of which are authentic, and a repertory of dances from all around Greece.

Domna Samiou collaborated with Eleni Tsaouli and the Group from the beginning of her career in 1971 to 1995, in over 160 concerts in Greece and abroad, and in disc recordings.

Songs

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  • SongDodecanesePatmosBawdy Song, Carnival Song

An Old Man Was Approaching (Explicit)

  • Ένας γέρος ηρκουντάνε ⬥ An old man -yes, an old man, an old man was approaching, an old man was approaching, his prick was hanging down– it wasn’t so much hanging down as being dragged along. An old hag met him on his way: "What’s that I see, old man?". [...]
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  • SongMacedoniaKastoriaBawdy Song, Carnival Song

Five and Ten Priests’ Wives (Explicit)

  • Πέντε δέκα παπαδιές ⬥ Five and ten –now harken here– five and ten priests’ wives there were, five and ten priests’ wives there were and nuns to the same number who went to fish the river waters and to have a bathe; they lay their habits to one side and [...]
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  • SongCentral GreeceCarnival Song

He’s Dead Is Master Meat

  • Πέθαν’ ο Κρέας ⬥ He’s dead, o mother dear, he’s dead, he’s dead is Master Meat, he’s dead is Master Meat, he’s dead, and Master Cheese is dying. Now Master Leek lifts up his tail and Master Onion his beard, and Mistress Chard, that saucy Chard, sits upon the rim, [...]
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  • SongEpirusBawdy Song, Carnival Song

How Do They Grind the Pepper (Explicit)

  • Πώς το τρίβουν το πιπέρι ⬥ How do they grind, good shepherdess, how do they grind the pepper, how do they grind the pepper, those diabolic monks? With the knee, good shepherdess, they grind it with the knee, with the knee they grind it, and they grind it fine. Ho [...]
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  • SongCentral GreeceCarnival Song, Philosophical Song

I Have Grown Old, Goddam It

  • Γέρασα, μωρέ παιδιά ⬥ – I have grown old, goddammit, friends, I have grown old and cannot now, I have grown old and cannot now sing the songs I used to sing. I see young men and am green-eyed, an old man full of grievances. I’d rather suffer forty cuts [...]
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  • SongEpirusLove Song

I’ll Be the Basil by Your Window

  • Βασιλικός θα γίνω ⬥ I’ll be the basil by your window, I’ll stay unwed for your sake. Come, come to me and I’ll fill you with glee. Come to the window, not a word to your mum, mid pretend to water your marjoram. By the end of July with you [...]
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  • SongCentral GreeceCarnival Song

If I Could Be Upon the Shore (Explicit)

  • Να ’μουν νύχτα στο γιαλό ⬥ If I could be, if I could be, could be upon the shore at night to light a lamp, to light a lamp, to light a lamp so I might see. Good auntie Nikolákena, don’t you go gath’ring vegetables. Where are they kindling bonfires [...]
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  • SongCycladesNaxosCarnival Song, Philosophical SongCouplets

It Is the Custom Every Year

  • Τούτες οι μέρες το ’χουνε ⬥ It is the custom every year to mark these days and weeks with dances for young swains and maids that mothers may rejoice. So let the dance proceed apace, this earth shall surely eat us up. We’re fated all of us to end our [...]
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  • SongThraceLove Song, Spring SongCouplets

May

  • Μάης ⬥ May's come, May's come and spring, summer’s come when the perfumed roses bloom. I’ve a white rose I want to dye and if I get the shade just right, many a heart will I smite. Translated by Michael Eleftheriou
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  • SongCentral GreeceEuboeaLampoon, Sea and Sailors SongCouplets

Our Tráta All Tattered

  • Η τράτα μας η κουρελού ⬥ Our battered old boat and its tattered old nets patched over and over and yet always torn. Our old boat needs sails, Our old boat needs oars If mum only knew that I worked on that boat, she’d send me my clothes and my [...]
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Records

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  • AlbumCD, Digital release1994Domna Samiou Greek Folk Music Association

Carnival Songs

The most famous publication of the Domna Samiou Greek Folk Music Association. These Carnival songs with their ritual bawdiness – ‘sacred in the profane’ – disturbed the prudish devotees of tradition. The recordings (on CD and double LP) come with a detailed booklet analysing the pagan and ritualistic context in […]
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  • AlbumDigital release, LP1994Domna Samiou Greek Folk Music Association

Carnival Songs (LP)

The most famous publication of Domna Samiou’s Association. These ‘sacred in the profane’ songs of the Carnival with their ritual bawdiness disturbed the prudish ‘devotees’ of tradition. The records (in LP and CD) are accompanied by a detailed booklet analysing the pagan and ritualistic context in which these songs are […]
Music from Greece: Δομνα Σαμίου
  • AlbumCD2018Caprice

Music from Greece: Domna Samiou

Reissue of the Caprice album Grekisk folkmusik (Ξενιτεμένο μου πουλí) on a CD with 9 extra tracks, and a comprehensively informative booklet about Greek folk music and the woman behind this production – Domna Samiou.
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  • AlbumLP1980Caprice

My Emigrated Bird

The first LP by the state-run 'Concerts Sweden Rikskonserter' produced with non-Swedish musicians. Domna Samiou was chosen for her valuable contribution to traditional Greek folk music. The LP, documented by an extended trilingual booklet, came after a concert tour in sixteen Swedish cities in the summer of 1979 aiming to […]
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  • AlbumDigital release, LP1991Domna Samiou Greek Folk Music Association

Songs of Asia Minor 2

On this LP, Domna Samiou presents songs and dances she recorded among refugees of Asia Minor: heartfelt interpretations dedicated to Baindiri, Domna’s hometown in Asia Minor. This LP complements ‘Songs of Asia Minor N° 1’ published in 1984.
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  • AlbumCD, Digital release1992Domna Samiou Greek Folk Music Association

Songs οf Asia Minor

On this CD, Domna Samiou presents songs and dances she recorded among refugees of Asia Minor: heartfelt interpretations dedicated to Baindiri, Domna’s hometown in Asia Minor. The CD includes songs from two previous LPs, 'Songs of Asia Minor 1 and 2'. (barcode: 5204910000128)  
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Concerts

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  • Concert
  • 1971-1973

The First Concerts

In 1971, in the midst of the military Junta period in Greece, Dionysis Savvopoulos convinced Domna to sing at the club “Rodeo”. In the following years, she performed at “Kyttaro” and “Rizes”.
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