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Karşılama (Greek:Καρσιλαμάς) is a Turkish dance of unsure origins found in the Balkans and Anatolia. It literally means "face-to-face greeting".
Karsilamas is a couple dance that is still danced in what was the former Byzantine and Ottoman empire, from Persia to Serbia, and in the Macedonia and Thrace regions of Northern Greece.
Today it is a raucous, bordering on the erotic, couple dance between men and women where the dancers face one another. Hands are held in the upright position about eye level, fingers snapped to the beat of the music, hips swaying.
The meter is 9/8, and the basic move is danced in four small steps with durations 2,2,2,3 respectively. The style and mood (bouncy, smooth, lively, etc.) vary depending on the region.
Rumeli Karşılaması, Trakya Karşılaması, Merzifon Karşılaması, Edirne Karşılaması, Gümülcine Karşılaması, Taraklı Karşılaması, Bilecik Karşılaması, Old Karsilamas (Παληός Καρσιλαμάς), Pigi Karsilama(Πιγκί), Ayşe Karsilama (İskender boğazı) (Αϊσέ), Aptalikos Karsilamas (Απτάλικος), Mastika.
Mastika is also the title of a Karşılama in Turkish Roma music. Popular in some Balkan regions.
From a female version of the lyrics: "If you collect all the stars in sky and throw them on my lap, in return I'll give you nine kids to have. // A-a-a, Mastika, mastika... // If you paint my body all in honey, I'll let you love me from my head to my toes... // A-a-a, Mastika, mastika..."
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