The original compositions in this book were inspired by the ancient Greek dances. Most of them are still alive today with modern names in dance companies throughout Greece. The dances of the ancient times were characterized as dances of war or dances of peace. The latter are distinguished as dances of theater, religious and worship, martial dances, symposia dances, mourning dances, etc. Each type of presentation - tragedy, comedy, and satirical play - had its characteristic dances, some staid and solemn, others featuring lewd miming.