A thorough look into the dance tradition in Greece leads to the observation a single dance can appear in various forms from one region to another or even among municipalities. Focusing on the island of Rhodes in Dodecanese it may be observed that one specific dance, called “Sousta”, is danced in different forms among various communities. The aim of this paper is to map “Sousta” dance through its recording, in order to showcase the variety of forms of this dance on the island of Rhodes. Through this mapping, eventual similarities but also differences among those dance forms will arise. Collection and processing of data is based on the principles of bibliographic research. Analysis, description, and interpretation of the forms of “Sousta” dance was carried out according to the Labanotation dance recording system. From the ethnographic data and the comparative presentation of the forms of “Sousta” dance it is observed a variety when it comes to the dance execution. There are common patterns of the “Sousta” dance, which are repeated, modified and transformed and that leads to such a great variety of forms that this dance presents.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the application of the action research methodology in the compulsory course titled “Choreology with emphasis on Greek traditional dance” in the School of Physical Education and Sport Science of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, based on the experiences and self-reflection of the researcher himself, concerning the data collected from the participants in this action research. For that purpose, ethnographic research was conducted in three phases: a) data collection, b) data analysis and c) data interpretation. Data collection was based on observation and interviews, while data analysis and interpretation were conducted under the terms of “self-reflection” and “thick description.” In conclusion, action research is a method that has only been applied scarcely in Physical Education and not at all in Greek traditional dance (GTD), as this particular research method — by its nature — does not exclusively aim at improving the participants’ performance in one technique, but, instead, at interweaving theory and practice by redefining the relationship between the teacher and the student. Nevertheless, the research process under study highlighted the applicability of action research and its variety of prospects in the teaching subject of GTD in the context of PE, as the participants did not only learn “the dance” or “about dance”, but also “through dance”.