Very interesting finding from the island of Kos

Today, while reading the latest edition of FEPTO NEWS (The Federation of European Psychodrama Training Organizations' newsletter), on page 28 I found that the forthcoming 5th International Sociodrama conference 2015 will be held on the Greek island of Kos, in the eastern Aegean sea. 

But what really stroke me was two pictures of traditional folk dances from the island of Kos. 

Two notes on these photos: 

1. The women's dressing is very similar to the Bulgarian women's garb. Especially the aprons are very similar to the aprons in some Bulgarian regions. The female jewelries are typical for the Balkans region too, as well the male's clothes which probably were influenced from the Ottomans. 

2. The way dancers hold their hands over one another is similar to the way some Bulgarians hold their hands. 

Lets compare:

14th century: medieval Bulgarian horo dancers - a fresco from the Tower of Hrelyo in Rila monastery, 1334-35.

21st century: Bulgarian amateur horo dancers from the town of Harmanli during their repetition, 2013. 

I decided to check out if really the local people of Kos dance in this way. In here is what I found:

Χοροί από Δωδεκάνησα

That's right! The people in the southeastern Aegean island of Kos, which stays just 2 miles from Bodrum and the Turkish coast, and about 350 miles from the Bulgarian lands, hold their hands one over another just like the people in Bulgaria. The melody and the steps of the dances are different, but the clothes of the women and the dancers' strain relief is the same!