`Athens by Night’

The music has become so familiar that it can reveal itself in the first few plinks of the bouzouki strings. By the time the notes have begun to gather speed, like a steam locomotive chugging away from the station, the fiery Zorba dance almost seems to represent the very essence of Greek traditional celebration.

Thanks to the movie “Zorba the Greek,” starring Anthony Quinn, the spirited series of steps, performed with a hand on the shoulder of a partner, has become one of the most recognizable of all Greek dances. Yet it actually has no roots in the ancient Greek folk tradition. The Zorba is, in fact, just a successful modern hybrid, created expressly for the film from several traditional Greek dance steps.

Despite its lack of cultural pedigree, the festive dance remains one of the mainstays of the Greek Ball in Bangor. In celebrating this annual highlight event of the Bangor social season, Greeks and non-Greeks alike dance with a passion that would make Zorba proud.

Sponsored by the St. George Greek Orthodox Church, “Athens by Night,” as this year’s ball is called, will be 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Oct. 17 at the Bangor Civic Center.

Those who would like to join the festivities, but don’t know Zorba from spanakopeta, are invited to participate in an introductory dance lesson from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Oct. 13 and 14, at the church hall, 90 Sanford St. The dance lessons are free to ticketholders.

As it has been for the past 40 years, this successful fund-raising event will bring under one roof a savory blend of native Greek music, pastries and hors d’oeuvres. Ballgoers will be able to sample such deliciously exotic fare as keftethes (meatballs), dolmathes (stuffed grape leaves), and the traditional spinach pie known as spanakopeta.

The desserts will include kourambiedes, melamacarona, and the essential baklava — a rich pastry filled with chopped nuts, butter and cinnamon and soaked in honey.

The Levendes of Boston will lead the crowd in a variety of traditional and popular Greek folk dances, including the Syrtos, an ancient dance still popular throughout Greece.

Aside from The Zorba, the ball will also feature such dances as the Hassapikos a very old dance first performed by the Greek butchers of Byzantium; Zeibekidos, a free-form dance often performed by a single dancer, and Naftiko, the dance of the sailors.

As its popularity has risen over the years, the Greek Ball has outgrown many halls around the city: Pilots Grill, the Penobscot Country Club, the Brewer Auditorium, the Bangor Armory, Dickerman Hall and the Bangor Auditorium. The ball has been at the Bangor Civic Center since 1978, when it became the facility’s first major event after its dedication by Mayor Arthur Brountas.

Judging from past attendance, organizers expect the ball to draw 500 to 600 people — most of them not of Greek heritage.