Italian folk dance
Encyclopedia
Italian Folk Dance has been an integral part of Italian culture for centuries. Dance has been a continuous thread in Italian life from Dante
through the Renaissance
, the advent of the Tarantella
, and the modern revivals of folk music
and dance.
or carole (carola in Italian), a circle or chain dance
which incorporates singing, was the dominant Medieval dance
form in Europe from at least the 12th through the 14th centuries. This form of dance was found in Italy as well and although Dante
has a few fleeting references to dance, it is Dante's contemporary Giovanni del Virgilio (floruit 1319-1327) who gives us the earliest mention of Italian folk dance. He describes a group of women leaving a church in Bologna
at the festa of San Giovanni; they form a circle with the leader singing the first stanza at the end of which the dancers stop and, dropping hands, sing the refrain. The circle then reforms and the leader goes on to the next stanza.
(1313–1375) who illustrates the social function of dance in the Decameron (about 1350-1353). In Boccaccio's masterpiece, a group of men and women have traveled to a countryside villa to escape the Black Death
and they tell a series of stories to while away the time. But there are also social activities before and after the stories which include song and dance.
After breakfast at the beginning of the first day:
For each of the ten days, song and dance are part of the storytellers' activities - at the end of the sixth day:
And further after storytelling on the seventh day:
The dance passages in the Decameron show that the carol was always sung but could be accompanied by instrumental music as well, both men and women danced though women seem to dance more often than men, and all knew how to dance.
Boccaccio also uses two other terms besides carola to describe the dances done, danza and ballo. Some scholars assume that all the terms are synonymous since the dance forms are given no distinctive description, but others take these to mean separate dances and trace the names forward to the Renaissance dances bassadanza and ballo.
The two terms for dance that Boccaccio uses, ridda and ballonchio, both refer to round dances with singing. Another variant of the round dance with song is the Righoletto, known from Florence and the surrounding countryside in the 14th and 15th centuries
(Add. 29987), folios 55v-58r and 59v-63v, contain 15 monophonic pieces of music, the first eight of which are labeled istanpitta. Of the next seven pieces, 4 are called saltarello, one trotto, one Lamento di Tristano, and the final one is labeled La Manfredina. These are the only known examples of instrumental dance music from Italy in the Middle Ages and all of them have similarities to earlier French dance pieces called estampie.
There is divided opinion on the question of whether the estampie / istanpitta was actually a dance or simply a musical form. Curt Sachs in his World History of the Dance believes the strong rhythm of the music, the name, which he derives from a term "to stamp", and literary references point to the estampie definitely being a dance. Vellekoop, on the other hand, looks at the evidence and concludes that estampie was simply a name for early instrumental music.
The other seven dances in the manuscript have the same general musical structure as those labeled "istanpitta" but are simpler and proabably more suitable for dancing. Saltarello is a dance name found in later centuries as well but the later examples may not refer to the same dance as these 14th century pieces. The last two dances in the manuscript, Lamento di Tristano and La Manfredina are notable as being pairs of related dances, a scheme which became common in Renaissance dance.
One of the earliest known depictions of Italian folk dance is part of a set of frescoes at the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena
by Ambrogio Lorenzetti
(about 1285-1348). Part of his Allegory of Good Government (Effetto del Buon Governo) painted about 1338-40 shows a group of nine dancers, all women and accompanied by another woman singing and playing on the tambourine
, executing a "bridge" figure where dancers go under the joined hands of the two lead dancers.
Another 14th century illustration comes from the Florentine painter Andrea Bonaiuti (1343–1377). One of his series of paintings The Church Militant and Triumphant (Chiesa militante e trionfante) done in 1365 at a chapel in the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence
also shows women dancing accompanied by a woman on tambourine.
's Le piacevoli notti (The Facetious Nights of Straparola
). But we also find that couple dances and mimetic elements now appear and formal choreographies emerge for the first time. This new Art of the Dance can especially be seen at the major courts of Milan
, Padua
, Venice
, Florence
, Bologna
, Pesaro
, Urbino
and Naples
.
The three 15th century treatises divide their dances into two types, the bassadanza and the ballo, possibly related to the earlier simple dance forms of Boccaccio's time. The bassadanza, allied to the similar French basse dance, is a slow dignified dance without leaps or hops, while the ballo was a livelier dance often containing pantomimic elements. The terms saltarello or piva were sometimes used for more sprightly versions of the ballo. The dances are for couples, holding hands or in lines. Dances in the manuscripts were often given rather fanciful names, e.g. Lioncello, Gioioso and Rosina, which are often found in more than one work and occasionally as dance names in later times as well.
Dance suites usually started with a walking sequence, pavana, a term often found in the music of the time but almost never in dance manuals. The passo e mezzo (literally step-and-a-half) seems to have been a faster variant of the pavana. The faster, athletic gagliarda often followed the pavana but was also done as a separate dance. Other similar fast afterdances were the tordiglione and the saltarello (another term seen more often in music than dance descriptions). Further types were the Spagnoletta and the canario with its unique stamping patterns.
Some of these names are seen again in the 1588 poem about life in Naples
, Ritratto ... di Napoli by Gian Battista del Tufo (about 1548-1600) where dances like Spagnoletto or Tordiglione, and Rogier, Lo Brando and Passo e mezzo are mentioned but not described. But he does tell of a dance with Arab influence and movements from Malta, the Sfessania. Some decades later we find Villanella, and once again Ruggiero, Sfessania and Spagnoletta in Giambattista Basile
's collection of Neapolitan fairy tales, the Pentameron (published 1634-36). No reference is made in either work to the name which would later be the definitive dance of Naples, the Tarantella
, but Bragaglia thinks that the Sfessania can be regarded as the ancestor of that dance.
Even by the late Renaissance and the elaborate choreographies of Caroso, a link between court dance and country or folk dance can be seen. Elements of folk dance invigorate courtly dances and folk dances take over movements and styles from courtly dance. The difference between the two forms was likely one of style and elegance.
does appear in illustrations and travelers's accounts in Southern Italy. When the German writer Goethe
describes the Tarantella which he saw performed in Naples during his trip to Italy in 1786-87, it appears as a dance for women only, two girls dancing with castanets accompanied by a third on the tambourine. Madame de Staël
had also traveled in Italy and in her 1817 novel Corinne, she has her heroine dance the Tarantella as a solo. But the Tarantella as a couple dance telling a story of love in mime does appear in a description by Orgitano in the middle of the 19th century.
Also appearing in illustrations and texts is the Saltarello as a rustic dance of Romagna
in Central Italy. This is a name which also appears in the earliest Italian dance music and throughout the Renaissance. It is not clear, however, that these various mentions represent the same or even related dances.
In the North, in Venice
, there was the "wild courtship dance", known as Furlana
or Forlana which was danced by Casanova in 1775.
References to figure dances similar to English Country Dance
s and French Contradanses also appear as early as the first part of the 18th century. Dances of this type from the 18th and 19th centuries in Italy include La Contraddanza, Quadriglia and Il Codiglione. A letter from the English writer and politician Horace Walpole dated 1740 from Florence
declares "The Italians are fond to a degree of our country dances"
In 1925, Benito Mussolini
's government set up the Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro
(OND) or National Recreational Club as a means of promoting sports and cultural activities and one of its accomplishments was a wide survey of folk music and dance in Italy at that time. The work was published in 1931 as Costumi, musica, danze e feste popolari italiane ("Italian popular customs, music, dance and festivals"). In September 1945 OND was replaced by a new organization, the Ente Nazionale Assistenza Lavoratori (ENAL), headquartered in Rome. In partnership with the International Folk Music Council, ENAL sponsored a Congress and Festival in Venice September 7–11, 1949 which included many of the outstanding researchers in Italian folklore as well as folk dance and music groups from various Italian regions.
ENAL was dissolved in late 1978 but earlier in October 1970, the Italian folklore groups who had been members of ENAL set up a separate organization, which in 1978 became the Federazione Italiana Tradizioni Populari (FITP). The FITP publishes a newsletter and a scholarly publication Il Folklore D'Italia.
Some prominent 20th century Italian folk dance researchers are Anton Giulio Bragaglia, Diego Carpitella, Antonio Cornoldi, Bianca Maria Galanti, Giorgio Nataletti, Placida Staro and Paolo Toschi. (see Bibliography)
An interest in preserving and fostering folk art, music and dance among Italian-Americans and the dedication and leadership of Elba Farabegoli Gurzau led to the formation of the Italian Folk Art Federation of America (IFAFA) in May 1979. The group sponsors an annual conference and has published a newsletter, Tradizioni, since 1980.
, Piemonte, Liguria
, Lombardia, Venetia, Emilia-Romagna
, Friuli
and Trentino.
), sword dances and stick dances. A number of these are from the Piedmont region of Northern Italy:
has been a crossroads for different cultures throughout the centuries. The inhabitants are mostly Italian speaking the local Friulan dialect but German and Slovenian are also spoken in some areas.
is an autonomous province of Italy with a majority German-speaking population. The dance culture is similar to that of Southern Germany and the Austrian state of Tyrol
with such typical dances as Ländler
, Schuhplattler
, Dreirtanz, Schustertanz, Bregenzer and Masolka.
, Marche
, Umbria
, Lazio and Abruzzi e Molise
.
, Puglia, Basilicata
, Calabria
and Sicilia.
, today part of the country of Croatia
, was ruled for centuries by the Venetian Republic and became a margraviate of the Kingdom of Austria in the 19th century. Italians made up about a third of the population of nearly 350,000 in 1900.(Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th edition). Italian cultural influence has resulted in the resemblance of many Istrian dances to those of Northern Italy. This applies to dances done by the modern day Croatian population and by the Italian national minority found today in the larger towns and some villages in the western part of Istria. Dances done by both the Croatian and the Italian communities include Molferina or Mafrina and Kvadrilja. Dances specific to the Italians include La Veneziana, Bersagliera, Denci, and more importantly the very similar dances Vilota and Furlana.
is today part of Croatia
but during the Middle Ages and Renaissance was under Venetian control. Dalmatia, especially its maritime cities, once had a substantial Italian population but this was reduced to 3% by 1900.(Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th edition)
DANTE
Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe is a not-for-profit organisation that plans, builds and operates the international networks that interconnect the various national research and education networks in Europe and surrounding regions...
through the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
, the advent of the Tarantella
Tarantella
The term tarantella groups a number of different southern Italian couple folk dances characterized by a fast upbeat tempo, usually in 6/8 time , accompanied by tambourines. It is among the most recognized of traditional Italian music. The specific dance name varies with every region, for instance...
, and the modern revivals of folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and dance.
Middle Ages
The carolCarol (music)
A carol is a festive song, generally religious but not necessarily connected with church worship, and often with a dance-like or popular character....
or carole (carola in Italian), a circle or chain dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
which incorporates singing, was the dominant Medieval dance
Medieval dance
Sources for an understanding of dance in Europe in the Middle Ages are limited and fragmentary, being composed of some depictions in paintings and illuminations, a few musical examples of what may be dances, and scattered allusions in literary texts...
form in Europe from at least the 12th through the 14th centuries. This form of dance was found in Italy as well and although Dante
DANTE
Delivery of Advanced Network Technology to Europe is a not-for-profit organisation that plans, builds and operates the international networks that interconnect the various national research and education networks in Europe and surrounding regions...
has a few fleeting references to dance, it is Dante's contemporary Giovanni del Virgilio (floruit 1319-1327) who gives us the earliest mention of Italian folk dance. He describes a group of women leaving a church in Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
at the festa of San Giovanni; they form a circle with the leader singing the first stanza at the end of which the dancers stop and, dropping hands, sing the refrain. The circle then reforms and the leader goes on to the next stanza.
Boccaccio
But it is Giovanni BoccaccioGiovanni Boccaccio
Giovanni Boccaccio was an Italian author and poet, a friend, student, and correspondent of Petrarch, an important Renaissance humanist and the author of a number of notable works including the Decameron, On Famous Women, and his poetry in the Italian vernacular...
(1313–1375) who illustrates the social function of dance in the Decameron (about 1350-1353). In Boccaccio's masterpiece, a group of men and women have traveled to a countryside villa to escape the Black Death
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
and they tell a series of stories to while away the time. But there are also social activities before and after the stories which include song and dance.
After breakfast at the beginning of the first day:
- "E levate le tavole, con ciò fosse cosa che tutte le donne carolar sapessero e similmente i giovani e parte di loro ottimamente e sonare e cantare, comandò la reina che gli strumenti venissero; e per comandamento di lei, Dioneo preso un liuto e la Fiammetta una viuola, cominciarono soavemente una danza a sonare; [107] per che la reina con l'altre donne insieme co' due giovani presa una carola, con lento passo, mandati i famigliari a mangiare, a carolar cominciarono; e quella finita, canzoni vaghette e liete cominciarono a cantare. [108]"
- "Breakfast done, the tables were removed, and the queen bade fetch instruments of music; for all, ladies and young men alike, knew how to tread a measure, and some of them played and sang with great skill: so, at her command, Dioneo having taken a lute, and Fiammetta a viol, they struck up a dance in sweet concert; [107] and, the servants being dismissed to their repast, the queen, attended by the other ladies and the two young men, led off a stately carol; which ended they fell to singing ditties dainty and gay. [108]"
For each of the ten days, song and dance are part of the storytellers' activities - at the end of the sixth day:
- "[037] E poi che bagnati si furono e rivestiti, per ciò che troppo tardi si faceva, se ne tornarono a casa, dove trovarono le donne che facevano una carola a un verso che facea la Fiammetta..."
- "[037] Then, as the hour was very late, they did but bathe, and as soon as they had resumed their clothes, returned to the ladies, whom they found dancing a carol to an air that Fiammetta sang..."
And further after storytelling on the seventh day:
- "intorno della bella fontana di presente furono in sul danzare, quando al suono della cornamusa di Tindaro e quando d'altri suon carolando. [009]"
- "they presently gathered for the dance about the fair fountain, and now they footed it to the strains of Tindaro's cornemuse, and now to other music. [009]"
The dance passages in the Decameron show that the carol was always sung but could be accompanied by instrumental music as well, both men and women danced though women seem to dance more often than men, and all knew how to dance.
Boccaccio also uses two other terms besides carola to describe the dances done, danza and ballo. Some scholars assume that all the terms are synonymous since the dance forms are given no distinctive description, but others take these to mean separate dances and trace the names forward to the Renaissance dances bassadanza and ballo.
Dance in the countryside
These descriptions from Boccaccio are, of course, all of townsfolk dancing but the Decameron also gives at least a glimpse at peasant dances as well. In the second story of the Eighth Day about the priest and Monna Belcolore, of the latter the story says:- "e oltre a ciò era quella che meglio sapeva sonare il cembalo e cantare L'acqua corre la borrana, e menare la ridda e il ballonchio, quando bisogno faceva, che vicina che ella avesse, con bel moccichino e gentile in mano. [010]"
- "Moreover she had not her match in playing the tabret and singing: "The borage is full sappy", and in leading a brawl or a breakdown, no matter who might be next her, with a fair and dainty kerchief in her hand. [010]"
The two terms for dance that Boccaccio uses, ridda and ballonchio, both refer to round dances with singing. Another variant of the round dance with song is the Righoletto, known from Florence and the surrounding countryside in the 14th and 15th centuries
Istanpitta and others
In a 14th century Italian manuscript in the British LibraryBritish Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
(Add. 29987), folios 55v-58r and 59v-63v, contain 15 monophonic pieces of music, the first eight of which are labeled istanpitta. Of the next seven pieces, 4 are called saltarello, one trotto, one Lamento di Tristano, and the final one is labeled La Manfredina. These are the only known examples of instrumental dance music from Italy in the Middle Ages and all of them have similarities to earlier French dance pieces called estampie.
There is divided opinion on the question of whether the estampie / istanpitta was actually a dance or simply a musical form. Curt Sachs in his World History of the Dance believes the strong rhythm of the music, the name, which he derives from a term "to stamp", and literary references point to the estampie definitely being a dance. Vellekoop, on the other hand, looks at the evidence and concludes that estampie was simply a name for early instrumental music.
The other seven dances in the manuscript have the same general musical structure as those labeled "istanpitta" but are simpler and proabably more suitable for dancing. Saltarello is a dance name found in later centuries as well but the later examples may not refer to the same dance as these 14th century pieces. The last two dances in the manuscript, Lamento di Tristano and La Manfredina are notable as being pairs of related dances, a scheme which became common in Renaissance dance.
Depictions of dance
Siena
Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nation's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008...
by Ambrogio Lorenzetti
Ambrogio Lorenzetti
Ambrogio Lorenzetti was an Italian painter of the Sienese school. He was active between approximately 1317 to 1348. His elder brother was the painter Pietro Lorenzetti....
(about 1285-1348). Part of his Allegory of Good Government (Effetto del Buon Governo) painted about 1338-40 shows a group of nine dancers, all women and accompanied by another woman singing and playing on the tambourine
Tambourine
The tambourine or marine is a musical instrument of the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zils". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though some variants may not have a head at all....
, executing a "bridge" figure where dancers go under the joined hands of the two lead dancers.
Another 14th century illustration comes from the Florentine painter Andrea Bonaiuti (1343–1377). One of his series of paintings The Church Militant and Triumphant (Chiesa militante e trionfante) done in 1365 at a chapel in the church of Santa Maria Novella in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
also shows women dancing accompanied by a woman on tambourine.
Renaissance
It can be seen in Simone Prodenzani's Liber Saporecti (or Il Saporetto), published 1415, which describes music and dance at an imaginary court, and from other works, that in the early 15th century the direction of transmission of dance forms was from the popular folk dances of the towns and countryside to the courts of the nobility. But a new attitude appears at court which elevates dance to an art form. In the Medieval period, no writer describes dance steps or figures, it being assumed that everyone knew how to dance. By the early Renaissance the simple circle and chain dances of the earlier centuries still exist - there are references to the round dance (ridda) and dancing in circles as late as the early 16th century in StraparolaGiovanni Francesco Straparola
Giovanni Francesco "Gianfrancesco" Straparola was an Italian writer and fairy tale collector from Caravaggio, Italy. He has been termed the progenitor of the literary form of the fairy tale in Europe...
's Le piacevoli notti (The Facetious Nights of Straparola
The Facetious Nights of Straparola
]The Facetious Nights of Straparola , also known as The Nights of Straparola, is a two-volume collection of 75 stories by Italian author and fairy-tale collector Giovanni Francesco Straparola...
). But we also find that couple dances and mimetic elements now appear and formal choreographies emerge for the first time. This new Art of the Dance can especially be seen at the major courts of Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Padua
Padua
Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...
, Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
, Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, Pesaro
Pesaro
Pesaro is a town and comune in the Italian region of the Marche, capital of the Pesaro e Urbino province, on the Adriatic. According to the 2007 census, its population was 92,206....
, Urbino
Urbino
Urbino is a walled city in the Marche region of Italy, south-west of Pesaro, a World Heritage Site notable for a remarkable historical legacy of independent Renaissance culture, especially under the patronage of Federico da Montefeltro, duke of Urbino from 1444 to 1482...
and Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
.
Dance manuals
With dancing elevated to new heights, dancing masters make their appearance at court and the first dance manuals are known from the middle of the 15th century.- Domenico da PiacenzaDomenico da PiacenzaDomenico da Piacenza was an Italian Renaissance dancing master. Domenico da Piacenza was born sometime around 1400 in Piacenza, where he grew up and began teaching dance...
: De arte saltandi & choreas ducendi. De la arte di ballare et danzare (mid-15th century) - Antonio CornazanoAntonio CornazzanoAntonio Cornazzano was an Italian poet, writer, biographer, and dancing master.-Antonio Cornazzano:In the city of Piacenza, which was then in the Duchy of Milan, Antonio Cornazzano was born probably in 1432...
: Libro del'arte del danzare (about 1455) - Guglielmo Ebreo da PesaroGuglielmo Ebreo da PesaroGuglielmo Ebreo da Pesaro was an Italian dancing-master; flourished in the fifteenth century at Pesaro.His master was Domenico di Ferrara, in whose Liber Ballorum he is mentioned. Guglielmo himself wrote a treatise on dancing, Trattato dell' Arte del Ballare, edited by F. Zambrini, Bologna, 1873;...
: De practica seu arte tripudii vulgare opusculum (about 1463) - Fabritio CarosoFabritio CarosoFabritio Caroso da Sermoneta was an Italian Renaissance dancing master and a composer or transcriber of dance music.His dance manual Il Ballarino was published in 1581, with a subsequent edition, significantly different, Nobiltà di Dame, printed in 1600 and again after his death in 1630...
: Il Ballarino (1581) Venice - Fabritio Caroso: Nobilita di Dame (1600) Venice
- Livio Lupi: Mutanze di gagliarda, tordiglione, passo e mezzo, canari e passegi (1600) Palermo
- Cesare NegriCesare NegriCesare Negri Italian dancer and choreographer. He was nicknamed il Trombone, an ugly or jocular name for someone "who likes to blow his own horn." Born in Milan, he founded a dance academy there in 1554. He was an active court choreographer for the nobility in Milan...
: Le Gratie d'Amore (1602) Milan & reissued as Nuove Inventione di Balli (1604) Milan
The three 15th century treatises divide their dances into two types, the bassadanza and the ballo, possibly related to the earlier simple dance forms of Boccaccio's time. The bassadanza, allied to the similar French basse dance, is a slow dignified dance without leaps or hops, while the ballo was a livelier dance often containing pantomimic elements. The terms saltarello or piva were sometimes used for more sprightly versions of the ballo. The dances are for couples, holding hands or in lines. Dances in the manuscripts were often given rather fanciful names, e.g. Lioncello, Gioioso and Rosina, which are often found in more than one work and occasionally as dance names in later times as well.
Late Renaissance dance
In the late 16th and early 17th century manuals of Caroso and Negri, a variety of dance types can be seen: slow processional dances, longways, various dances for single couples and even a few for trios or five dancers. All are social dances for both sexes with the men's steps being more athletic than the women's. In all the dances the upper body is kept erect, the arms are quiet and there is little movement above the waist.Dance suites usually started with a walking sequence, pavana, a term often found in the music of the time but almost never in dance manuals. The passo e mezzo (literally step-and-a-half) seems to have been a faster variant of the pavana. The faster, athletic gagliarda often followed the pavana but was also done as a separate dance. Other similar fast afterdances were the tordiglione and the saltarello (another term seen more often in music than dance descriptions). Further types were the Spagnoletta and the canario with its unique stamping patterns.
Some of these names are seen again in the 1588 poem about life in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, Ritratto ... di Napoli by Gian Battista del Tufo (about 1548-1600) where dances like Spagnoletto or Tordiglione, and Rogier, Lo Brando and Passo e mezzo are mentioned but not described. But he does tell of a dance with Arab influence and movements from Malta, the Sfessania. Some decades later we find Villanella, and once again Ruggiero, Sfessania and Spagnoletta in Giambattista Basile
Giambattista Basile
Giambattista Basile was an Italian poet, courtier, and fairy tale collector.- Biography :Born to a Neapolitan middle-class family, Basile was, during his career, a courtier and soldier to various Italian princes, including the doge of Venice. According to Benedetto Croce he was born in 1575, while...
's collection of Neapolitan fairy tales, the Pentameron (published 1634-36). No reference is made in either work to the name which would later be the definitive dance of Naples, the Tarantella
Tarantella
The term tarantella groups a number of different southern Italian couple folk dances characterized by a fast upbeat tempo, usually in 6/8 time , accompanied by tambourines. It is among the most recognized of traditional Italian music. The specific dance name varies with every region, for instance...
, but Bragaglia thinks that the Sfessania can be regarded as the ancestor of that dance.
Even by the late Renaissance and the elaborate choreographies of Caroso, a link between court dance and country or folk dance can be seen. Elements of folk dance invigorate courtly dances and folk dances take over movements and styles from courtly dance. The difference between the two forms was likely one of style and elegance.
18th & 19th centuries
By the 18th century, the name TarantellaTarantella
The term tarantella groups a number of different southern Italian couple folk dances characterized by a fast upbeat tempo, usually in 6/8 time , accompanied by tambourines. It is among the most recognized of traditional Italian music. The specific dance name varies with every region, for instance...
does appear in illustrations and travelers's accounts in Southern Italy. When the German writer Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
describes the Tarantella which he saw performed in Naples during his trip to Italy in 1786-87, it appears as a dance for women only, two girls dancing with castanets accompanied by a third on the tambourine. Madame de Staël
Anne Louise Germaine de Staël
Anne Louise Germaine de Staël-Holstein , commonly known as Madame de Staël, was a French-speaking Swiss author living in Paris and abroad. She influenced literary tastes in Europe at the turn of the 19th century.- Childhood :...
had also traveled in Italy and in her 1817 novel Corinne, she has her heroine dance the Tarantella as a solo. But the Tarantella as a couple dance telling a story of love in mime does appear in a description by Orgitano in the middle of the 19th century.
Also appearing in illustrations and texts is the Saltarello as a rustic dance of Romagna
Romagna
Romagna is an Italian historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna. Traditionally, it is limited by the Apennines to the south-west, the Adriatic to the east, and the rivers Reno and Sillaro to the north and west...
in Central Italy. This is a name which also appears in the earliest Italian dance music and throughout the Renaissance. It is not clear, however, that these various mentions represent the same or even related dances.
In the North, in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, there was the "wild courtship dance", known as Furlana
Furlana
The furlana is an Italian folk dance from the Italian region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. In Friulian, furlane means Friulian, in this case Friulian Dance...
or Forlana which was danced by Casanova in 1775.
References to figure dances similar to English Country Dance
English Country Dance
English Country Dance is a form of folk dance. It is a social dance form, which has earliest documented instances in the late 16th century. Queen Elizabeth I of England is noted to have been entertained by "Country Dancing," although the relationship of the dances she saw to the surviving dances of...
s and French Contradanses also appear as early as the first part of the 18th century. Dances of this type from the 18th and 19th centuries in Italy include La Contraddanza, Quadriglia and Il Codiglione. A letter from the English writer and politician Horace Walpole dated 1740 from Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
declares "The Italians are fond to a degree of our country dances"
Dance research
One of the earliest attempts to systematically collect folk dances is Gaspare Ungarelli's 1894 work Le vecchie danze italiane ancora in uso nella provincia bolognese ("Old Italian dances still in use in the province of Bologna") which gives brief descriptions and music for some 30 dances.In 1925, Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
's government set up the Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro
Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro
The National Recreational Club was the Italian Fascist leisure and recreational organization.- History:...
(OND) or National Recreational Club as a means of promoting sports and cultural activities and one of its accomplishments was a wide survey of folk music and dance in Italy at that time. The work was published in 1931 as Costumi, musica, danze e feste popolari italiane ("Italian popular customs, music, dance and festivals"). In September 1945 OND was replaced by a new organization, the Ente Nazionale Assistenza Lavoratori (ENAL), headquartered in Rome. In partnership with the International Folk Music Council, ENAL sponsored a Congress and Festival in Venice September 7–11, 1949 which included many of the outstanding researchers in Italian folklore as well as folk dance and music groups from various Italian regions.
ENAL was dissolved in late 1978 but earlier in October 1970, the Italian folklore groups who had been members of ENAL set up a separate organization, which in 1978 became the Federazione Italiana Tradizioni Populari (FITP). The FITP publishes a newsletter and a scholarly publication Il Folklore D'Italia.
Some prominent 20th century Italian folk dance researchers are Anton Giulio Bragaglia, Diego Carpitella, Antonio Cornoldi, Bianca Maria Galanti, Giorgio Nataletti, Placida Staro and Paolo Toschi. (see Bibliography)
An interest in preserving and fostering folk art, music and dance among Italian-Americans and the dedication and leadership of Elba Farabegoli Gurzau led to the formation of the Italian Folk Art Federation of America (IFAFA) in May 1979. The group sponsors an annual conference and has published a newsletter, Tradizioni, since 1980.
Folk dances by region
Northern Italy
Northern Italy refers to the regions of AostaAosta
Aosta is the principal city of the bilingual Aosta Valley in the Italian Alps, north-northwest of Turin. It is situated near the Italian entrance of the Mont Blanc Tunnel, at the confluence of the Buthier and the Dora Baltea, and at the junction of the Great and Little St. Bernard routes...
, Piemonte, Liguria
Liguria
Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and good food.-Geography:...
, Lombardia, Venetia, Emilia-Romagna
Emilia-Romagna
Emilia–Romagna is an administrative region of Northern Italy comprising the two historic regions of Emilia and Romagna. The capital is Bologna; it has an area of and about 4.4 million inhabitants....
, Friuli
Friuli
Friuli is an area of northeastern Italy with its own particular cultural and historical identity. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, i.e. the province of Udine, Pordenone, Gorizia, excluding Trieste...
and Trentino.
- MonferrinaMonferrina-Italian folk dance:Monferrina is a lively Italian folk dance in 6/8 time named after the place of its origin, Montferrat, in the Italian region of Piedmont. It has spread from Piedmont throughout Northern Italy, in Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and even into Switzerland...
: Monferrina is a dance in 6/8 time originating in the Piedmont district of Monferrat but now widespread in northern and central Italy. It has a two-part structure, promenade followed by a couple figure. - Girometta: Peasant couple dance of Bologna in 2/4 time in three parts, a promenade around, the dance proper, and a final turning figure.
- Giga: In this 6/8 rhythm dance, the couples make two promenades and then begin the dance proper: hand-in-hand two steps forward, then change hands and go two steps backward; the couple then interlaces arms and dances, then the man raises his arms with the woman turning underneath them to separate and begin the dance over.
- Ruggero: This dance in 2/4 rhythm is done by two men and two women in the form of a diamond, with the men opposite the women. One couple makes four promenade tours around, the woman then stops to form a group with the second couple who then all circle around. They then separate and go to the first man and make another tour returning to place. The dance begins again with the other couple starting the figures.
- Galletta: A rustic dance in 6/8 time from the province of Bologna. In the Valle di Reno it is done with one man and two women, one on each side of the man, while in Valle di Savenna the dance is for two men and two women, the men in the center, back-to-back, with their partners in front of them.
- Veneziana: Well-known dance of Bologna done by four dancers or sometimes more (in Pianora), accompanied by a song. The formation is a diamond when done by four dancers or two facing rows of men and women when more than four take part. Men and women cross over to each other's positions during the dance.
- Bergamasca: La Bergamasca is known from Romagna as a dance for a single couple but another type uses three couples. Ungarelli describes a third type in 2/4 time with turning figures.
Weapon dances
Several types of weapon dances are known from Italy, the mock battle (MorescaMoresca
Moresca or Mauresque is a 15th/16th century pantomime dance in which the executants wore Moorish costumes. One such is the concluding music of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo...
), sword dances and stick dances. A number of these are from the Piedmont region of Northern Italy:
- Spadonari di San Giorio: A sword dance done for the festival of San Giorgio in the Piedmont village of San Giorio di SusaSan Giorio di SusaSan Giorio di Susa is a comune in the Province of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 45 km west of Turin....
. There is a historical prolog section, followed by the sword dance proper, and then a procession and banquet. The six swordsmen, selected from the best looking men in the village and costumed in white with red vertical bands and black felt hats with flowers, are armed with a large, slightly curved sword. There are five figures to the dance all performed to a drum roll in march rhythm:
- 1) With a leap, the dancers turn in the air and move into a square formation and shake their swords
- 2) With a short leap, the points of the swords are joined on the ground, then again at shoulder level
- 3) They return to place and drag the swords on the ground making a furrow
- 4) With four synchronized leaps, all turn east, west, south and north
- 5) The swords are exchanged by throwing them in the air
- The dancers then march off to the drum.
- Spadonari di Venaus: Sword dance from VenausVenausVenaus is a comune in the Province of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 50 km west of Turin, on the border with France...
in the Val di Susa done for the feast of San Biagio. Four men clothed in a fastastic imitation of medieval warriors perform with large two-handed swords. The dance lasts about an hour and has only a few figures: raising the sword in salute, circling the sword in the air, striking the sword of their adversary and throwing the swords in the air in exchange. - Spadonari di San Vicenzo: Done for St. Vincent's Day (January 21) in the village of GiaglioneGiaglioneGiaglione is a comune in the Province of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 60 km west of Turin, on the border with France...
in Val di Susa, four swordsmen in plumed helmets take part in a procession which finishes at the piazza where a mock fight is held. - Bal dâ Sabbre: A sword dance from FenestrelleFenestrelleFenestrelle is a comune in the Province of Turin in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 50 km west of Turin.It is home to the Fenestrelle Fort.-External links:*...
in Piedmont done for the feast of San Luigi (August 25). The dance is done by 16 spadonari preceded by two Heralds and a drummer and followed by a HarlequinHarlequinHarlequin or Arlecchino in Italian, Arlequin in French, and Arlequín in Spanish is the most popularly known of the zanni or comic servant characters from the Italian Commedia dell'arte and its descendant, the Harlequinade.-Origins:...
and a "Turk". This is not a mock combat but a point-and-hilt type sword dance with typical "rose" figures which imprison the Harlequin. In the second part of the dance, the swords are dropped, and colored ribbons attached to a pole are taken up and woven into braids.
- Spadonari di Venaus: Sword dance from Venaus
- Lachera: This dance, from the town of Rocca GrimaldaRocca GrimaldaRocca Grimalda is a village and comune in the Province of Alessandria, Piedmont, Italy. It lies in Alto Monferrato, an historical region of Piedmont, and it was built upon a rocky hill on the Orba's left bank...
in Piedmont, is a transformed weapon dance. According to tradition, it derived from a revolt against the medieval tyrant Isnardo Malaspina. An engaged couple are accompanied in the dance by an escort of two masked Lacheri who do a characteristic dance with high leaps. Also present are three armed figures, two guerrieri and a zuavo.
Friuli
The region of FriuliFriuli
Friuli is an area of northeastern Italy with its own particular cultural and historical identity. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, i.e. the province of Udine, Pordenone, Gorizia, excluding Trieste...
has been a crossroads for different cultures throughout the centuries. The inhabitants are mostly Italian speaking the local Friulan dialect but German and Slovenian are also spoken in some areas.
- Furlana: Widespread couple dance in 3/4 time with several variations throughout Friuli. It usually involves a handkerchief and several figures which can be seen as flirtation, courting, fighting and making-up.
- Vinca or Bal Del Truc: A couple dance in 2/4 which alternates a skipping figure with a mock scolding with stamping, clapping and finger pointing. The dance is almost identical with a number of other folk dances from central and eastern Europe.
- Lavandera: La Lavandera or the "Washerwoman" is a couple dance in 2/4 rhythm with two parts, one with the women miming washing movements while the men strut like roosters and the other a kind of antique polka.
- Quadriglia di Aviano: A dance in square formation for four couples in 2/4 rhythm. In the pattern of the dance, the head couples change places followed by a figure where all the men proceed to the women on their right, do a turning figure with them and then go on to repeat this with the second woman to their right. The side couples then exchange places and the men repeat their travel figure which brings them back to their original partner.
- Torototele: Dance done by several couples, the women with a flower in one hand which they use to menace the man.
- Stajare: A dance originally from the Austrian province of Styria done by the nuptial couple at a wedding. A semicircle of pairs are arranged around the central couple. In the countryside, the dance is typically done in the granary as the only place large enough to accommodate relatives and friends. The dance, in waltz time, consists of an invitation to the dance and then the dance proper, accompanied by a four-part song.
- L'esclave: Couple dance widespread in Friuli, partners approach and move away, the woman, holding her apron in her hand, turns while the man circles, snapping his fingers, the dance ending with a series of turns.
- Resiana or Resianca: The Val Resia region of Friuli is an island of Slavic language and culture in Italy. In his 1848 study Joseph Bergmann ("Das Thal Resia und die Resianer in Friaul", in: Anzeige-Blatt für Wissenschaft und Kunst 71, 1848, pp. 46–50) describes the Resianka of Val Resia as one done with a row of men opposite a row of women where the partners move back and forth toward and away from each other and then dance in place, always turning on the toes and never touching their partners. The woman holds the ends of her apron or a handkerchief while the man holds the front of his jacket or vest.
South Tyrol
South TyrolSouth Tyrol
South Tyrol , also known by its Italian name Alto Adige, is an autonomous province in northern Italy. It is one of the two autonomous provinces that make up the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. The province has an area of and a total population of more than 500,000 inhabitants...
is an autonomous province of Italy with a majority German-speaking population. The dance culture is similar to that of Southern Germany and the Austrian state of Tyrol
Tyrol (state)
Tyrol is a state or Bundesland, located in the west of Austria. It comprises the Austrian part of the historical region of Tyrol.The state is split into two parts–called North Tyrol and East Tyrol–by a -wide strip of land where the state of Salzburg borders directly on the Italian province of...
with such typical dances as Ländler
Ländler
The ländler is a folk dance in 3/4 time which was popular in Austria, south Germany and German Switzerland at the end of the 18th century.It is a dance for couples which strongly features hopping and stamping...
, Schuhplattler
Schuhplattler
The Schuhplattler is a traditional Austro-Bavarian folk dance evolved from the Ländler.-Origins:The origins of this social dance are found in an early courtship display...
, Dreirtanz, Schustertanz, Bregenzer and Masolka.
- SchuhplattlerSchuhplattlerThe Schuhplattler is a traditional Austro-Bavarian folk dance evolved from the Ländler.-Origins:The origins of this social dance are found in an early courtship display...
: This couple dance with its characteristic men's slapping patterns is known in Germany in Upper Bavaria and in Austria. The traditional area of the Schuhplattler in South Tyrol includes Passeier ValleyPasseier ValleyThe Passeier Valley is the valley of the Passer river, in the mountains of South Tyrol, northern Italy. The Passer river is a left-bank tributary to the Adige. At the mouth of the valley, where the two rivers join, stands the town of Meran...
, SarntalSarntalSarntal is a valley and a comune in South Tyrol in the Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about 70 km northeast of the city of Trento and about 15 km north of the city of Bolzano....
, EisacktalEisacktalEisack Valley is a district in South Tyrol, Italy. It comprises the middle part of the valley of the Eisack, from Franzensfeste in the north to Waidbruck in the south....
, Puster Valley and Drautal. The dance could still be found in its original setting until the 1930s in some areas but is now limited to performing groups. - LändlerLändlerThe ländler is a folk dance in 3/4 time which was popular in Austria, south Germany and German Switzerland at the end of the 18th century.It is a dance for couples which strongly features hopping and stamping...
: Ahrntaler Ländler, which represents an older form of the Ländler, was recorded in 1940 in the villages of St. Jakob, St. Peter and Prettau in the AhrntalAhrntalAhrntal is a Gemeinde and valley in South Tyrol in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol.-Geography:The municipality lies about 120 km northeast of the city of Trento and about 70 km northeast of the city of Bolzano, on the border with Austria...
. - Siebenschritt: This very widely spread couple dance is known from various parts of Europe. It was recorded as still surviving in Passeier Valley in 1941, in :de:Florutz in Fersental in 1937 and in LüsenLüsenLüsen is a comune in South Tyrol, located about 90 km northeast of the city of Trento and about 40 km northeast of the city of Bolzano.-Geography:As of 30 November 2010, it had a population of 1,543 and an area of 74.2 km²....
in 1941. - Knödeldrahner
- Boarischer: The Boarischer is known in a number of different forms in Austria and in South Tyrol. Recently the dance has been described in Tauferertal and Ahrntal.
Central Italy
Central Italy refers to the areas of TuscaniaTuscania
Tuscania is a town and comune in the province of Viterbo, Lazio Region, Italy. Until the late 19th century the town was known as Toscanella.-Ancient times:...
, Marche
Marche
The population density in the region is below the national average. In 2008, it was 161.5 inhabitants per km2, compared to the national figure of 198.8. It is highest in the province of Ancona , and lowest in the province of Macerata...
, Umbria
Umbria
Umbria is a region of modern central Italy. It is one of the smallest Italian regions and the only peninsular region that is landlocked.Its capital is Perugia.Assisi and Norcia are historical towns associated with St. Francis of Assisi, and St...
, Lazio and Abruzzi e Molise
Abruzzi e Molise
Abruzzi e Molise was formerly one of the regions of Italy encompassing a total of 16,600 km2 and including Abruzzo, Molise and Circondario di Cittaducale ....
.
- Saltarello Romagna
- Saltarello Ciociaria
- Lu Sardarellu: widespread in Central Italy but typical of the Marches. The dance, done by a single couple at a time, has three sections a) lu spondape where the man stamps while the woman dances in place b) lu filu where the dancers approach side-by-side while stamping, going forward and back to place c) lu fru with the dancers dancing around in a circle.
- Laccio D'Amore: An ancient traditional Maypole-type dance from Penna Sant'Andrea in Abruzzi, usually for twelve couples. The dance has several parts beginning with the men and women meeting and going in a procession with the pole. This is followed by a Saltarello-style dance by the couples and then a round dance where the men (unsuccessfully) court the women. A circle is then formed around the pole, the dancers take the colored ribbons and dance a weaving figure. The ritual ends with a leave-taking dance. In the modern version, a polkaPolkaThe polka is a Central European dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia...
precedes the weaving figure. - Trescone: A very old dance from Tuscany in a lively 2/4 rhythm done by four couples in a square. The women dance lightly and demurely in place while the men make rapid turns and pass from one woman to another in a bravura fashion. The dance may be done in the open air at agricultural festivals or by guests at a wedding. When done at weddings, a ring of singers surrounds the four dancing couples, often improvising salacious verses about the married couple. The dance is also found in Emilia and other areas of Central Italy in several different forms.
- Tresconeto: A fast dance from Tuscany in 6/8 time resembling the Saltarello. The dance is usually done by a single dancer or couple and the continually increasing tempo of the dance is meant to test the endurance of the dancers. It was known in the villages of the LunigianaLunigianaThe Lunigiana is an historical territory of Italy, which today falls within the provinces of La Spezia and Massa Carrara. Its borders derive from the ancient Roman settlement, later the medieval diocese of Luni, which no longer exists....
district performed especially on the first Sunday of LentLentIn the Christian tradition, Lent is the period of the liturgical year from Ash Wednesday to Easter. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer – through prayer, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial – for the annual commemoration during Holy Week of the Death and...
.
Southern Italy
Southern Italy refers to the regions of CampaniaCampania
Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...
, Puglia, Basilicata
Basilicata
Basilicata , also known as Lucania, is a region in the south of Italy, bordering on Campania to the west, Apulia to the north and east, and Calabria to the south, having one short southwestern coastline on the Tyrrhenian Sea between Campania in the northwest and Calabria in the southwest, and a...
, Calabria
Calabria
Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....
and Sicilia.
- Tarantella NapolitanaTarantellaThe term tarantella groups a number of different southern Italian couple folk dances characterized by a fast upbeat tempo, usually in 6/8 time , accompanied by tambourines. It is among the most recognized of traditional Italian music. The specific dance name varies with every region, for instance...
- Tarantella CalabreseTarantellaThe term tarantella groups a number of different southern Italian couple folk dances characterized by a fast upbeat tempo, usually in 6/8 time , accompanied by tambourines. It is among the most recognized of traditional Italian music. The specific dance name varies with every region, for instance...
- Ndrezzata: The name of this dance comes from intrecciata, the braid. It is a specialty of Buonopane, a part of the commune of Barano d'IschiaBarano d'IschiaBarano d'Ischia is a comune in the Province of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located in the south-west area of Ischia island, about 30 km southwest of Naples....
, on the island of IschiaIschiaIschia is a volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It lies at the northern end of the Gulf of Naples, about 30 km from the city of Naples. It is the largest of the Phlegrean Islands. Roughly trapezoidal in shape, it measures around 10 km east to west and 7 km north to south and has...
. Immigrants to the Americas brought the dance to New York where it was done on the streets in 1916 and 1917, and to Buenos AiresBuenos AiresBuenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
in 1924. In its classic form, the dance has 16 dancers with men and women taking an equal part in the dance which is accompanied by drum, flute and song. The men carry a small stick in the right hand and a wooden sword in the left, the women reverse this. The dance is in two parts with 7 tableaus in each part and consists of a crossing and interlacing of blows of the sticks and swords. - PizzicaPizzicaPizzica is a popular Italian folk dance, originally from the Salento peninsula and later spreading throughout all the Puglia region, the Corsica region and eastern Basilicata. It is part of the larger family of tarantella dances.-Dancing the pizzica:The traditional pizzica is danced while...
: Traditional dance (in 2/4 time) of simple structure from the Apulia region. - La Pecorara or A'Pasturara: Traditional dance from Calabria in 6/8 time done to bagpipe and accordion accompaniment by one or two couples. Steps are usually close to the ground with occasional small leaps. The man, with arms akimbo keeps all his attention on the woman who holds her dress in her right hand with her left bent sharply at the hip.
- La Vala: A dance of the Albanian ethnic group in Calabria done in a single circle with men and women holding hands, belts or a basket-weave hold; or there may be two circles, one of men and one of women. The dance is accompanied by songs of the Albanian national hero Scanderbeg.
Sicily
- Tarantella SicilianaTarantellaThe term tarantella groups a number of different southern Italian couple folk dances characterized by a fast upbeat tempo, usually in 6/8 time , accompanied by tambourines. It is among the most recognized of traditional Italian music. The specific dance name varies with every region, for instance...
- Taratata: A religious sword dance dance from CastelterminiCastelterminiCasteltermini is a comune in the Province of Agrigento in the Italian region Sicily, located about 70 km southeast of Palermo and about 25 km north of Agrigento....
danced at the feast of the Holy Cross held the last weekend of May. A large procession, mostly on horseback, is led by a corps of 20 or so dancers who are all from the ceto of flax carders. The dancers have two recurved swords or scimitars, the right hand sword being used for combat while the left hand one produces the rhythm, ta-ra-ta-ta, which gives the dance its name. - Contraddanza
Sardinia
- Ballu tunduBallu tunduBallu tundu or ballu bardu is a traditional Italian folk dance from the island of Sardinia which is typically danced in a closed or open circle. The dance was described as early as 1805 by Mameli and by La Marmora in 1825...
: A closed or open circle dance also known as Ballu Sardu, this ancient form is found all over Sardinia in many variations.
Istria
The peninsula of IstriaIstria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
, today part of the country of Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, was ruled for centuries by the Venetian Republic and became a margraviate of the Kingdom of Austria in the 19th century. Italians made up about a third of the population of nearly 350,000 in 1900.(Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th edition). Italian cultural influence has resulted in the resemblance of many Istrian dances to those of Northern Italy. This applies to dances done by the modern day Croatian population and by the Italian national minority found today in the larger towns and some villages in the western part of Istria. Dances done by both the Croatian and the Italian communities include Molferina or Mafrina and Kvadrilja. Dances specific to the Italians include La Veneziana, Bersagliera, Denci, and more importantly the very similar dances Vilota and Furlana.
- Furlana: As danced by the Italian community in the town of VodnjanVodnjan-Geography:Vodnjan is situated 10 km north of Pula, on elevation of 135 m. It is located at the intersection of the main road Buje - Pula and the regional road Vodnjan - Fažana, as well as on the railroad Divača - Pula.-Demographics:...
, this is a dance for six people consisting of two trios with one man between two women. The dance in 6/8 rhythm is composed of three figures done to accompaniment by violin and cello. - Sette Passi: In this dance from Sveti LovrečSveti LovrecSveti Lovreč is a village and municipality in Istria, Croatia. The population is 1,408 .-External links:**...
(in Italian San Lorenzo del Pasenatico) the man and woman face each other, embrace and then take three side-steps to the left, to the right and again to the left, then placing hands on shoulders make a full turn or two and start the dance over.
Dalmatia
DalmatiaDalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
is today part of Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
but during the Middle Ages and Renaissance was under Venetian control. Dalmatia, especially its maritime cities, once had a substantial Italian population but this was reduced to 3% by 1900.(Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th edition)
- MorescaMorescaMoresca or Mauresque is a 15th/16th century pantomime dance in which the executants wore Moorish costumes. One such is the concluding music of Monteverdi's L'Orfeo...
: The Moresca as a weapon dance and pageant portraying a battle between Christians and SaracenSaracenSaracen was a term used by the ancient Romans to refer to a people who lived in desert areas in and around the Roman province of Arabia, and who were distinguished from Arabs. In Europe during the Middle Ages the term was expanded to include Arabs, and then all who professed the religion of Islam...
s was known in Italy at least as early as the 15th century but seems to have died out by the middle of the 19th century. It still exists on the Dalmatian coast in Croatia as MoreškaMoreškaMoreška is a traditional sword dance from the town of Korčula, on the Croatian island of the same name in the Adriatic. Dating back hundreds of years, the Moreška is an elaborate production involving two groups of dancers, engaging in a mock battle over the fate of a veiled young woman...
but the battle here is between the MoorsMoorsThe description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of the Maghreb region who are predominately of Berber and Arab descent. They came to conquer and rule the Iberian Peninsula for nearly 800 years. At that time they were Muslim, although earlier the people had followed...
and the TurksOttoman EmpireThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. The dance is known from SplitSplit (city)Split is a Mediterranean city on the eastern shores of the Adriatic Sea, centered around the ancient Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian and its wide port bay. With a population of 178,192 citizens, and a metropolitan area numbering up to 467,899, Split is by far the largest Dalmatian city and...
(in Italian Spalato), KorčulaKorculaKorčula is an island in the Adriatic Sea, in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County of Croatia. The island has an area of ; long and on average wide — and lies just off the Dalmatian coast. Its 16,182 inhabitants make it the second most populous Adriatic island after Krk...
(Curzola) and LastovoLastovoLastovo is an island municipality in the Dubrovnik-Neretva County in Croatia. The municipality consists of 46 islands with a total population of 792 people, of which 93% are ethnic Croats, and a land area of approximately . The biggest island in the municipality is also named Lastovo, as is the...
(Lagosta). There are differing accounts of the origin of the Dalmatian dance, some tracing to Italian and others to Slavic roots.