BALLIAMO!
Italian Folk Dance Troupe
of Sacramento, California, USA
Mailing Address:
Balliamo Dance Troupe
5959 Lincoln Hills Way
Carmichael, CA 95608 USA
Send email correspondence to Doris Beckert.
Fees charged for performances (subject to change):
$150.00
Performance Area:
Northern California (Sacramento, San Francisco Bay Area, Central Valley, Napa and Sonoma counties). Selected West Coast (Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Diego). Additional fees may be charged based on distance traveled.
Balliamo! (Let's Dance!) folk dancers are part of the Italian Cultural Society of Sacramento, California. The ICS is a cultural heritage organization which got its start in 1981. In addition to having an extensive lending library of Italian and Italian American books and periodicals, the Society sponsors Italian films, language classes, lecture series, and cooking lessons, as well as publishing an impressive bi-monthly newsletter, ALTRE VOCI. The ICS also holds several special events throughout the year, including a Celebration of La Befana, Festa di Natale, and the annual summer Festa.
Balliamo!
For its first summer Festa in August of 1986, the Society hired Il Quartiere Italiano (IQI) of the San Francisco Bay Area to perform regional Italian folk dances. Several Society members showed an interest in learning some dances, so IQI gave four workshops to an eager group of participants in March, May and July of 1987. That August, members of the newly-formed Sacramento group joined IQI for the Festa 87 performance. And they were on their way!
At first, Balliamo! performed only at ICS events, but soon were sought by other Italian organizations in the Sacramento area and eventually throughout northern California and Oregon. They've performed at the annual Sons of Italy wreath-laying ceremony at the statue of Columbus in the State Capitol Rotunda; the California State Fair; and Italian Festivals in Portland, Oregon, and in Santa Rosa, Monterey, and Lodi, California. Balliamo! is also proud to have performed with the Gaylords in their musical play, Famiglia, in Lodi in 1996. Their folk repertoire contains 18 dances from various regions.
Recently, two children's groups have been formed: I Bambini (children dancers) and La Danza Italiana (teen dancers).
Balliamo! exhibits a costume presentation as well as folk dances at its performances. In 1993, Balliamo! assembled new costumes, each representing a different region, the cost of which was underwritten jointly by the ICS and a grant received from the Sacramento Arts Commission.
More recently, they have added a set of Italian Renaissance costumes and have been learning and presenting dances from the Italian Renaissance period. Their Renaissance repertoire includes 6 dances. They debuted their Renaissance dances at the Fair Oaks Tudor Fayre, and with pre-play entertainment for a "Shakespeare in the Park" summer series in Sacramento.
Left, Balliamo!, in Renaissance costumes, performs La Moresca at the 2002 IFAFA Conference in San Francisco.
All dance troupes are actively seeking new members, especially male dancers.
If you are interested in subscribing to ALTRE VOCI, the newsletter of the Italian Cultural Society of Sacramento, and learning more about Balliamo! or the ICS, please send your request to Box 189427, Sacramento, CA 95818, or send an email message to Doris Beckert.
Members of
Italian Folk Art Federation of America, Inc.
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