TRADIZIONE VIVENTE
Italian Dance Group
of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Mailing address:
Tradizione Vivente: Italian Dance Group of Milwaukee
5456 Olympia Drive
Greendale, WI 53129 USA
Send email correspondence to Lisa DeSanctis.
Mark DeSanctis, Dance Director
Send email correspondence to Mark DeSanctis .
Susie DeSanctis Christianson, Director, Children's Group
Send email correspondence to Susie DeSanctis Christianson.
Please contact group to determine fees charged for performances.
Tradizione Vivente at Milwaukee's famous Festa Italiana on the lakefront.
A Brief History of
Tradizione Vivente: Italian Dance Group of Milwaukee, Inc.
Today, the dance group strives to keep alive the traditions that were passed on to us from our ancestors. We work hard to preserve Italian heritage the way we know best: through music, dance, and costume. It has been our honor to travel all over the United States performing for various events. Some of our performances include baptisms, weddings, anniversaries, church festivals, and other sorts of festivities near and far.
In Milwaukee, we are proud to be a part of local events such as "Boerner in Bloom Rose Festival" held at the Botanical Gardens in Whitnall Park, Hales Corners. Also, "The International Holiday Folk Fair" is an event where the group has danced for more than thirty years. "Festa Italiana" is perhaps the most renowned festival, where we have been pleased to perform since its commencement more than twenty years ago. "Festa Italiana" fills the Milwaukee lakeshore with singers, dancers, musical groups, exhibit halls, artwork, cuisine -- all Italian -- and with thousands of visitors who are also Italian -- at least for the day!
In our efforts to sustain the rich culture that intricately bonds us together, our group has evolved to become close family members. We come together weekly, leaving aside the complex lives we live in order to serve our need to practice and to enjoy ourselves. Reminiscing about the historical past enables us to recall the attributes that the generations before us had inscribed. We can passionately remember the struggles, hardships, successes and the blessings that some of the Italians encountered. It has been told that the means of dancing was quite a remarkable way in which to console one another in difficult times.
The dance group recently added Tradizione Vivente (Living Tradition) to their long-standing name of The Italian Dance Group of Milwaukee. The group currently consists of twenty-five members, including a few of the remaining people who danced shortly after the group originated. The group's members range in age from fourteen to sixty-plus years old. Since our group consists of a children's group as well, we are able to further our pursuit of cultural preservation. The younger generation of members usually join the adult group after dancing in the Children's Italian Dance Group of Milwaukee for some years. This indeed is one of our goals, to inspire the younger generation of Italian-American children and youth to keep alive the traditions of our past. We know that the future belongs to the youth, therefore it is their task to continue our spirit.
Tradizione Vivente performing il Laccio d'Amore
at the 2002 IFAFA Conference in San Francisco, California.
Il Laccio d'Amore is a lovely ribbon dance often performed
at Italian engagement parties or weddings.
Members of
Italian Folk Art Federation of America, Inc.
Return to Member Groups of IFAFA.
Return to IFAFA Table of Contents Page.