ITALIAN FOLK DANCE GROUP

    Dancers

    of Rochester, Minnesota, USA




    Mailing Address:

    Italian Folk Dance Group
    c/o Carlo Biondolillo
    1433 50th Street NW
    Rochester, MN 55901 USA

    Send email correspondence to Carlo Biondolillo, Director/Italian Dance Instructor.

    See additional information about this group by clicking here.

    Dancers

    A Brief History of
    The Italian Folk Dance Group of Rochester, Minnesota

    by Carlo Biondolillo

    When we start comparing the cultural differences between people, countries or geographical areas of the world, there are deep considerations and discussions that suddenly come up. As Europeans, and more as Italians, we do enjoy and need cultural and social interaction which is part of our cultural background. This is something that is not deeply imbedded into the American culture and it is a subject that come up very often whenever people from different cultures meet and socialize.

    As an outcome of one of these discussions came the idea of forming a dance group between people from different cultures and origins with the scope of having fun, socializing, sharing, learning, and bringing forward and advertising values that are not so common within the American culture. In other words, we wanted to bring forward the passion that is inside of all of us but that it is often filtered, screened and sometimes blocked by the business aspects of our day-by-day life.

    The first start was in the beginning of 2001, when Yuliya, our friend from Russia, started by leading a six-woman Russian dance. They participated at the World Festival in Rochester, Minnesota, in April, 2001, and other events. The dance was a great success and, on the wave of its enthusiasm, Yuliya pushed me to start an Italian Folk Dance.

    So in June, 2001, we started practicing in the basement of my house until we reached a number of people that required more space. Then we started rehearsing at the technical college in our city. By September, 2001, we had eight couples ready to go.

    My wife Rosa, with help of one of the other dancers, Nadia, sewed all the costumes, 16 in total, based on the patterns that my mother designed in July, 2001, while we where in Italy for vacation.

    Our most important performance was on March 2, 2002, at the Comfort Inn in Rochester, when our team organized an entire show based on Italian and Russian dances and Italian songs. More than 1 hour of great performances!

    We keep rehearsing and thinking of new ideas on how to leverage all the talent we have in our group and we're always looking for new members!

    Our Performances Include:

    ITALIAN Folk Dances

    Quadriglia Calabrese
    Quadriglia Abruzzese
    Tarantella

    Italian dancers


    LA TARANTELLA: Popular native dance of Southern Italy, it is built in 6/8 "abbastanza mosso tempo," it is executed by couples of dancers who play cartanets or tambourines while dancing. It represents an enblem of southern colour and Mediterranean vitality. The name Tarantella derives from the name of an insect: the Tarantula. In fact a person bitten by Tarantula for the pain begins jumping: this is the first step of the Tarantella dance. Others think this dance was born as "courtship dance." The steps of the dancer seem to express his love for the girl who is dancing with him.

    LA QUADRIGLIA: The Quadrille or "Quadrille de Contre Danse" was originally a card game for four people but the name was given to this dance about 1740. Quadrilles were first introduced in France, about the year 1760. The Quadrille (translated) means technically, to assemble four or more ladies and the same number of gentlemen to make a "Set." Very soon this dance became very popular among the major courts in Europe, very much used to entertain during parties and celebration. This dance became very popular also in Italy, which, at that time, was divided in different feuds and monarchies. Over the time the Quadriglia went through many changes and simplifications, so became a popular/folk dance. Almost every village in Italy developed its own version of Quadriglia, it became the dance for celebrating marriages, family events, victories, in other words it became a symbol of unity.



    ITALIAN Songs

    Tu vuo' fa' l'Americano
    L'Italiano
    O' sole mio
    Marina Marina Marina

    Pianist



    RUSSIAN Folk Dances

    Kalyadki is a old russian tradition dating back to early Christianity. It is similar to western custom of Halloween trick-or-treating. In Russian religious tradition , however , it is believed that the evil creatures, witches and monsters come out and party not on the Halloween, but on Christmas Eve. In Russia on Christmas Eve groups of people dressed up in bright costumes would walk from house to house, knocking on doors asking for candy. They would sometimes play tricks, sometimes tell fortunes, but would always sing and dance "Kalyadki."

    Russian Dancers



    The Ethnicities We Represent


    Italian
    Russian
    Armenian
    Mexican
    American
    Colombian
    Salvadorian


    International Dancers




    Members of

    IFAFA logo

    Italian Folk Art Federation of America, Inc.

    Italian flag


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