Hello to everyone, my name is Simona Vigilante and I am a graduate of the SSML Gregorio VII University in Rome. This blog has been created about the theme of dance, the origins, culture and traditions. Here you will also find my thesis with different videos in languages ​​I have studied.

View my Curriculum Vitae

Conclusions

Conclusions

Dance, which is so fashionable nowadays, especially among young people, before being popular or a trend, is the natural expression of art and of the body, as well as an ancient form of devotion.

What many people have forgotten is that dance was born with the primitive man who, dancing, exorcised, through his movements, his ancestral fears, such as tribal trends, to which you can associate those practiced to thank his beloved deities.

Our being, our mind, our soul are expressed through our body, which is our portal  to the outside world, our tangible being, the way through which we express our passions, see our dreams and needs come true, perceive ourselves and others, through which we fulfill ourselves. Our existence on the earth is inescapable within our bodies. In this context, dance, with its gestural expressiveness, becomes a language through which we can express our emotions, without using words, but simply with music, and it is becoming more and more therapeutic and liberating.

Flash mob phenomenon

Flash mob phenomenon

Dance, considered as a form of communication and evolution, is also being developed through the Flash mob Phenomenon.

Flash mob is a term coined in 2003 to refer to a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public space, perform an unusual and seemingly pointless act for a brief time, then quickly disperse. Flash mobs are organized through Internet (emails, social media) or cellular telephony.

The rules and choreography can be shown to participants a few minutes before the performance or spread out with a large advance, so that the participants can prepare adequately.

In Europe, the first similar event took place in Italy, in Rome, on July 2003. Other similar events would have been already organized in New York and Tokyo. Continue...

The Pìzzica

The Pìzzica

“Some practice dance at home; some in crossroads; some dressed with their best clothes, others half-naked; some with handkerchiefs in their hands or other feminine decorations, others carrying heavy house tools. One of the most barbaric dances is practiced in the water. Undoubtedly, it is accompanied by the repetitive and measured sound of a violin, and by the roll of a drum with castanets, sounds and lilts that form the pìzzica-pìzzica, which is the most ancient and popular dance of our region, whose tradition will never end”: as was written by Giuseppe Gigli in “Superstitions, prejudices and traditions in Otranto” (1893). Continue...

Taranta: the myth of the bite in Salento

Taranta: the myth of the bite in Salento

The bite of a tarantula causes, according to popular belief, a strong state of pain, from which you can freed temporarily, thanks to a therapeutic practice based on music and dance.

A noxious animal, a spider, as the humanist doctor Antonio De Ferrariis wrote in 1513, in the most famous of his epistles, De situ Japygiae, whose poison is expelled by the sounds of flutes and drums. “I wouldn’t believe it”, he added,  “if I hadn’t had so much proof”. The bite of this spider, the tarantula, causes, according to the common belief, an extreme state of prostration and uneasiness in the unfortunate person; women suffer more compared to men. When the nature of the situation has been understood, a small orchestra is called (a small drum, a violin, a guitar), which starts a series of musical tunes, a proper exploration, to understand which tune would revive the bitten person: sometimes the rhythm is crazy like that of the Pìzzica, and so the person rises and dances for a long time in an incoherent manner, even for many hours and days, except for the occasional breaks to rest and during the nights; but the rhythm can also be softer with a plaintive tune. Continue...

Eastern Dance

Eastern Dance

Eastern dance is a dance native to the Middle East and Arabian regions, practiced most of all by, but not limited to, women. It is considered one of the most ancient dances in the world, above all in the Middle East and Maghreb countries, such as Algeria, Tunisia, Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey, Morocco and Egypt.

In a strict sense, the term refers to eastern classic dance, which developed itself in  princely courts; in a wider sense, it can refer itself to all dance forms we know nowadays.

It is practiced by women, because it completely expresses femininity, vitality and sensuality. Eastern dance is unique of its kind: there are several styles that differ according to the native Country, such as the dance with the veil. In general, this dance is characterized by the sinuosity and sensuality of the movements: it is amazing both with rhythmic and slow music. Usually, it is practiced by professional female dancers. Continue...

Celtic Dances

Celtic Dances

There aren't many written testimonies on the origins of Celtic dances, but it seems that they were practiced by Druids for religious purposes. The first vestiges date back to the XVI century. Celtic dances had a life full of ups and downs, because in some historical periods they were badly viewed, most of all by the Church, that tried to ban them. They spread in Great Britain, America, Australia and New Zeeland in XIX century, because of the emigration caused by the scarcity of potatoes, that hit Ireland from 1845 to 1849. In these last few years Celtic Dances also had success in Italy, Sweden and Germany.

The “most Irish” dances are the ceili, but we also have the  “set dance” and the “step dance”, which were both born from the union of French and Scottish cultures. This dynamics of this dance is generally the following: many couples dance simultaneously, placed in a ring or along the corners of a square. 
Continue...

Origins and History of Flamenco

Origins and History of Flamenco

The Flamenco was born as poetry and music. Later it became a dance. Its native land is Andalusia, the most southern region of Spain.

The populations that left significant traces in the culture and traditions of Andalusia were the Arabs and the Hebrews, but with a slight Gypsy appearance. The Gypsies were a population of dancers and musicians, but the Spanish monarchy was very strict with them. During the 16^th and 17^th- centuries it was forbidden for them to partake in every kind of activity, except that of their role as farm laborers. But their vocation was dance, and they always practiced it: when it was possible in broad daylight, when it wasn’t possible, in secret. With time, they became the best interpreters of the local traditions. Even if they lived on the fringe of society, they received the caring and the complicity of the less wealthy classes  which they often dealt with. Continue... 

Origins and History of Tango

 Origins and History of Tango

As everybody knows, the tango was born in Argentina in a non- identifiable day and age, around the second half of the 19th- century. Its origin  was a proper process and until it took its current form and name, many years had passed.

One can say that it all began when millions of people, coming from different places of the world, lost, disorientated, escaping from wars, poverty and famine, landed in Rio de la Plata's South American ports, looking for  better life in a region whose name was already a promise: Argentina, the silvery land. They were Italians, Polish, Hungarians, French, Germans, Slavs with the hope of a respectable life, the dream of personal success dream and the desire for improvement. Continue...

Different types of dances

Different types of dances

Slow Waltz

The Slow Waltz comes directly from the Viennese Waltz and, according to different geographical areas, it was interpreted in different ways. As it arrived in America, it was revised and took its moderate form. At a musical level, the number of strokes per minute were halved and so, with a slower rhythm compared to the Viennese waltz, the dance technique changed. New large figures were invented, which were performed with steps sliding across the floor. A new dance was born named “Boston” (just like the American city where it became very popular). Continue...

Meaning and evolution of shamanistic and African dances

Meaning and evolution of shamanistic and African dances

Throughout history dance has slowly become a form of art, a proper discipline, where the evolution of dancers turn into performances.

However, dance is full of numerous meanings linked to gods, recovery, popular traditions and divine contact. Every dance prefers specific movements over others. This aspect corresponds to a dance style.

Dance has evolved and has had an important role for several people and in many  historical contexts.

“Shamanism” is a general term that involves the spiritual principles existent in all cultures of the world, before five thousand years ago. Continue...

Dancing: psychosocial consequences

Dancing: psychosocial consequences

Dance has always been an essential element of human life. In all ages and all over the world, it has accompanied all of the great personal and social moments in a person's life: births, deaths, marriages, harvests, and the changing seasons. It has been the vehicle of several states of mind, as the exaltation of victory in a war or falling in love. In funeral services it has been a representation of mourning; in religious services, a representation of divine contact.

However, that which dance emphasizes in mankind, is its deep psychological meaning that has a sort of universality and timelessness in purposes and expressive forms, but, at the same time, is influenced by historical ages and those particular cultures in which it was born.  Continue...

Dance

Dance

Dance is one of the universal human activities. It is interwoven in every culture of the world, in so many different forms that it is difficult to give an all- embracing and exhaustive definition. Movement is the most important aspect of the phenomenon and, maybe, the only unescapable one, even if it isn’t sufficient to define it. It is the first artistic expression of the psychological plane for humankind, because it uses the body as way of expression.

Dance is an integrant part of rituals, a prayer form, a moment of aggregation in folk parties and for people in general. During the centuries, it has always been the mirror of society, thought and human behavior. Continue...

Introduction

Introduction

Dance is the strongest, effective and direct way through which man communicates. The person who dances creates a special tie between the own body and soul. He has the ability to pass on feelings, to let talk the own soul communicating without voice, but using only the movements language.

Dance is love, body, style, music and emotions considered as a whole, a mix of sentiments that involves and excites.

Dance is simply a pure poetry.

“Every time I think of my body, I imagine it moving in the space and time… This is the only way I know to express myself completely and to feel free… “.                       

Simona Atzori (girl dancer without arms).

On this page you can see my thesis in PDF format and the video in English created for the graduation session. Enjoy the show!

PDF format Thesis

English version video: