Pizzica: A dance event from the South of Italy

Friday, May15th

5:30-7PM

In-person event

Pizzica: Dancing from the Countryside to the Piazzas of PugliaJoin us for an evening connecting with the lands of Southern Italy, where social dances called tarantelle still naturally mark seasonal festivals, religious celebrations, and community gatherings. After taking a look at the diversity of tarantelle across southern Italy, we’ll “travel” to the peninsula at the end off the region of Apulia.Surrounded by two seas, here a music called pizzica fills town piazzas in summer nights, with after-party rondas — circles of drummers, dancers, and singers — lasting early into the morning.Some of these events are huge concerts drawing thousands of tourists from out of town, others are smaller gatherings among friends, family, or hosted by music groups. There’s the feast of Saints Peter and Paul in Galatina, which has become connected to pizzica for the use of the music and movements in healing the immense suffering of tarantismo, and the feast of San Rocco in Torrepaduli, where the martial pizzica scherma is centered.We’ll learn about the ways these traditions are held and practiced seriously today, and the layers of their evolutions… and even dance a bit, getting to know the basic rhythm and codes that determine how the partners move in the dance, and how the ronda functions. We’ll also look at the meaning of why the dance works this way, and the immense importance it carries for its people.Everyone is welcome, no previous experience with dance is needed!

Meet Kate Causbie!

Kate’s connection to these dances comes from a path of seeking traditions that are alive in communities in Southern Italy — especially those from Puglia, the homeland of her grandmother’s family. This path has since led her all over Southern Italy. Diving into a region where she at first knew nothing and no one, it was the following the path of dance that led her into community and connection.

She is focused on understanding the call towards these lineages that is experienced by many people whose ancestors left the lands of the Apennine peninsula. She works to build bridges between these living roots and diaspora communities, centering living local lineage and resisting commercialization or performance narratives — instead seeking older ways of creating together, in complex community. Since 2024, she has led the organization of an international residency on oral music and dance tradition in Puglia, in collaboration with the town of Galatina and the artistic direction of Rosa Voto from the Melbourne School of Tarantella. The residency creates a critical opportunity for folks from outside of Italy to approach a cultural immersion and learn from local artists and community members who live this music and dance!

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Host or Publisher Collina Italiana - Italian Language Center