La Tammurriata is a Southern Italian traditional dance workshop by Isabella Ruggiero, certified advanced dancer and choregrapher, held once every two month, at OT301 in Amsterdam, within the event Cinemapasta, and every last monday of the month in CC Muziekcafe’ in Amsterdam.
Isabella Ruggiero, experienced dancer and choreographer, introduce the participants to the cultural background of Tammurriata – a combined form of music, sung and dance – as well as to the basic techniques of dancing and drumming.
The workshop is structured in two parts:
Day 1 – dance technique, dance etiquette, practical skills and theoretical knowledge on the rhythm of the drum Tammorra, lyrics, verses, rhymes, jokes and the conventional expressions and the metrical structure of the ‘canto’.
Day 2 – Styles: It will be examined the styles (Giuglianese, Sarnese, dell’Avvocata, dei Monti Lattari, Montemaranese ) from different geographical areas of region Campania, south of Italy.
La Tammurriata in the southern Italian musical tradition: ritual and myth
La Tammuriata is a music tradition lived in the rural areas around the volcano Vesuvius, in the South of Italy. Throughout the transformation of seasons, the tradition connects the existentiality of the local population with their everyday social lives and work, the earth and the elements of nature, and with their ancestors and spirituality. With utter devotion and care, la Tammuriata has been passed on as a strictly oral tradition over many generations. It exists today an intriguing tradition transcending the limits of everyday space and time in a powerful ritual to cleanse up the social and metaphysical tensions that obstruct the eternal progression and repetition of life’s cycles.
Isabella Ruggiero (Napoli, Italy) is dancer, researcher and choreographer of traditional dances from the South of Italy, Egypt and the Middle East. Isabella is based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and organizes traditional music & dance events and artistic residencies with the aim of creating a bridge between Mediterranean and other local cultures to spread music and dance culture abroad.