Southern Italian and Native American traditional dances came together on stage at NYU’s Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò on Wednesday evening, in a performance entitled “Drums of Illumination.”
The show starred Alessandra Belloni, a singer, dancer, percussionist and expert in Southern Italian ritual dance, who performed with her musical ensemble I Giullari di Piazza. Also featured were the SilverCloud Singers and Dancers, a troupe that performs both traditional and modern versions of songs from Native American tribes.
The performance highlighted the common themes in Southern Italian and Native American culture, such as love of the Earth, lullabies and healing dances. Two invocations from the sun, from the Zulu and Napolitan traditions, opened the show. Dressed in traditional costumes, the dancers ululated their voices to the lively beat of drums, shakers and tambourines.
Both Southern Italian and Native American music traditions have narrative quality to them, which was apparent in the band’s renditions of ritual songs. Belloni’s group performed songs such as Fronni d’alia (olive branch), which tells the story of a young woman who runs away from a forced marriage to marry the man she truly loves. Another song told of a man listening to the waves and remembering a lost love. During a few of the songs, a man and a woman danced bending their bodies to and fro, and sometimes waving strips of red ribbon.
In turn, the Native American songs often recount stories of people communicating with their Creator. The SilverCloud group, for instance, performed a lullaby about a man who tells his Creator, “I’m here under you. I want my daughter to have a good life.” Tarrant said that Native Americans sung such lullabies to unborn babies in the womb so that the song would stay with the child throughout their life. That song would eventually be passed down to the next generation.
Some of the Native American dances involved complex choreographies. SilverCloud member Murielle Borst performed the butterfly dance, which talks of a butterfly who emerges to live again after going into a cocoon to mourn for her mate. Borst wore a glittering shawl with long fringes, which she moved in a way that evoked the wings of the butterfly. Another dancer, Josephine Tarrant, performed a healing dance from the Taos people in New Mexico in which the dancers bend their body through colorful hoops.
Il Giullari di Piazza and SilverCloud have been collaborating for more than 25 years. Their partnership began in 1992, when Lincoln Center commissioned Belloni to write an opera in honor of Native American culture in the context of the 300 year anniversary what she called the “Columbus situation;” the anniversary of Columbus’ arrival on the shores of the New World. Belloni worked with the uncle of Kevin Tarrant, the director of SilverCloud, and she realized that their cultures had a lot in common.
“It was kind of love at first sight,” said Belloni, whose book Healing Journeys with the Black Madonna will be released in March of 2019. “We realized not only all our similarities about the music, but also about the way we live as Italians and as Native Americans. It was really beautiful.”
Although these dances date back centuries, they still resonate. “I strongly believe that these folk dances, especially the ones that are more ecstatic, have a very positive influence on young people today,” Belloni wrote in an email. Traditional Southern dances, she says, can be a way for people of Italian descent to “reconnect with their roots”. The performer added that these dances can also be a potential source of healing for individuals suffering from depression.
Yet preserving these traditions presents many obstacles, particularly for Native Americans. Mainstream culture often fails to appreciate the enduring values of Native American culture, as Borst explained after the performance. The mass media continues to trivialize them, resorting to images of “cowboys and indians” and other common stereotypes.
“If you treat us like non-humans, then what happens is you dehumanize us,” said Borst. “But we’re real people, who really bleed, and we feel. Cultural identity is a human right. We’re even fighting here in NYC for identity, all the time, especially in urban areas.”
Perhaps real appreciation for these cultures can only happen through first-hand experience with the people who keep them alive. As Belloni, who returns to Southern Italy at least once or twice a year, points out, “If you want to understand, you have to be with the natives.”
PHOTO: Alessandra Belloni performes at the Casa Italiana. Courtesy of Alessandra Belloni.
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