Monferrina

Monferrina is a lively Italian folk dance in 6
8 time named after the place of its origin, Montferrat, in the Italian region of Piedmont. It has spread from Piedmont throughout Northern Italy, in Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and even into Switzerland. It also became popular in late 18th-century England as a country dance, under the names monfrina, monfreda, and manfredina, being included in Wheatstone's Country Dances for 1810.[1] In Piedmont, it is usually accompanied by singing and it is danced by several couples.[2]

For the Italian wine grape also known as Monferrina, see Nebbiolo.

The dance goes under several different names: monferrina di Friuli, monfrénna bulgnaisa, monfrénna mudnaisa, giardiniera (or jardinière) and baragazzina.[2][3]

Execution and background

The dance starts with two circular promenades by couples arm-in-arm using a lively march step. The individual couples then join both hands for a cross-step with bent knees. The dance often contains bows and mimed teasing and coaxing.[2][4]

Sachs takes the two part structure of the dance, a procession followed by a couple figure, as indicative of its antiquity along with other Italian folk dances of this type such as the trescone, giga and bergamesco.[5]

Notes
  1. "Monferrina" in Don Michael Randel, ed. (1986). New Harvard Dictionary of Music. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-61525-5.
  2. Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro (1931). Costumi, musica, danze e feste popolari italiane. Roma: Edizione O.N.D.
  3. Ungarelli, Gaspare (1894). Le vecchie danze italiane ancora in uso nella provincia bolognese. Rome: Arnaldo Forni. p. 64,67,71.
  4. Galanti, Bianca M. (1950). Dances of Italy. New York: Chanticleer Press. p. 7–8.
  5. Sachs, Curt (1963). World History of the Dance. New York: W. W. Norton. p. 278. ISBN 0-393-00209-8.
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