Pizzica - Italian National Dance

Pizzica is an appealing, highly rhythmic, and "catchy" Italian music and dance. I first heard pizzica in the art film Ne Te Retourne Pas (2009), starring two wonderful actresses Monica Bellucci and Sophie Marceau, when the heroine Jeanne, trying to remember her past and find herself, entered an Italian home where a celebration was taking place. Initially the dance was like a flirtation between an unknown man and woman, later transforming into a dance of rivalry between two women. Looking it up online and reading descriptions of the dance, it turns out this short film fragment captured the essence of the dance very well.

Photo: Daniele La Monaca

It is a popular Italian folk dance, originating from the heel of Italy's "boot", so to speak - the Salento region - and especially associated with the city of Lecce. It later spread to other regions of Italy as well. Pizzica is essentially a derivative of the Tarantella - an optimistic, fast, partner dance, most commonly performed to the accompaniment of tambourines.

   

A scene from the film Pizzicata (1996) - the Salento region of Italy

Traditionally the dance is danced as a pair - woman-man, woman-woman, or less commonly man-man. The dance's patterns involve two people dancing around each other. The same-gender dance expresses the idea of rivalry and a duel. Pizzica is often danced barefoot and with a shawl in the hands.