early-dance.de

Music and dance at the time of Amerigo Vespucci, the man who gave America its name
(In the quincentenary of his death)

 Luigi Vanvitelli – Sala del Mappamondo – Fermo
Artists: from 6 to 9
(dancers, contraltista, viellas, recorders, transversa, bagpipe, bombard, crumhorns, chalumeaux, positive organ, hurdy gurdy, lute, early guitar drums)
The noble Florentine Amerigo Vespucci could count on a first-rate cultural background, strengthened by his work in the service of Lorenzo the Magnificent: Stagio’s son, he was a pupil of his own uncles Giorgio Antonio (canon in Florence Cathedral), Guido Antonio (friar in San Marco) and Bartolomeo (professor at Padua University), but also of Paolo del Pozzo Toscanelli (astronomer and famous cartographer) and of Marsilio Ficino, the well-known philosopher. From Florence to Seville, where he defended the interests of Medici family and where he knew Cristobal Colon, later in Portugal, where he shipped not to look for gold and wealth, but to describe the new territories and people and, above all, to prove that the new continent was not Asia. The “Piloto Mayor de Castilla” lived an extraordinary epoch, when musicians and “dance professors” create masterpieces in an astonishing crescendo. The humanistic experience creates a refined and elegant coreutic art, codified in precise written forms by the great Masters like “..lo spectable e nobele cavaliero Messer Domenichino Piacentino, magister di buone maniere et del danzare…” and his most famous pupil “Magister Guglielmi Hebraei Pisauriensis”, authors of books considered to be real milestones in the history of dance. The program, far from being exhaustive, proposes a kind of “ideal travel” and has the aim of evoking atmospheres, sound and images of that time. The whole of the material comes from original codices and manuscripts and the performance is the result of a meticulous work of research and reconstruction of costumes, instruments, music and choreographies.


CURRICULUM: The professional group La Rossignol presents Italian Renaissance music and dances. Their study of direct sources, added to historical, organologic and iconographic research and particular attention to the spectacular aspect of their work, has brought group members since 1987 to intense artistic activities in Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany, Israel, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Russia, Greece, India, China, Japan, Romania, Cyprus, Spain, Syria, Lebanon, Morocco, Slovenia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Malta, Turkey, Pakistan, Austria, Poland, Brazil, Albania, Taiwan, Mexico, Vatican City, Australia, Kenya, Croatia, Sweden, Colombia, Bolivia, Netherlands, Denmark, Finland, Scandinavia, Kazakhstan, Venezuela, Hong Kong, U.S.A… with concerts and shows of great prestige. Their portfolio includes collaboration with the greatest world broadcasting companies, consultancies and artistic direction, training and refresher courses, the composition of music for theatre shows and medieval dancing. La Rossignol can count on a vast repertoire and a solid international experience, thus providing many forms of entertainment: concerts, shows, stages and historical evocations. Their skills matured in over 20 years of professional experience in the field of ancient music and dance allow them to prepare programs and teams chosen according to the occasion, the aims, environment and specific needs of their clients. La Rossignol recorded more than 20 CDs dedicated ti early music. Further information in www.larossignol.com.

TECHNICAL NEEDS: stage with fixed lights from the top for the musicians, and from the front for the dancers; one table to lean instruments and music stands; n. 3 chairs (without armrests) or stools, possibly ancient ones; dressing rooms near the stage; a light socket (220volt).

sam