“Let’s Play Italian Swing”
On the 25th November MyCharleston Pordenone, based in the north-east of Italy and directed by MyCharleston teacher Samanta took part in an exciting show dedicated to the most famous songs of Italian swing. Samanta shares with us her story.
I was very happy when the director of the “Fiati della Livenza Orchestra” called me and asked about the possibility of having some of us to dance to some old Italian hits.
It has been only a year since I started Charleston dance classes in Pordenone and I didn’t expect to have the chance to take part in such an interesting show. I’ve always loved dancing to live music even though I know it’s challenging. Live music gives you great energy and wonderful vibes but it’s also true that (especially if you are dancing in group) everything can change on the stage -tempo, accents, musician’s solos, etc. You must be ready to improvise! For example, we rehearsed to a version of the song “Baciami Piccina” (Kiss me Baby, a famous italian swing song) at a crazy tempo and then, fortunately, on the stage it was played a slower speed.
In my former career as a belly dancer I worked with different musicians and I knew what kind of problems I could encounter along the way. But MyCharleston Pordenone only opened in January 2022 and the orchestra called me in October! I contacted some of my students from my classes who had some performance experience. They were ready for the challenge!
In just two months we devised 6 different routines. Creating routines was not a problem at all. I feel that the creative process is the best part of my job. As we were short on time, routines had some repetition, followed the music and words and were easy to adapt when needed.
We met the orchestra just once to rehearse together and only on the day of the show we discovered the stage size. I was nervous about this because I knew that the theatre’s stage was quite big, but the orchestra consisted of 35 musicians.
The day of the show, when we arrived in the theatre, our biggest fear came true… we hadn’t enough room to dance, and we had to adjust all the routine just before the show!
Not everything was perfect, but we did it and everyone had a great time.
The singers and the orchestra’s director were happy to collaborate with us because a concert with dancers adds an extra sparkle and appeals to a wider audience. Making it fresher and more inspiring to young kids (some of them got out of the theatre dancing, bouncing and jumping). After the show everyone said: ‘We should do it again!”
Now we are back in the studio. MyCharleston Pordenone dance classes continue till 21st December and start again on 9th January 2023.
Whether you want to dance in the studio or on stage we are ready to Charleston together!
About Samanta
Samanta lives in Italy, near Venice and has taught oriental dance for almost 20 years. A few years go she discovered swing dance and fell in love with the Charleston. She has loved being taught the dance by Elena and Fiona and is now excited to offer dance classes to the people her area.