Giulia Tuttle and Alessandra Belloni performing in the "Stabat Mater" production at the Hammer Museum, 1998

While many international ballroom dances such as polka, mazurka, waltz and tango are common at dinner dances, Italian folkdance less common. The tarantella sometimes surfaces at social gatherings among Sicilians and other southern Italians (i.e., Pugliesi, Calabrians)óto whom forms of this dance are native. In years past, Maria Foggetta used to dance the tarantella at Villa Scalabrini events (as did a couple of Italian nuns!). Virginia Buscemi Carlson danced a Sicilian scottische and quadriglia, as well as the tarantella, Josephine Civello taught folk dances and choreographed dances for the women (since few of the men would dance ethnic dances) of the Garibaldina Society for their Italian Night, and the Italian American Club of San Pedro once had its Italian Tarantella Dancers. But much of this has passed with an aging generation of Italians.

Teresa Fiore dancing the pizzica played by visiting Italian folk music ensemble from the Salento, Puglia (AramirÈ) at the opening of the CAFAM Mediterranean traditional music exhibitions (See: http://www.iohi.org, past events: "Performing Ecstasies")

Some perform Italian dances (most frequently the tarantella), in highly-stylized, staged versions (e.g., the ensemble Roman Holiday). For dances that are somewhat closer to their ethnographic roots, see PERFORMING ARTS, Traditional Music I Giullari di Piazza (http://www.alessandrabelloni.com/), Music‡ntica (http://www.musicantica.org/). The Italian Folk Arts Federation of America maintains a list of active folk dance troupes throughout the US (See: Italian Folk Art Federtion ñ IFAFA: http://www.italian-american.com/ifafa/IFAFALinks.htm ).