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