The ladies get in on the action!

A surprise to some but a beautiful historical tradition to Italian festivals are the dances and competitions done by the ladies of the town. At the “Harvest Festival” in San Gimignano, the women have been working hard all year to prepare for these dances.

I wonder if these are dances the entire family knows…In my mind, I can hear Nonna (the grandmother) say to the young girl…”It is time for you to learn the family dances so in a few years we will make you a fancy dress, braid your hair with ribbon and you will perform for the town and represent our family…”.

There were ladies off all ages dancing to the drums, horns and music created through the 2 day festival. They had lovely gowns, most laced up the back, some had matching colored braided hair and casual cinch purses (I wonder if there cell phones were in there?)

Besides many many dance routines, they also compete against each contrada (neighborhood) in a “braid” race. Using colored ropes to represent the color of the contrada, the girls literally braid the rope while running, ducking, turning to and thro-the first to complete the braid wins! It is very strategic-where you stand , getting in the groove with your teammates, holding the material just right…San Giovanni won this year. The others were disappointed and got into long heated discussions on why they didn’t win. Like all Italian competitions-it gets steamy and hands start waving, voices are raised…but in the end, they all hug and move on the the next competition.

I love how Italians never seem to hold a grudge….the entire group number dances are fun to watch and the audience even gets invited to join in!