JOIN US!

Very excited to be a teacher and performer in this special and powerful retreat Dance Beyond  in Kingston NY  organized my two wonderful attests friends Omar Aena  and Mike Tummolo dec 16 and 17 .I will be performing with Steve Gorn and teaching with dancer Juliet Rania . more to come hope my students will join  me!

https://facebook.com/events/s/dance-beyond-winter-retreat-de/2341986155979869/

Donate Today

Dear friends around the world,

I hope that you are doing well and in good spirits.

We know there have been challenging times, and the world has changed tremendously. I have been working very hard these past two years to adapt my life as a touring artist, teacher, and performer by creating an online center/school with my company I GIULLARI DI PIAZZA and launching the FIRST SOUTHERN ITALIAN MUSICAL AND FOLKLORIC INSTITUTE. I'm asking for your support in helping me continue to realize these beautiful artistic and educational projects.

WHY WE NEED FUNDING

Our vision is to spread and keep alive the healing & folkloric traditions from Southern Italy as far and wide as we can, both live and online. This also follows the vision of our newly reformed board of directors.

We continue to do amazing work, but we need funding to continue performing and teaching online and in person through the end of 2023.

Specifically, funding is needed to:

• Present and produce new live performances

• Create and preserve online courses and ongoing classes for 2 to 6 artists

• Pay adequate artists' fees, technical crew, and administration costs for a cast of 3 to 12 artists

• Hire professional marketing and public relations personnel for the following projects to take place at the Cathedral of St John the Divine, NYU Casa Italiana, & the Italian American Museum.

• We are looking forward to launching an intensive ministry program with Alessandra Belloni and Father Phil to study the mystery of the Black Madonna and the teachings of the Holy Sophia. Final Ordination and Credentialing will allow candidates to perform as officiants of prayers, liturgies, rituals and ministry functions.

• We are currently working on creating a home base in New York while offering on-site and/or virtual field trips to specific historical and spiritual sites.

• We working on launching the First Southern Italian Musical Folkloric Institute!

Led by Internationally Renowned Singer, Percussionist, Teacher, and Author Alessandra Belloni & Co-Founder and Director John La Barbera from the Italian Folk Music, Theater and Dance Company I Giullari Di Piazza, (the Players of the Square) a non-profit organization founded in 1980 and artist in residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.)

The Center will have a base in New York at the proposed site of the Italian American Museum with Director Dr. Joe Scelsa as well as offering virtual courses & classes. We are also hoping for a possible collaboration with CASA ITALIAN NYU while offering on-site field trips to specific historic and spiritual sites in Southern Italy.

The school will offer the following distinct training curriculums:

1. The Black Madonna & The Tarantella Healing Music of Southern Italy: The initial deep dive into the teachings of the Southern Italian musical and dance traditions of the Black Madonna and the Tarantella or Taranta in specific regions: Campania, Calabria, Sicily, Puglia. (see example trip planned July 31 to August 8)

2. The Black Madonna & The Tarantella Healing Music of Southern Italy Teacher Training: A more intensive teacher training allowing the students to share the legacy of Alessandra’s work and passion. Students must meet all pre-requisite trainings and studies prior to being accepted to the teacher training.

Donate Here

Dance Beyond Winter Retreat

December 14-18

Very excited to be a teacher and performer in this special and powerful retreat Dance Beyond  in Kingston NY  organized my two wonderful attests friends Omar Aena  and Mike Tummolo dec 16 and 17 .I will be performing with Steve Gorn and teaching with dancer Juliet Rania . more to come hope my students will join  me!

https://facebook.com/events/s/dance-beyond-winter-retreat-de/2341986155979869/

Tarantata Performance and Dinner Fundraiser 2022

A SPECIAL FUNDRAISING EVENT

Join us to share food, drink and wonderful music while we celebrate four decades of I Giullari Di Piazza and Alessandra's Belloni's work!

Sunday December 4, 2022 at 5pm
Local 92 Restuarant- Second Avenue & 6th Street, NYC

Featuring the South Italian Tarantella healing trance dances and ritual drumming chants and dance for the Black Madonna.

During this holiday end-of-year fundraiser, we will also honor Emmy Award winning actor Armand Assante; actress, TV host and Ambassador of Made in Italy,  Eleonora Pieroni; as well as philanthropist and founder of Soul De Cuba Cafe, Jesus Puerto.

There will be a performance featuring the South Italian Tarantella healing trance dances and ritual drumming chants and dance for the Black Madonna.

Don't miss this opportunity to be together again, in person, for the first time since 2019!

This will be such a special celebration of over four decades of work for I Giullari di Piazza who are artists in residence at the Cathedral of St. John Divine and who have also performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and Symphony Space, to name but a few.

The concert will feature:
Alessandra Belloni - Artistic Director, Percussions and Vocals
John La Barbera - Music Director, Composer, Guitar, Mandolin, Chitarra Battente
Wilson Montuori - Guitar
Mara Gerety - Violin
Steve Gorn - Bansuri Flutes, Saxophones, Clarinet
Dancers - Francesca Silvano, Peter De Geronimo, Greta Campo
Mark Mindek - Stilt Dancer

If you are considering a tax-deductible donation before the end of the year, this is your opportunity to keep Southern Italian folkloristic traditions alive!

If you cannot attend the fundraiser, we hope you will still donate to I Giullari di Piazza, which will allow us to continue to present these powerful musical productions, classes, retreats and presentations.

Rhythm is the Cure Retreat in Hawaii

Healing Dance and Percussion Workshop 
from Southern Italy & Hula from Hawaii! 

February 27 to March 6th 2023 

in a new peaceful setting, in Oahu, HI: 
WINDWARD Quaker RETREAT CENTER: 
www.windwardretreat.org

ONE SPACE LEFT! 

Accepting waitlist applications, please contact us to be added

Rhythm is the Cure is a 6-day, intensive healing workshop featuring Southern Italian ritual music and dance used as therapy for centuries throughout the Mediterranean. This new workshop will blend the Southern Italian musical traditions of the Black Madonna, and the Divine Feminine, with sacred Hawaiian Hula dance for the Goddess Pele. Every morning drumming sessions will be held on the beach.

Alessandra will be joined by special guest instructors: 

Father Phil Harmon, Archpriest, founder of Kahumana Farm & Retreat Center, a theologian who specializes in the Divine Feminine and the Black Madonna and will hold classes in the evening giving an orientation to the teachings and practices of the Western Esoteric traditions, the Mystics, and the Saints, the Black Madonna as the Earth-Mother in a Feminine Divine Trinity, with the Holy Sophia, her Celestial-Daughter, and with the Sacred Soul (Holy Spirit) and our Angelic Companions as the Being who unites the Earth and the Heavens. 

Auntie Nettie Armitage Lapilio, who will teach on the tradition of PELE, Hawaiian Goddess of the Earth, and the sacred Hula dances in honor of the goddess. She is a fully recognized Kumu Hula and Hawaiian Cultural Practitioner. She has been teaching Hula, Hawaiian Language and Music for 50 years. She is a practitioner of Ho’oponopono, a Traditional Hawaiian practice for healing both family and professional relationships. She is a highly sought-after professional musician and educator in Hawaiian circles.

For questions about registration, please contact us

 Free Bonus Video: The Black Madonna- Spiritual Mother

Filmed in Hawaii by Michael Bailey

Alessandra is sharing this special video with an in depth interview on the Black Madonna's esoteric traditions and true meaning as the Cosmic Earth & African Mother. This video also features the wisdom of scholar and spiritual leader, Father Phil Harmon. It was filmed and produced by the wonderful film maker Michael Bailey (co founder of Green Peace) from Planetviews productions Hawaii at Kahumana's Black Madonna chapel.

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