La quadriglia in Toscana
Archetipi, pratica comunitaria e ipotesi di lettura
Abstract
This article examines the phenomenon of the quadriglia dance in traditional rural Tuscan culture, focusing on central-eastern Tuscany. There, the quadriglia is the only group dance, in contrast to neighbouring areas where there is a variety of dances; our paper aims to clarify the reasons for this minimalism of forms. To this end, we discuss evidence collected in the area of interest, and draw comparisons with data from other parts of Italy. We then present the elements that characterise the choreographic action, as well as the different functions that quadriglia fulfils within communities. Finally, the paper includes the analysis and transcription of a series of sonatas for quadriglia. The choreutic analysis reveals how the quadriglia, an open-form dance, is driven by a modular collective thought inspired by the value of extemporaneity. The musical phrases, in turn, can be traced back to typologies corresponding to sonatas for specific danze and balli, widely documented throughout Italy. The quadriglia of central-eastern Tuscany, therefore, does not represent a specific dance form, but rather a genre category in which a plurality of materials of different origins have converged, both musically and choreographically, through a process of reworking and reappropriation that was largely shaped by the communities that performed it.
