Old Ischia Pictures

The links below will take you to my photobucket.com page. Hit the back button on your web browser to come back to this page.

One of the oldest traditions of the island of Ischia is the folk dance called "N'drezzata" literally translated "Entwined". It is composed of 18 male dancers, four musicians ( two clarinet players and two drummers) who keep time in this dance of antique origins. Only residents of the village of Buonopane, in the Borough of Barano can become members of this dance troupe the secrets of which are passed down from generation to generation.
The 18 dancers, led by the "Corporal" who recites a speech in an old Neopolitan dialect, form two circles of 9 dancers. Each man holding in his right hand a short wooden staff and in the other a small wooden sword: on the "Corporals" order and in time with the musicians, the dancers whirl and entwine amongst themselves at the same time 'fighting' with each other, almost destroying the held wooden instruments.
Click here to see a small clip of the finale I took this summer : "N'drezzata" (835113 bytes)

back to home page