Save the Last Dance for Me
Alessandro Sciarroni stages an intimate, acrobatic duet based on the historic Bolognese courtship dance polka chinata, preserving a tradition on the verge of disappearing.
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In Save the Last Dance for Me , Alessandro Sciarroni creates a rare and captivating encounter with the polka chinata — a Bolognese courtship dance dating back to the early twentieth century. Performed by Gianmaria Borzillo and Giovanfrancesco Giannini, Save the Last Dance for Me is an intimate duet unfolding in a continuous spiral of tension and trust: intertwined bodies spinning, descending and rising again in a demanding, almost acrobatic choreography. Once danced exclusively by men, the Polka Chinata survives today thanks to the meticulous work of Giancarlo Stagni, who reconstructed it from archival footage. When Sciarroni discovered it in 2018, only five practitioners remained. Balancing performance with an act of preservation, Save the Last Dance for Me is both a celebration and a reunion — an invitation to witness, share, and keep alive a tradition on the verge of disappearing.