Italian
250 years since the birth of Jane Austen: a gathering of dance, music, theater, and painting
Ponzano Veneto (TV). Yesterday afternoon, at Villa Serena Rubini in Paderno, the municipal headquarters, with a delightful park surrounding it, a time jump occurred.
Suddenly, extras in meticulously detailed Regency costumes appeared and entered the villa, where all the people gathered for the event. From a balcony of the town hall, they listened to the presentation of Jane Austen herself, through the voice of an actress from the Leonardo stable theater company. In her words, we felt how she felt and how she was perceived by her contemporaries. It was as if she seemed like a spinster, but in reality, she too had experienced love.
What was your favorite character: certainly not Mr. Darcy.
The procession of extras then headed to the dance floor, where they performed typical dances of the era, organized by the Historical Dance and Esprit Libre associations. It was thrilling to see these dancer-extras gracefully twirl around, but even more so was the audience’s involvement as they were invited to dance as well.
The audience then moved to another area of the park where a stage had been set up, where the Compagnia Stabile Leonardo staged a performance written by Giovanna Zucca herself, “Ghosts in the library”, which spoke of ghosts of famous writers among the books on the shelves, in particular Agatha Christie, Jane Austen, and Giuseppe Tomasi da Lampedusa. In particular, between the first two, there is an exchange of lines regarding their position of literary excellence, a competition between a mystery writer and a novelist.
He attended the opening of an exhibition created ad hoc by the association Pennelli Divini, with the theme focused on Jane Austen, her writings, and her era, featuring truly valuable paintings, sculptures, and artist’s books.
Later the audience returned around the stage to attend a flute and guitar concert, curated
at Space Music, with music always related to the regency era, while serving tea in costume in a nearby corner. A truly delightful period picture.
The event concluded with another moment dedicated to dance, both historical with audience involvement, and with the participation of the Artificio dance school, which through modern and hip hop dance brought us back to our time.
An event that was able to recreate the spirit of an era with kindness and grace on a beautiful spring afternoon, in the park of Villa Serena, which has become a splendid location for this event.
