Bailenga - Musik und Tänze aus dem traditionellen Italien

BAILENGA

The original Trio Bailenga was founded in Turin in 2021 with the aim of bringing the dimension of the popular festival to every place, offering a repertoire suitable for both dancing and listening.

They host events where people of all ages can come together and unite in dance and fun, on an evening that is always changing to accommodate an ever-changing audience.

The repertoire consists exclusively of pieces of Italian and world folk music, arranged for danceable festive events. They span the spectrum from classical Neapolitan music adapted to Balfolk rhythms (polka, waltz, Scottish, chapelloise, etc.), to various musical traditions of southern Italy (Tammurriata Campana, Pizzica Salentina, Sicilian Tarantella, Sardinian Dance, Arberesche) to new arrangements of work songs from northern, central and southern Italy, as well as folk songs of other origins (mainly from Yiddish, Albanian, Greek and Turkish Tradition).

The term "bailenga" originated from the union of the Spanish word "baile" (dance) with "balenga", a Piedmontese-Venetian dialect expression meaning "bizarre", "crazy". We like it because we believe that music and dance nourish and stimulate the expression of each person's "crazier" sides, through which freedom of expression, creativity, and resistance to uniformity manifest themselves.

Elisa Guarraggi:  vocals, guitar and tambourine

Always on the lookout for traditional songs from all over the world, she learned and reinterpreted Albanian, Arbereshe and Greek songs between 2016 and 2019. In 2018, she graduated as a professional actress. In 2015 she founded the theatre project Il Teatrino dei burattini di Edmondo Vagamondo, which combines shadow theatre and traditional music and works for events and educational initiatives.

Pietro Ariotti:  Accordion and guitar

He completed his jazz music studies at the Conservatory of Alessandria and a degree in literature and performing arts at the University of Genoa. For years he has dedicated himself to the search for traditional music and dance, especially in northern Italy.

Bernardo Scursatone:  Percussion

He has been working in the field of folk music for about ten years: he plays traditional southern Italian and Middle Eastern percussion instruments, the cajon and the diatonic accordion.

Giulio Gianì: saxophone  

He graduated from the Conservatory of Messina in 2010 with Gianfranco Brundo and received a degree in Musicology in Cremona in 2014. He is co-founder of the trio Sacs Voyage, the trio Busker MalaTempùra and plays in the acoustic project Tommi e gli onesti cittadini.

Mario Espinoza:  Vocals, Cuatro

Mario Espinoza lives in Zurich. He presents folk songs from Latin America and the Mediterranean region. He often accompanies himself on the cuatro, a four-stringed guitar from Venezuela.