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Ciao a tutti! Hello everyone, Eliza and Celena here! We are so excited for the opportunity to travel in pilgrimage to Southern Italy to study and join international community in a sacred time of dance, music, song, and healing. And you can make it happen! Learn about the trip, a breakdown of the costs, and why this trip is important for us and our local community. With the arts being defunded, opportunities to travel abroad from the US diminishing, and isolationism decentralizing community dance and culture- now is the time to support us!
We are Sorelle della Montagna, a New England based Southern Italian queer folk dance duet that centers the cultural and spiritual traditions of these special community centric dances. At the end of September 2025 we aim to both attend a week-long dance residency in Galatina, Italy ( the heart of Salento) and journey through the spiritual tradition of Tarantella Pizzica, the healing tradition of the spider.
You can find more information on this residency here including costs and full schedule with instructor info!
About the residency:
"In the residency, we will come into close contact with this land, in deep respect for the layers of emotions and perspectives on this powerful lineage of suffering, music, and cure...
With its rich cultural heritage, the town eagerly collaborates with us to host this gathering, fostering a shared passion for and deep interest in preserving the cherished pizzica traditions of the region."
Breakdown of costs: $7,000
- Two residency spots are $1,565 each (€1350), totaling: $3,130
- Two round trip flights from Boston to Naples: $1,500
- Travel to and from Boston airport: $100
- Travel to and from Naples airport: $250
- Food (lunch/dinner)for two people for 9 days: $600
- Travel insurance: $200
- Accommodations* (bfast incl.) 8 nights: $1,000
- Additional- fees from this fundraising platform, and a contingency for emergencies.
*Accommodation costs could fall if we are able to register soon and bunk up with other attendees!
About Sorelle della Montagna (Sisters of the Mountain):
Just before the world shut down in 2020, we had formed our Southern Italian dance duet and this spring of 2025 we dived back in to performance after focusing our time on personal growth, spiritual experiences, and skills building within the dance. We center these traditions from their spiritual aspects and work hard to practice them in their cultural historical context. We find not only beauty, but community in the steps, the music, and the connections with others and the Earth. We want to bring these healing practices to those in need right here in New England and beyond, and by traveling for immersive study in its native setting we gain unique experiences and knowledge we otherwise would not gain.
By supporting our fundraising our campaign to travel and attend this special dance residency, you are aiding not only our education and spiritual experiences, but also supporting our ability to return to our local communities and share the healing tradition of this special music and dance.
Check out our favorite Italian Tammurriata public performance we did over on YouTube:
Eliza, AKA Luminara in the professional dance world, has studied for many years the dances from the western Mediterranean including Egyptian raqs sharqi, Moroccan folk dance, Southern Italian Tammurriata and Pizzica, as well as contemporary fusion sword dance and fire dance. They have traveled to the region of Campania, Italy to study and research as an environmental ethnologist and animist spiritual practioner. It only made sense to make their best friend Celena to start dancing Italian folk with them! They started teaching them and the bite took hold. Celena will be traveling on this journey to Italy to study at the source for the first time, an important step in their dance and spiritual development.
Luminara's social media here:
Organizer
