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In Pietro Longhi's (1702-1785) Paintings of La Furlana
he depicts the dancers doing a Gig using Tambourines but the dance
can be accompanied by string instruments: a violin and a cello or
viola. In his picture the girl is dancing while the man watches.
During the dance the couples try to mimic courtship such as flirting, arguing etc. At the end of the dance both dancers drop to a knee with handkerchiefs raised. This dance is practiced in several other parts of Italy. The Musical Signature is of 6/8 or 6/4 or 3/4.
The dance faded from popularity around
1790 due to France's earlier entrance into Italy. In 1914, the Pope
Pius X advised a return to the Furlana in order to fight the peccaminosa
spread of the tango. He siad after watching an exhobition of the
Tango "It is not at all amusing, my children," he is reported
to have said of the tango "Why do you not dance the furlana'.
So needless to say there was a slight
effort by some to revive the Furlana in the mid 1910s thanks to
the Pope and it did gain some attention for a brief period. It became
known as the "Pope's Dance or the La Popette" and while
originally the dance was not done using the embrace of the Tango,
it was being sold and danced as such, just not as sensuously and
said to be a mixture of the steps of the Polka, Maxixe and Tango
with the original Furlana steps thrown in like the Intro of the
dance, etc. In 1914 Albertina Rasch did a royal command function
of Emperor Francis Joseph at his palace in Vienna doing the Furlana
and was reported by Albertina
Rasch (1914) that Children still danced the Furlana in the Streets
of Venice to a hurdy-gurdy.
Details of the Furlana Dance (c.1914 - Washington
Post).
The flrst position suggests the
beginnings of some of the Spanish dances. The partners stand facing
each other, three or four feet apart, with the man's right foot
and the woman's left foot advanced, and the right arm raised and
the left akimbo.
In the second position The dancers
approach and join hands, their arms "being crossed in the position
often used by men and women skaters.
In the third position the dancers
are side by side.
In the fourth position the left
arm of the man jests lightly on the waist of the woman. At this
stage the dancers are as close together as they ever get in the
furlana, their right arms being raased
The Finale Is Lively Enough.
In one of the turns which follows, the right foot of one dancer
is close to the calf of the right leg of the other, which is a difficult
pose for one wearing the present style of tight skirts. The finale
is lively enough, with the raised hands and the quick steps. The
dance music is rapid throughout, and even professional dancers find
they need a rest when it is over. As the evolutions are rather extended
it requires much more room than does the tango, and it would be
difficult to adapt it to ballroom use. (end Wash Post)
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