TV Italian Style
The ‘TV Italian Style’ podcast is an A-Z of the golden age of Italian television of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s from the perspective of the ever popular varietà and the famous faces who would host and guest star on these shows. It’s a bilingual podcast, in English and Italian, with conversations with experts on Italian TV and culture alongside clips from all the best shows and performances. Visit the accompanying website https://tvitalianstyle.wordpress.com/ to download translated transcriptions for each episode to support your listening.
TV Italian Style
H: Hai visto come ballano? Dancing and the dance troupe in variety television
In this episode, we're talking about dancing and the varietà, focusing in particular on the balletto, the dance troupe, but also on the hosts and guest stars who dance as part of their performances on variety shows. And whilst I'm a bit outside my comfort zone talking about dancing, I'm going to describe the different routines that we see during the 1950s, 60s and 70s, and the changes that take place which mirror broader changes in society - like the recognition of young people as an audience and the impact of the sexual revolution on the representation of women on screen. The shows we'll talk about are Musica alla ribalta (1959), Studio Uno (1961), Stasera Rita (1965), Johnny 7 (1964 and 1965), Hai visto mai? (1973) and Studio Uno (1965). And we'll talk in particular about Paul Steffen, Don Lurio, and Lola Falana as example choreographers and dancers from this period.