Pantomime dance of the Cordella in Petralia Sottana

The Pantomima della Cordella dance is a dance that takes place every year in Petralia Sottana on the first Sunday after August 15th on the occasion of the Ancient Wedding Parade.
On the Saturday evening preceding the holiday, the boys stage a serenade a 'zita, representation of the traditional declaration of love of the groom towards his beloved before the wedding.
On the day of the festival the Pantomima della Cordella dance takes place. This dance involves twelve couples of dancers, representing the twelve months of the year, who, to the rhythm of tarantella, weave "the Kurdeddi", that is colored ribbons, around a pole to form a polychrome fabric, and then take it off.
The dance, through the gestures and movements of the dancers, the sound of typical Sicilian instruments, the recitation of ancient ejaculations and the intonation of songs, evokes the cycle of wheat, source of life and subsistence for civilization peasant. The ropes are tied to the pole on which a shell of wheat stands out to evoke the thrill of life and the need to bond with Nature and its generous Providence, which renews the triumph of life and makes love fruitful.
The dance consists in performing four figures, dances thanks to which different weaves are created on the pole, similar to the weaving of the loom: the first symbolizes spring, the second summer, the third autumn and the fourth, called "u paraccu" precisely because winter is reminiscent of an umbrella. Therefore, a link is created between the seasons and the cycle of wheat, therefore sowing is connected to the figure of autumn, to that of winter, budding, to that of spring, raising and flowering of the sprout and to that of summer, earing. and collection.

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