Biography of Alessandra Belloni

Alessandra Belloni - Singer, Percussionist, Dancer, Actress, Educator, Director

Director of Italian theatre Group I GIULLARI DI PIAZZA

Artist in Residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City.

Author of the book/DVD RHYTHM IS THE CURE –Mel Bay Publications

A REMO Signature Series Artist with her own line of Italian tambourines.

Performance & Workshops

Films & Documentaries

Often called a "Mediterranean Volcano," Alessandra Belloni is a singer, tambourine virtuoso, dancer and actress. A native of Rome, Italy, she is committed to preserving the strong and rich traditions of her culture. The only woman in the U.S. and in Italy who specializes in Southern Italian percussion combined with ritual dances and singing, that she learned from the old people in the field research. She has spent more than twenty years participating every Summer in the authentic drumming Festivals in remote areas of Southern Italy, held in honor of the Black Madonna and as rituals of purification. Ms. Belloni teaches special healing workshops combining percussion and dance at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York and world wide. She has hosts her annual summer intensive workshop, “ Rhythm is the Cure; Dance of the Ancient Spider in Tuscany for the past 13 years.

Her work as teacher and healer brought her to be the main feature of the documentary film about her as artist and healer TARANTELLA TRANCE DANCE; Towards the Origins of South European Shamanism (series Living Shamanism) by French American film maker Manex Ibar, to be soon released.

Alessandra Belloni has studied acting at H.B. Studios, Voice with Prof. Michael Warren, Mime and Commedia dell'Arte with Dario Fo (1997 Literature Nobel Prize) at New York University.

She has worked in theatre and film both in New York: "Next Stop the Greenwich Village" by Paul Mazursky and in Italy with Anna Magnani: "La Lupa", and Federico Fellini "Casanova."

PERCUSSION

A REMO ARTIST, Alessandra is the first to introduce her line of Italian signature series tambourines especially designed with the internationally renowned REMO INC, leader in the industry of percussion.

She has also created a special collaboration with master drummer Glen Velez, with whom she has performed and recorded her last CDs. Under invitation of Nana Vasconcellos and Gilberto Gil, she was featured in PERC PAN '98, in Bahia, Brazil, one of the best Percussion Festivals with artists from all over the world. She was nominated among the three best drummers of World Percussion by DRUM MAGAZINE, along with Baba Olatunji, Mickey Hart, with Arthur Hull winner of first prize. She recently had feature stories in Modern Drummer, Rhythm & Drum Magazine, and wrote articles for Percussive Notes Magazine. She has created a new World Music Sound in cross-cultural operas and percussion ensembles.

With her one woman show "Rhythm is the Cure," she tours across the US and Internationally, performing and teaching workshops in places like WOMAD (Seattle), RHYTHM STICKS, Royal Festival Hall (London), Teatro Castro Alves (Salvador,Bahia) PASIC (Dallas, Los Angeles, Nashville) Drumming at the Pyramids (Egypt), Julliard (New York), Oberlin (Ohio), PERKUSIA (Warsaw), Berkeley World Percussion Festival (Boston) Monterey World Music Festival, Conservatory of Milan ( Italy), Italian PAS & I SUONI DAL MONDO (Trento, Italy) Royal Marine School School of Music (England), UHURU- Weltmusikladen , VALS, (Switzerland), Theatre of SESC Ipiranga (Brazil) with Siba from Mestre Ambrosio, Cultural Center in Tel Aviv together with master percussionist Zohar Fresco. She has been featured on TV with Worldbeat (CNN).

PRODUCTION

She is the Artistic Director/Founder/Lead Performer of "I Giullari di Piazza", an Italian Music, Theatre and Dance Troupe who are Artists in Residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City which she with classical guitarist/Composer John La Barbera in 1979, She has created cross-cultural productions dedicated to Mother Earth, featuring the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers, African and Latin American Artists and is featured on the PBS documentary : "LA FESTA" with "The Voyage of the Black Madonna". She also won the Award as the Italian American Woman of the Year 1996, for her achievements in music and theatre, and the Community Arts Project Award from Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. In the Fall 1997 she was awarded a special grant from the Carnahan Jackson Humanities Fund for a residency with the women studies at SUNY Fredonia.

As I Guillari Di Piazza’s director, writer, and lead performer, Alessandra has created & produced the following Folk Operas:

"The Dance of the Ancient Spider" premiered at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center

"Stabat Mater: Donna de Paradiso" (Cathedral of St. John the Divine)

"The Voyage of the Black Madonna" (Cathedral of St. John the Divine)

"1492-1992: Earth, Sun and Moon," commissioned by Lincoln Center out of Doors Festival, 1992

"La Cantata dei Pastori" (Caramoor , St. John the Divine, Smithsonian and others)

"La Lupa" (St. Mark’s Church, YALE, and others)

"The Adventures of Don Giovanni & his Servant Pulcinella" (Carnegie Hall)

TEACHING

Ms. Belloni teaches children's workshops on Commedia dell'Arte, Italian folk songs and dances, at Caramoor Center for Music and Arts, Katonah (New York)., At the Cathedral of St. John the Divine she holds regular classes on Italian tambourines and ritual dances. She also started a special rhythm and dance program at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. She is a sought after speaker & educator who offers her master classes, workshops & lectures in conservatories, universities and healing facilities world wide.

RECORDINGS

TARANTELLA: SPIDER DANCE, 2009

TARANTATA: THE DANCE OF ANCIENT SPIDER, SOUNDS TRUE 2000

MEDITERRANEAN LULLABIES, Ellipsis Arts 2000

DAUGHTERS OF THE DRUM

EARTH, SUN AND MOON, Lyrichord 1995

DIVINE DIVAS, Rounder Compilation 1997

GLOBAL CELEBRATIONS, Ellipsis Arts 1993

DEA FORTUNA, Shanachie 1989

SULILLO MIO, Shanachie 1985

SELECTED PERFORMANCES

Alice Tully Hall & New York City Ballet, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Carnegie Recital Hall (New York) & Carnegie Hall in Pittsburgh, The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Caramoor Center for Music and Arts, Madison Square Garden Felt Forum, Symphony Space, Metropolitan Museum,The Cloisters, St. Mark's Church, Theatre of the United Nations (NY), World Music festival in Hawaii (Leehman Arts Center) Teatro Castro Alves, Bahia, Brazil - Teatro SESC Ipiranga in San Paolo, Cultural Center in Tel Aviv, Israel, Cleveland Palace Theatre & Cleveland Museum of Art with Dancing Wheels, Monterey World Music festival, World Festival of Sacred Music (Los Angeles) Epcot Center (Walt Disney World), Universal Studios and UCLA in Los Angeles, YALE University, Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C., Kennedy Center (Washington DC) Field Museum Park in Chicago.

PERCUSSION WORKSHOPS & MASTER CLASSES

JUILLIARD CONSERVATORY, ROYAL MARINE School of Music (England), UHURU-WELTMUSIKLADEN (Switzerland) UNESP University of San Paolo, BATUCADAS 1000, San Paulo, Baltimore Rhythm Fest 1999, Minnesota Day of Percussion, PERC PAN '98 BAHIA, BERKELEY World Percussion Festival '98, Conservatory of Milan & Trento, Manny's DRUM MANIA (with Terry Bozzio & Horacio Hernandez), University of North Texas, Sam Houston University, Drummer's Collective, California Institute for The Arts, L.A. Music Academy, PASIC '96 & 97 - Anaheim, California & Nashville Convention Center - Mc Gill University - Montreal, Canada - Cornell University, Syracuse University, Virginia Day of Percussion, Penn State, KOSA Workshop, Johnson State College VT, Akron University, SUNY at Fredonia, Buffalo University.

GRANTS & AWARDS

Italian American Woman of the Year, Achievement in Italian Folk Music

The Carnahan Jackson Humanities Fund

for Women Studies

The Community Arts Project Award, Lincoln Center

The New York State Council on the Arts

The National Endowment for the Arts

The Department of Cultural Affairs

The Martin Gruss Foundation

special award from the City of Los Angeles from

Mayor Tom Bradley & The Sons of Italy.

DOCUMENTARIES

“LA FESTA” New Jersey Channel, PBS WNET, National Endowment for the Arts

"TARANTELLA” and “CHILDREN OF FATE” (Winner of Sun Dance Film Festival), PBS in Vermont.

FILM

"The Godfather Part II", Francis Coppola

"Casanova", Federico Fellini

"Next Stop the Greenwich Village" Paul Mazursky

"The Moon in the Gutter," Jean Jack Benait

TELEVISION

PBS WNET CITYARTS

ABC Special “REVIEWS"

New York, Good Day New York

Bob Wallace Show (Chicago)

RAI Italian National Network

(New York and Italy)

Brazilian TV & MTV

The Maurizio Costanzo Show

Channel 5 Italy

CUNY Television

LANGUAGES

Italian, English, Spanish, French, Southern Italian Dialects, Portuguese & Latin