Italian Facts
Italian is the official language of Catholicism
Out of all Romance languages, Italian is considered to be the one most closely resembling Latin in terms of vocabulary
Italian is spoken in Africa, primarily in Ethiopia, Somalia, Somaliland and Eritrea
Italian
Glossary
La storia del Balletto
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Il balletto è il genere più antico di danza che si possa studiare nelle accademie.
La sua origine proviene direttamente dall'Italia, dai balli di corte del rinascimento. Ma il genere venne presto ripreso anche dalle corti francesi, che lo svilupparono e lo portarono alla massima espressione durante il XVII-XVIII secolo.
In seguito la danza smise di essere un esercizio di corte e divenne una professione vera e propria. All’inizio tutti i danzatori erano uomini. La prima donna a ballare salì sul palcoscenico nel 1681. Nel 1700 Raoul Feuillet scrisse un libro in cui raccolse le posizioni e i passi base della danza, ancora oggi utilizzati.
I danzatori del XVIII secolo erano coperti da maschere, indossavano grosse parrucche e scarpe col tacco. Le donne indossavano gonne larghe e lunghe, strette nei loro corpetti. Le due migliori ballerine francesi dell’epoca, Marie Camargo e Marie Salle rivoluzionarono il mondo della danza, introducendo scarpe senza tacco, accorciando le gonne rendendole meno ingrombranti e abbandonando le maschere.
Nel 1735 fu fondata l’Accademia Imperiale Russa, che darà poi vita al Russian Ballet, il Balletto Russo. Verso la fine del ‘700 la danza cominciò a subire forti accelerazioni.
Si iniziò ad andare sulle punte e nel 1832 Marie Taglioni ballò tutta “La Sylphide” sulle punte. Questa rappresentazione cambiò moltissimo lo stile dei balletti, nella tecnica, nella storia e nei costumi.
Nel 1956 le grandi compagnie russe, come la compagnia Bolshoi o la compagnia Kirov, cominciarono ad esibirsi in occidente. L’intenso spirito drammatico e il grande virtuosismo tecnico ebbero un fortissimo impatto sul pubblico. È importante citare i grandi nomi di Rudolf Nureyev, diventato poi direttore artistico del Paris Opéra Ballet, di Natalia Makarova o di Mikhail Baryshnikov, poi direttore dell’American Ballet Theatre, a New York City.
A partire dagli anni ’60 il pubblico divenne più vario. Molti giovani cominciarono ad andare a vedere la danza in teatro. Molti balletti classici cominciarono ad essere accompagnati da musica Jazz o addirittura dal Rock’n Roll. Questa trasformazione diede maggiore impulso per lo sviluppo della danza moderna.
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Italian Courses in Luton
You and your group can be trained by our native speaker qualified Italian teachers, and can meet at your place of work or home at a time convenient to you. Tutorials can take place any day of the week, including weekends, and can be scheduled for the morning, afternoon or evening. If your home or office is not suitable for you, you can attend the course at the teacher's offices. You will be provided with all relevant course materials.
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Italian courses of this type are aimed towards those that need to learn Italian to aid them with their employment. For those just starting out, it is integral to learn basic greetings and business etiquette; and reading and writing can be adopted once the simple precepts are out of the way. Success has come from students who are involved in import/export, international negotiations and acquisitions, those seeking jobs in multinational companies, and those working with foreign colleagues, academia and bureaucracy. Just our most basic beginners course will have the student finishing the course with basic telephone/e-mail skills in Italian, as well as survival Italian should a short stay in the country be needed.
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These courses in Italian are wider-ranging in their nature, and are driven towards students who have a variety of differing needs. All beginner students will expect to study enough survival Italian to get them through a short visit to the country, those staying on with the course can progress differently, depending on their individual requests and requirements. Whether you are buying property in a foreign country, married to a foreign national, planning a round-the-world trip, interested in Italian history and culture, or if you simply want to attain a particular level of Italian, this is the choice for you.
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Those wishing to learn Italian in groups of 2 or more together (Two-to-One Italian Courses or Small Group In-Company Italian Courses) can sign up for our group classes. All students must be at nearly the same level of Italian proficiency, must have the same needs from the language, and must be able to study at the same time and place as the others. Bookings must be made for all students simultaneously. Listen & Learn do not propose group sizes or more than 6-8 people, but In-Company Taster Italian Courses can occur with up to 12 people.
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Luton
A large town situated in the south of England, Luton has a population of around 185,000. The town is historically famous for hat making, though by the 20th century modern industries replaced this, including Vauxhall Motors opening the largest car plant in the UK in Luton in 1905 (used for the construction of tanks during the Second World War), which only recently closed in 2002. The culture of the city is diverse and rich due to the many and varied backgrounds of the people who live there. This is reflected in many of the festivals, parks and the nightlife of the town.
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