This workshop brings new life to the Polka Chinata, a physically daring courtship dance from early 20th-century Bologna once performed exclusively by men. You’ll explore its distinctive rhythm, danced in an embrace, spinning on bent knees, nearly touching the floor, guided by Alessandro Sciarroni’s long-time collaborators Gianmaria Borzillo and Giovanfrancesco Giannini. Learn key movement phrases, experience the communal energy of this acrobatic tradition, and feel how trust and physical exchange animate both performers and observers. Structured as a two-hour, hands-on communing, the focus is on dancing together, embodiment, and ritual, reflecting Sciarroni’s commitment to revitalising generational memory through contemporary choreography. 

“An anthropologist from Bologna explained to me that a dance never dies, because it's not like plants, or animals, or human beings. And there's an implication of something ephemeral, temporary. Sometimes, dances disappear and then re-emerge in the next generation, which was the case of the polka chinata. A dance only disappears when there is no one left who remembers it.” – Alessandro Sciarroni 

This workshop is happening in three locations around Sydney – you can also:

Go to the Save the Last Dance for Me workshop at Leichhardt Town Hall.
Go to the Save the Last Dance for Me workshop at Sydney Town Hall.