Below is the press release:
This week for five days Taranto will once again be the European capital of Swing, involving the whole city in its joyful vintage Made in USA atmosphere.
Because a swing festival is much more than the container of a series of concerts, but a real happening that sees hundreds of enthusiasts converge from all over the world to “live” days and nights in the name of joy and smiles, involving and overwhelming all with their wild madness!
From Wednesday 26th to Sunday 30th June the “Taranto Swing Festival WINDOR 5th Special Edition” returns in a new guise, the event which, organized by the ‘Be Swing’ Association from an idea of the artistic director Nicky Pezzolla, in just five years it is imposed internationally; the initiative enjoys the patronage of the Municipality of Taranto and the Puglia Region.
The formula has been confirmed which will see overwhelming free evenings in the city for all citizens, while at the Mon Rêve Ecogreen Resort, thanks to the precious collaboration with the management of the structure, there will be paid evenings and concerts, as well as dance workshops which, thanks to some of the most important “masters” in the world, will bring hundreds of enthusiasts to Taranto not only from all over Europe, but also from Brazil and the United States.
There will be five days in the vintage American atmosphere that characterizes Swing festivals all over the world!
The event was presented at a press conference in which, welcomed by the artistic director Nicky Pezzolla, spoke Angelica Lussuoso, municipal councilor for culture, events and youth policies, Massimiliano Stellato, regional and municipal councilor, Enzo di Gregorio, regional and municipal councilor, Gianluca Caputo, Founder and CEO of Windor Infissi Taranto, title sponsor of the event, Emilia Di Lello representative of the Mon Rêve Ecogreen Resort, and Maurizio Meterangelo, national expert in the history of Swing.
«This year too – explained Nicky Pezzolla – we have decided to be present in two locations in Taranto, in Corso ai Due Mari and in Piazzale Democrate, with free evenings to promote and make swing known to all citizens, the fantastic column sound of America between the 1930s and 1950s.”
«Everyone will be infected by this atmosphere – said Nicky Pezzolla – because swing is pure energy, overwhelming rhythms that envelop you and capture your soul making you go wild, dances that convey joy of life and desire to have fun, but also hairstyles and clothes strictly retro in vintage style Made in USA, because Swing is above all an authentic form of culture!»
One of the novelties of this fifth edition is dedicated precisely to the culture of swing: from 8.30 pm to 10.00 pm on Sunday 30 June, at the Mon Rêve Ecogreen Resort, there will be, with free entry, a free talk evening for young people Tarantini and university students of the Dedalo Association who will be illustrated the history, music and culture of Swing!
During the days of the festival in the prestigious setting of the Mon Rêve Ecogreen Resort there will be swing dance workshops: Lindy Hop, Boogie Woogie, Authentic Jazz, Charleston, Collegiate Shag, Balboa and Burlesque; the lessons will be held by internationally renowned teachers and performers coming not only from our country, but also from Brazil, USA, Germany, UK and Poland.
The program of the “Taranto Swing Festival WINDOR 5th Special Edition” (info and tickets https://www.tarantoswingfestival.com and on the festival’s Facebook page) opens with an effervescent “prologue” (7.00 pm on Wednesday 26 June) in Corso at the Due Mari, in front of the Monument to the Sailor: all citizens are invited to the happening to welcome the teachers, dancers and enthusiasts who have arrived in Taranto from all over the world to participate in the event. On this occasion, everyone together with a DJset will give life to a wild social dance and a performance by professional dancers, a show within a show!
This event, in particular, will be included in the “Casematte Il 32 April” project of Isac Pro Cooperativa sociale which, through a tourist guide and young people with intellectual disabilities, offers tourists alternative itineraries to the mainstream ones to make Taranto known.
The inauguration of the “Taranto Swing Festival WINDOR 5th Special Edition” will be held – at 6.30 pm on Thursday 27 June – at Piazzale Democrate where, after the greetings of the authorities and sponsors, teachers and workshop participants will give life to an effervescent ” social dancing”. At 8.00 pm there will be boarding on the Kyma Mobilità motorboat for the “Swing on boat” – a sold out event – with the concert of the five Swingeresses on board.
Upon the return of the motorboat, around 9.30 pm, at Piazzale Democrate there will be the second free event for all citizens, with the concert of the Swingeresse, an all-female quintet who, with a pinch of irony, transforms everything into swing, followed by a DJset with wild social dance and performances by professional dancers.
From this moment the “Taranto Swing Festival WINDOR 5th Special Edition” “moves” to a permanent location at the Mon Rêve Ecogreen Resort where every evening – for a fee – there is first a live concert of international bands and singers, and then a On-theme DJset which will see all the teachers, dancers and enthusiasts present in the resort for the workshops unleashing themselves on the dance floor, who, involving those present, will give life to spectacular choreographies in perfect Swing style!
On Thursday 27 June a first taste with the performance of Jumpin’Up, the band that on the following evening – Friday 28 June – will perform with a special guest: the famous English rhythm & blues singer Jackson Sloan, a highly anticipated performance which will be followed by ‘after party with Overjump!
The evening of Saturday 29 June will open with the concert by Emanuele Urso “The King of Swing” and his sextet whose live performance, before being a real show, seems to open a space-time door to immerse the public again directly into perhaps the most brilliant and exciting period of the twentieth century. Between the homage to Benny Goodman and Gene Krupa, Emanuele Urso is a fantastic drummer, a refined clarinettist and an excellent conductor, capable of perfectly recreating, in an uncommon philological effort, the atmospheres of the “swing era” and of the dance halls of the forties. Afterwards there will be the highly anticipated performance of the famous English rhythm & blues singer Jackson Sloan who will sing with the German band Die Boogie Banausen.
Sunday 30 June grand finale with the very Italian Cosimo and The Hot Coals, an explosion of swing in the unique and unmistakable style of this band appreciated in Europe and Italy; their concert will kick off, as is now tradition, a long swing night with dancing until dawn!
Title sponsor of the “Taranto Swing Festival WINDOR 5th Special Edition” is Windor Infissi Taranto which, a leading company that has been operating in the area for thirty years, to spread its values has chosen to support this event with a high artistic and cultural content, recognized at internationally, to contribute to community development.
Furthermore, the event is supported by ItsMobilità Academy, LogisticaPuglia, Idea Verde Centro Nautico, Gruppo Officine Jolly, Ancona Gomme, Marturano Materiale Elettrico, Ristorante Pizzeria bar “Mivà Taranto”.
Technical partners are Cantine Giovanni Aiello, Tagarelli Assicurazioni and the “Start Point” car dealership.
The Be Swing association
The Be Swing association has been operating for five years in the teaching of Swing dances, mainly Lindy Hop, the smile dance. The main objective of the association is the recovery and promotion of the popular and ‘street’ character of Swing through playing and dancing in public, open spaces, in the streets and squares, especially in correspondence with culturally significant places, as well as the valorisation of culture linked to swing dances, which despite coming from afar, has a universal character, transversally embracing nations, ethnic groups and eliminating social barriers.
